So you want to start your blog or website? Great news, building that website or blog can be a great bit of fun for the average person who just wants to get their message out there into the world.

However, blogging can also be a very lucrative business model if done correctly. We have all heard of the millionaire bloggers who got started during the first days of internet blogging and blog monetisation. Due to the sheer saturation of the blogging world now though, it’s a very high hill to climb, with many obstacles along the way if you want to reach the top.

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Challenge is what it’s all about though right? Our goal is to give you a basic run down of WordPress pricing.

In order to give you an accurate cost break down we are going to make some assumptions, they are as followed:

  • You are starting your blog as a serious business
  • You plan to offer the very best value and content to your readers
  • You are willing to invest in your blog, in order for it to generate revenue

So now we are on the same page, let’s get started with some basic information about WordPress.

WordPress statistics

WordPress, if you haven’t heard of it, is a blogging platform. It has been designed and programmed in a way which lets users who have little to no experience in website coding, create modern looking and very stylish websites. Mainly focused on blogging as a core principal, WordPress is the number one blogging platform on the web right now, it boasts the spectacular milestone of running over 60 million websites, and it used by over 23% of the top performing 10 million websites. That’s 2.3 million of the top performing websites of today.

The WordPress pricing can vary a lot but, WordPress, in its most basic form, is a free to use platform. However as assumed above, you want to make your WordPress site run like a business. In order to achieve that you will need to spend some money. Most of the costs you are looking at will bill you annually, so expect to pay repeat subscriptions to a multitude of different product and service providers.

Recognising that your WordPress site is a genuine business acquisition is a good way to start, this will mentally prime you to treat is as such, and give it the attention and recognition it deserves. When used correctly, and after a short period of time, it can and does, generate a very healthy revenue for the owner.

Now you know what the platform is, it’s time to dive into some information about WordPress pricing.

The 3 plans

When it comes to WordPress hosting, you have a choice of 3 pricing models. The paid models come with free domains and hosting, which means you won’t have to pay for those, as well as on board security provided by the Automattic system that WordPress uses. Paying for WordPress Hosting will limit your functionality and impact the cost of your WordPress pricing.

Free – $0

The free option, is as the name suggests, free. You get a basic webpage and a little bit of on-site storage. You can’t expect to make any money from the free package.

Premium – $99 yearly

If you don’t have much capital to start with, choose the Premium package, this gives you the tools needed to start a profitable blog. The premium package is the lowest WordPress pricing plan apart from free.
You get a free domain when you sign up, and also will have access to hundreds of free themes for your site (we will discuss themes further in the article). Importantly, the premium package removes and ads from your site, this is a must if you take your business seriously, a WordPress site with ads screams unprofessionalism.

Business $299 yearly

The Business model is the best you can get, its also the most expensive WordPress pricing plan available. It comes with everything you get with premium and more. 50+ premium themes are included. You have unlimited storage space for your files and media, it’s surprising how much space you will be filling up as time goes on. Google analytics support comes part of the package as well, which is a tool of paramount importance if you wish to understand your audience, and cater your content to them.

Choosing WordPress as your website hosts has its drawbacks. Your site will live on a shared server, along with thousands of other sites, and therefore, performance won’t be as good as it could be, pages and content will load slowly and potential readers will leave the site due to this.

WordPress hosting also limits your options when it comes to configuration, themes and plugins, which are all vital to your growth. As you can see WordPress pricing can soon add up.

Premium Themes

Themes bring your webpage to life. They are an easy way to customize the look and feel of your site. You can get free ones, but they often just look terrible to be honest. Premium themes are your best shot at having a decent looking website. Premium themes can range in price but normally they sit around the $100 area, add this to your WordPress pricing budget.

Alternatively, you can hire an expert to create one to your specifications, you can expect to find relatively competent freelancers on the internet who can do this for you for $200-$500 depending on the complexity that you require.

Hosting

Acquiring a hosting package for your blog, independent of the WordPress packages is highly recommended. This option gives you ample options to increase your subscriber counts and connect with your audience. More importantly though, it offers more ways to monetize the site and generate revenue. Different hosting options can really affect your WordPress pricing, so be careful when selecting your hosting package.

Self-hosting can be very, very cheap. Some providers like SiteGround offer basic packages for as little as $5 per month. Packages like this will get your site up and running, but your website will still be on a shared server, meaning performance will be impacted.

