So you may have thought about starting a new WordPress website, but have been put off by the perceived cost. A lot of people are confused about how much it actually costs to start and maintain your own WordPress website, and a quick internet search does nothing more than add to the confusion. So, what does it actually cost to start and run your own website?

To answer this question, we have broken the main costs down into their components below:

Cost 1: Domain Names

Cost – Free to thousands of dollars.

Once you have decided on a website name, you will have to rent or buy a domain name which is close to or the same as your website name. Most WordPress beginners decide to rent a domain name yearly. For basic names, prices start from just a few dollars per year. However, more sought-after domains can sell for tens of thousands. Some domain name providers do special offers, including free domain name rental for the first year.

Cost 2: Website Hosting

Cost – Anything from a couple of dollars per month to thousands.

If you want to build a website, you need to have somewhere to store it. Although many people don’t really understand where websites “come from”, they actually do have a physical location. While it is possible to host your own website, most people choose to use a specialist hosting provider. When you do this, you pay a hosting company to store your website and data securely on a server. For small websites and blogs, this will only cost a couple of dollars per month. However, prices for larger sites can easily run into the thousands.

Cost 3: Custom Themes And Plugins

Cost – Depends what you buy.

Although you can get away with basic plugins and free themes on WordPress, you won’t be getting the most out of your website. If you really want to drive visitors to your site and start making some money, you will need to spend at least a little bit of money on premium themes and more advanced plugins.

Cost 4: Content Creation

Cost – Up to hundreds of dollars per day.

Although you might decide to be a web ‘purist’ and create your own articles and visual content, most website owners pay someone to do this for them. Content creation takes a lot of time, and it can become quite costly if you start employing people to do it for you. Unless you have a very good business plan, and know that you are going to be able to make a fair bit of money from your website, create your own content at the start to save some money.

So, How Much Does It Cost?

In reality, you should be able to get away with costs of less than $50 per year if you choose a cheap domain and the most basic hosting on the web. However, these costs can quickly rise if you start buying premium features and paying for content.