Cost of building a WordPress site

This is the most confusing and tricky thing to discuss in WordPress. You might get confused because every now and then you might have heard or read that WordPress is free. Even, though I wrote an article saying that “WordPress is free” now I’m talking about the cost of building a WordPress website! Please don’t get me wrong or file a case against me for being a trickster or telling lies about WordPress in public. Have patience, sit back a read through the whole article before calling me a villain.

In this article, we will discuss exactly what it will cost you to build a website. Now, here is the tricky part. The thing is, it is so hard to tell the exact cost of a website. So many things like domain, hosting, premium themes, plugins, etc. are needed to maintain the website. But we will discuss the minimum cost of a website to build with.

Here are the basic things that will cost you to build a website –

• Domain
• Hosting
• SSL
• Premium themes
• Plugins or extensions
• Developer

I will try to give you an idea of how much it can cost to create a website in WordPress.

Domain

Every website needs a unique domain name. it is the name that a user will write in their browser’s address bar or google it to find your website. That makes it the most important step to create a website.

There are so many domain registrars existing on the internet such as Namecheap, Bluehost, GoDaddy, etc. Generally, the cost starts from $8-10 up to $40-50 per year. In our research, we find that Namecheap is the cheapest among them. It cost $8.88 per year for .com extension. There are hundreds of extensions out there, you can choose whatever you like relevant to your website.

Hosting

Hosting means a space where your whole website goes live, thrives, and show-off. Once you buy a domain name for your website, you are going to need a host for your website to serve the whole world.

There are 3 types of servers according to cost.

• Shared server (the cheapest)
• Dedicated server (regular/average price)
• VPS Server (exclusive price)

I am sure, you can guess the price by their names. But typically, hosting can cost you a minimum $15. Basically, the domain registrar companies also provide hosting services.

Nowadays, these companies started selling domain-hosting packages for WordPress users. Namecheap offers $3.88 for WordPress hosting per month. Godaddy offers $6.99 hosting with a domain per month.

And Bluehost offers $3.95 per month with domain and SSL and many more. So far, this is the best.

SSL

SSL or Secure Socket Layer is a security technology to ensure the security of your website. It ensures that all the data passed between the server and browser are encrypted and safe.

There are three types of SSL. Such as –

Domain-validated SSL- this is the most basic level of SSL and costs less than $50 a year. The URL will start with “https://”.

Organized Validated SSL- to have this kind of SSL on your website, you need to provide your company information. It can cost you less than $100 per year. The URL will start with “https://” with company information.

Extended Validation SSL – this is the most advanced level of SSL. This kind of SSL will give you an extensive green bar before your URL ensuring the most encrypted level. You need to provide a signed copy of the EV subscriber agreement, a signed copy of the EV authorization form, and a certificate from a CA, Notary public, or Government organization. This will cost more than $100 per year.

Premium themes

There are more than 4000+ free themes in WordPress.org to use. But you can use a premium theme for your website. Typically, to create a custom theme you need to spend a minimum of $500 and it can move up to $30000.

Premium Plugins

There are more than 5000+ free plugins in WordPress. Even, the premium plugins have also a ‘free’ version to attract the user. A premium plugin’s cost varies from $5 to $250, but a custom plugin can cost more. It actually depends on the functionality of your plugins.

Developer

If you’re having problems with your WordPress site with anything like themes, plugins, or development of your site, you can hire a developer. There are a lot of marketplaces to hire a good developer for your work. These developers work at an hourly rate. This hourly rate may vary from work, marketplace, developer skills, etc.

In the end, I can only tell you only the minimum or average cost of everything but the real cost is totally depending on you. But we suggest that you should keep your business to the minimum at the beginning. As your business or website grows, you spend your money gradually. That’s the way you can create a risk-free environment for your business.