The following chart breaks down the cost of running a WordPress website. This does not apply to websites built with Duda or Wix or similar platforms.
The table includes some comments about inexperienced, smaller designers and marketers. We have been in business since 1992 and have extensive experience with contractors and competitors. Please contact us if you own a small website business and wish to improve. We are happy to help you grow. We believe this makes for a better industry.
| Service | Class | Definition | Comments |
| Domain Name | Registration | The rental of your domain name from the government authority. Domain names are sold through domain resellers like VentraIP.
We resell domain names at a much higher price than discount resellers. We offer infinitely better service. |
Some clients choose to look after domain registration themselves and save money. Others want us to handle everything. There is no set standard. Small website designers rarely ever resell domain name registration.
Clients are welcome purchase domain names from other suppliers. But we will not manage renewal payments when clients purchase domains from external suppliers. |
| Domain Name Server (DNS) | Settings | Crucial settings for your domain name. Tells the internet how to find your website, email, security, and mores. While a basic DNS is supplied with your domain name, we include an advanced service with our hosting plans. | Smaller designers and marketers may change domain settings. However, they do not have the technical expertise to fully manage the DNS and should not be given access.
We take over and fully manage the DNS for all our clients. We include an advanced external DNS into our hosting plans. We have much greater expertise in this area. This allows us to quickly protect your site when attacked. |
| Website Hosting | Storage | This is the storage of your website on the public internet. Like renting landing for your house. We look after the land; you are responsible for your house. All hosting included space, electricity, and internet. Hosting does not include maintenance of the website. | Many smaller designers and marketers provide hosting for clients. Their approach is often simple. They do not have the technical expertise to full manage a server.
Our hosting includes many extras, including added security, 24/7 monitoring, critical response, backups, protection, DNS, and more. Our premium hosting includes updates and plugins. Clients are welcome to purchase website hosting from other suppliers. But we will not manage renewals when clients purchase website hosting from external suppliers. |
| Email Service | Email services are provided by Microsoft 365, Google Workspace and Fastmail. | Website hosting does not include everyday email service. Email uses an increasing amount of storage. Email is also a security issue and is not permitted on our servers.
Smaller designers do not understand this problem and permitted customers like yourself to use hosting for email. |
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| WordPress | Software | WordPress is the core software used to run your website. There is no cost to use WordPress. | Many smaller designers only recommended WordPress. This is a disservice to many customers who are not ready for the addition costs and maintenance.
We offer alternative solutions to clients who cannot afford to maintain WordPress correctly (keep reading). |
| WordPress Plugins | Software | Like an iPhone uses apps, WordPress websites use “plugin” software. Plugins provide all the functions to WordPress including forms, galleries, ecommerce, security, and speed. | There are annual or monthly license cost associated with many plugins. Click for selected prices.
Marketers, designers, and developers often do not explain this to customers. When Kim built a website, she often paid the initial fee for plugins. Because she didn’t know how to explain the cost, she continued to cover the ongoing fees at a loss to her business. |
| WordPress Updates | Software & Maintenance | Like an iPhone, WordPress and plugins need to be updated otherwise it breaks. | License fees need to be paid to update a website. Updates are more complicated than an iPhone. Sometimes updated break a site. Fixing these temporary breaks are charged to the owner. This is the real cost of owning WordPress.
Designers, marketers, and developers often do not explain this to customers. |
| Website Maintenance | Maintenance | Maintenance of the website is the owner’s responsibility. We are WordPress experts and can fix almost anything. We can build you a new page or a new website. All our work is charged by the hour at our standard rates. | Inexperienced designers work in a similar way. However, their hourly rates are often too low to run a business. They don’t charge for actual time. They like to appear fast. They charge what they hope to spend on the job. Then they worked much longer. Eventually they leave and you have no support.
We track and charge time accurate and bill at competitive hourly rates. |
We realise our comments may cut close to the bone. We will reset the negative feedback regularly.