WordPress is one of the most popular platforms, with 50% of all the websites built on it. Like every other digital platform, websites also need maintenance to ensure higher performance and uptime. Web developers work hard to ensure that websites do not face downtimes due to maintenance issues. However, there are maintenance costs even for a WordPress website that you need to keep in mind.
There are several costs associated with website maintenance, like framework updates, the cost of app monitoring, testing, and more. Knowing these WordPress maintenance costs can help you save on expenses and improve the performance of your site. Here, we will discuss some of the maintenance costs you need to consider for your WordPress website. Let’s first understand why you need it.
Why do you Need WordPress Website Maintenance?
Many organizations, especially small businesses, often ignore the need for regular maintenance of websites and issues which can incur downtime. This brings down the website due to minor errors making your business suffer due to lower engagement levels and customer attrition.
While you may save on maintenance costs, it can hurt your budget in the long term, increasing the costs. Take an example of a new car that works excellent initially but needs maintenance for keeping up with its performance later. Similarly, your website needs maintenance to keep the same level of performance regularly.
Let’s consider some of the costs associated with ignorance towards the maintenance of websites,
- Data recovery costs due to loss of information
- Security-related costs due to malicious injections through possible vulnerabilities
- Downtime costs include loss of revenue plus expenses on fixing the entire website.
- Lack of website maintenance also has detrimental effects on UI design which will not be as per the latest trends.
- Website loading speeds can reduce due to lack of maintenance which can affect the business and loss of revenue.
Now that we know why ignoring maintenance for the sake of saving money can incur more expenses, it’s time to understand the costing factors.
WordPress Maintenance Costs: Common Costing Factors
Depending on the type of website you have, there are several different types of maintenance costs. For example, an eCommerce website may need to consider the cost of maintaining higher data security and even inventory management features.
Similarly, you must maintain secure access policies for higher data integrity if you have an enterprise-grade website. However, most websites have one common cost among them: domain hosting, which also needs maintenance.
#1. Domain Costs
One of the essential WordPress maintenance costs is related to domain registration which is a recurring expense. So, as a part of the maintenance cost, you need to renew your domain registration every year or even two years, depending on the plan you choose. On average, the cost of domain registration is anywhere between $10 to $20 per year.
It also depends on the domain name vendor on how much you need to pay. Some of the leading website-building platforms like WordPress, Wix, Squarespace, and others offer plans that include domain names. Another important aspect is the hosting service which also incurs cost.
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#2. Website Hosting
Hosting needs differ according to the type of website and specific business requirements. For example, if you have a small to a medium-sized personal blog, the hosting cost may be lower than the renewal expenses. At the same time, medium to large sites can go up to $100 per month.Most eCommerce websites need a more comprehensive hosting service, including advanced security measures like buying cheap wildcard SSL and installing it. It affords premium encryption of in-transit communications between the browser and the user’s device. This is why the cost of maintaining the hosting services of your eCommerce website can go higher up to $500 per month.
Apart from the hosting costs, it would help to consider other expenses like third-party plugins and licensing.
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#3. Plugins & Themes
Another essential WordPress maintenance cost is licensing of plugins and themes that you use for your website. It is important to understand that WordPress offers several plugins and themes for free, but you will have to pay the licensing costs for the paid ones.
Not just the licensing costs, maintenance also involves hiring developers to update the website according to changes in plugins or themes. According to Upwork, the average cost of hiring WordPress developers is $15-$28 per hour.
The next and probably one of the highest WordPress maintenance costs that you need to consider is security and data backups.
#4. Security & Backup
Maintenance costs for security and data backups can be costly, but they outweigh the expenses that can occur, ignoring it. For example, the average costs of data breaches for businesses worldwide are $3.86 million, exclusive of the costs you may have to bear for the recovery process after the information loss.
To avoid such data breaches, you need security measures and maintenance of WordPress websites to ensure secure data access. For example, you need regular backups of sensitive data to avoid any type of loss.
Apart from the data backups, you also need to maintain secure access to sensitive data through policy updates and the integration of advanced authentication systems.
#5. Technical Maintenance
Every website needs technical maintenance to enhance its performance and ensure that it remains bug-free. Websites have several different elements and modules to their architecture that need regular maintenance. For example, you need to maintain the core architecture of your website to ensure that all the elements are working fine and there are no downtimes.
Conclusion
When it comes to WordPress maintenance costs, there are several different aspects that you have to keep in mind, like hosting, security, and performance. Your website is the front with which a user interacts to engage with the business.
So, if the website is not up to the mark or lacks security features, customers will not trust your brand. Even if you are an eCommerce business website downtime can lead to revenue loss. Here, the best way to avoid all this is to invest in your website maintenance.
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