WordPress Maintenance Cost: How much You Should Pay
In this article, I will reveal how much WordPress maintenance costs and what options you have to make the most of your budget while receiving top-notch service.
In the previous articles, I’ve discussed why you need a WordPress maintenance agency, what a maintenance plan should include, and how to choose the best WordPress maintenance agency. Hence, I also recommend checking those articles to have a complete picture.
Before analyzing the price of various WordPress maintenance services, I would like to tell you the cost of NOT HAVING any maintenance package.
The cost of Not having a WordPress maintenance plan
People that just started online believe that building a website is enough, so they don’t see the necessity of paying a retainer for maintenance.
However, this assumption is wrong, as, without a maintenance plan, they don’t have access to backups, security monitoring, platform updates support and many other things.
When their website gets hacked or their hosting server crashes, they can not fix or restore the website, jeopardizing their reputation and business entirely.
There are various stories online about database leaks, hacking incidents and people who lost their business by not having a maintenance plan.
According to ICTSD, cyberattacks can be costly for small businesses. An average small business in the US will spend $25,612 on cyberattacks over twelve months. More shocking than that is that according to Cyberventure, 60 percent of small companies close within six months of being hacked.
So now is a perfect moment to ask yourself how much your online business is worth to you and how much would you pay to avoid the headache and losses of a hacked website.
Now that you know the cost of not having a maintenance plan, let’s look at how much it costs to have one.
WordPress maintenance cost estimation
It’s not an easy task to estimate how much the maintenance of your WordPress will cost. That’s because websites come in different sizes and shapes and meet specific needs. On top of that, WordPress maintenance companies have different levels of support plans.
But here at WPRiders, we have been doing WordPress maintenance for a couple of years, working with over 1500 clients. Also, we check what other service providers are doing so we can stay ahead of the competition.
This being said, here is our estimate about how much you should expect to be paying for maintenance:
1. Essential WordPress Maintenance Features
- Daily Backups
- Security monitoring
- Uptime monitoring
- Plugin & Themes Updates
- Malware removal
Monthly cost range: $50 – $150
2. Medium WordPress Maintenance Features
- All the services from the Basic plan +
- Monthly security audits
- eCommerce support
- Speed Optimization
- Hosting optimization
Monthly cost range: $200 – $400
3. Advanced WordPress Maintenance Features
- All the services from the Medium plan +
- Website changes (contact details, adding pages, etc.)
- Adding custom functionalities
- Dedicated project manager and support specialist.
Monthly cost range: $500 – $1000+
Besides these costs, you should also consider a couple of other costs associated with your WordPress website.
- domain name renewal – between $10-30 per year, depending on the registrar;
- hosting package – varies from $20 for a shared package up to a couple of hundred monthly for a VPS or cloud account, depending on the resources used;
- email accounts – around $10 for each account monthly if you use Google Apps or Zoho.
According to Yellow Objects estimates, a yearly maintenance contract costs about 15–20 percent of the development cost. For most small and medium businesses, this translates to an estimated annual expense between $1,500 and $3,000.
In-house WordPress maintenance or hiring an agency?
Whether you hire a professional agency or conduct website maintenance in-house, each approach has its pros and cons. The website maintenance pricing also differs between the two.
In-house approach
If you take the in-house approach, you may end up with lower costs if you have the right staff in your team, but otherwise, there will be quiet to delegate a person just for these tasks. But you rely on a single person who may be missing the required multi-disciplinary approach or being able to solve the issues as fast as they arise.
Hiring a WordPress maintenance agency
Web maintenance service agencies can take care of more complex and technical aspects. They also conduct regular software updates, monitor site security, and optimize its performance. Also, they can look after the website 24/7 as they have a well-trained staff that works in shifts. On the other hand, a maintenance agency may cost more because they allocate a team to help you.
FAQs
How Much Does It Cost to Maintain a WordPress Website Monthly?
The cost of maintaining a WordPress website depends on whether you handle it in-house or hire a maintenance agency. Prices vary depending on the website type and the maintenance package’s features. However, on average, the monthly maintenance fee for most website owners ranges between $50 and $150 for essential needs, $200 and $400 for standard packages and between $500 and $1000 for advanced packages that require custom work.
Should We Handle Website Maintenance in-house or hire a WordPress Maintenance agency?
If you’re running a small business website with the necessary in-house staff or have the proper knowledge and experience, handling WordPress maintenance in-house is probably doable.
On the other hand, for most business websites that focus on business growth, the best option is to hire a website maintenance service with the necessary experience, tools, and technical know-how to take care of it.
Takeaways
- Not maintaining your website is a costly risk, as according to statistics, 60% of small and medium businesses that suffer a hacking incident or a data loss close the shop in the next six months.
- A not maintained WordPress website can hurt your online performance, jeopardize your digital marketing (SEO, Social, PPC) efforts and put customers at risk.
- Once you decide that website maintenance is necessary, you should determine whether to handle it in-house or hire a professional agency.
- It’s not an easy job to estimate the costs of a maintenance package for your website right off the bat, but for most website owners ranges between $50 and $150 for essential needs, $200 and $400 for standard packages and between $500 and $100 for advanced packages that require custom work.
Conclusion
Now that you know how much WordPress maintenance of your website should cost, check our WordPress ongoing support plans and get peace of mind that your business is in good hands.
Further reading(s):
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