Unlimited theme options are at your fingertips with self-hosting, you can choose from the official WordPress theme library, or create your own. Creating your own requires knowledge of basic programming languages such as HTML 5 and CSS. You can find web developers to help with this stage if needed, but you will have to add that to the costs of your WordPress pricing.

You will also have to register your own domain name, which is very cheap, you can find many online providers for domains for as little as $12 per year, or even cheaper if you buy multiple years upfront.

Self-hosting comes with its negatives, as you won’t be protected by any serious security systems, you will need to find a security plugin. Many free security plugins exist, but with security you really do get what you pay for. Free security plugins are usually riddled with loopholes and issues that hackers will utilize to gain access to your site. Be ready add security to your WordPress pricing.

If you get hacked and the server goes down, you will be wasting money on the downtime, and have to de-hack the site. This involves restoring lost files and rebuilding links and pages on your website. This is something you will need help with if you do not know what you’re doing. Experts in this field can be costly so it’s better to get a decent security plugin, with hacking support.

Storing your own backups will be part of the self-hosting road. If you get hacked or lose your information due to another reason, you can potentially lose months of hard work and money.

Always back up your sites, preferably perform daily backup routines. If your site produces a lot of content, i.e. more than 10 posts per day, you should run hourly backup cycles. Keep backup plans in mind when budgeting your WordPress pricing.

Plugins exist for this as well, but the prices can vary from free options to expensive options. Just like security you get what you paid for, your minimum expectation when shopping for a backup plugin is 100% backup performance, with nothing missed. Always have the diligence when it comes to security and backups!

So, the WordPress pricing for your blog is mounting up. Just by using the cheapest hosting options and themes can set you back $125 per year, plus adding a basic security package will set you back roughly $200 per year, as well as adding a decent backup package that will cost at least $100.

$425 per year, for just the very basic hosting, security and backup packages. You will still be on a shared server, performance won’t be great but you will be protected from hackers and system failures. This is a good place to start from if you are strapped for cash. Keep in mind that this cost doesn’t include anything else, then just what is listed, there are many more things to account for when counting your WordPress pricing.

Managed And Dedicated Hosting

The next step up the hosting ladder is managed and dedicated hosting. This kind of hosting comes with all the benefits of self-hosting, but with the help of a community of helpful people who know their stuff, all willing to assist you with any problems you may encounter. Which lets you get back to running your business.

Your WordPress pricing budget should include managed hosting. WordPress-optimized management plans start at $30 per month. The community can help you optimize your site for a number of different things including SEO and performance tips. You will still be on a shared server, but with fewer other websites clogging the speeds.

To be on a dedicated server, which gives your website every bite of bandwidth, is the ideal place you want to be. Website performance will be at its peak, even if you have a content heavy website with hundreds of images and videos to load. Prices range between $100 and $250 per month.

Do your homework with dedicated hosting as some companies still put your website on a shared server. To get 100% performance you really do need a dedicated server all to yourself. This is well worth the investment and impacts WordPress pricing.

Adding a premium theme to the mix, the total annual cost of managed and dedicated server hosting can vary massively. Estimations between $500 and $3000 are common here. You do get your money’s worth with this option though. Providing you do your homework.

Premium Dedicated Hosting

This is the big boy leagues. The pedigree of website hosts. Premium dedicated hosts offer top notch support and expertise for any kind of website. WordPress is second nature to them and you will find an answer to any and every question you may have; this is a priceless addition to WordPress pricing.

Premium WordPress hosts come with everything you need to add extra functions to your site, such as forums or subscription models. Along with security, storage and world class support. Which all come neatly packaged in even the most basic plans.

Never underestimate the power of a top notch support team.

The folks who run these services are serious masters of the craft. Any questions or requirements you have will be answered quickly and truthfully, they will even run you through things like helping with your SEO and troubleshooting RSS problems.

The basic rate that these powerhouses of hosting charge is roughly $600 per year, add your premium theme to that and you get a $700 per year cost.

If the basic plans don’t have what you need, expect to pay upwards of $1500 per year just for the hosting. WordPress pricing can be very expensive.

Premium dedicated hosting is the way to go for all of your who are serious about starting a business with blogging. It has all the bells and whistles you will need to: Capture readers interest, offer subscription based packages, Memberships, forums, store pages, growing your social media presence and most importantly generate revenue from your site.

That’s all there is to it

So there you have it. A basic rundown of WordPress pricing.

This is not an exhaustive list however, many other things will require your time and money in order to keep things chugging along. But with what we have discussed here you will be well on your way to creating your dream business with WordPress. Good Luck!