So you have a website, and now you are wondering how much you should pay someone to manage your website.
Honestly speaking, you have many options in front of you. You can always DIY or use free online tools. But for the best performance, you may need the help of a website maintenance agency.
Before hiring an agency to do your maintenance, read this article to know how much you should pay to manage your website.
Why should you maintain your website?
Many website owners make the mistake of downplaying the importance of website maintenance as a cost-cutting measure. However, it’s not a very forward-thinking strategy. Although you may save some money initially, it will lead to much more expensive problems later.
If components such as CMS, plugins, themes, etc., are not regularly updated, you won’t be able to take advantage of the latest functions and security updates. This can make your site vulnerable to hacks and broken code.
Site outages can also take place if you don’t update regularly. Any time your site is down, you will be losing money. Also, it will be expensive to fix the issue as well. The loss of reputation can be more impactful later on.
If you don’t maintain your website, you will have a backdated site that uses old redundant designs and content. Your security will be compromised, and you may lose all your data if it is not fixed appropriately.
You will also face issues such as slow web speeds and lousy SEO, which, if not kept updated, will lead to your site losing ranking on the search engine results page.
What are the average maintenance costs for websites?
The cost of your website maintenance depends on the category of your website. Below is a list of website categories and the average maintenance costs.
- Hobby site: A hobby site will cost about $3 to $25 a month as the costs you will incur are domain and hosting.
- Personal Website: A personal website will cost the same as hobby sites, which is about $3 to $25 a month
- Business Website: A business website will cost around $15-$2750 a month. The range depends on the size of your business and whether you need extra features such as graphics, email marketing, and technical maintenance.
- E-commerce Website: This will cost anywhere between $25 to $6000+ a month, depending on the size of the shop and whether you need features such as an email server, graphics, email marketing, technical support, security, tracking, and analytics.
- Enterprise Website: These websites are top of the line with the latest features and architecture. These will set you back around $5000 to $9750+ a month.
N.B: All the rates are standerd only. It may vary on areas or types of tasks.
What is included in website maintenance costs?
Website maintenance packages range from basic features to every conceivable feature you can implement on your website. Maintenance costs mainly depend on the features you will be implementing.
Below is a list of services you will receive depending on your package.
Web hosting
Website hosting is a recurring cost you will have to incur. But the amount you spend depends on the hosting you avail. Shared hosting is the cheapest option, whereas a dedicated server is the most expensive one.
Domain name
Another compulsory expense is domain name costs. It is relatively cheap to register a new domain; the main cost occurs when you have to renew it.
SSL Certificate
Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is the protocol that encrypts any data traveling between applications. It is a must-have if your site deals with sensitive information such as a customer’s billing info.
CMS
Almost all websites use a CMS such as WordPress to handle the content. The latest CMS must be running on your site as it protects against hacks and bugs.
Security scans
Although free tools are available to scan your website for vulnerabilities, you should use a paid service as they can go deeper and provide better assistance.
Site backup
In the unfortunate scenario where your website crashes and you lose your data, it is best to have complete and recent backups of your site so that you don’t lose data.
Ongoing development
Part of your website maintenance fee can include website development and design. You can pay according to hours spent or for a set number of hours a month. This will keep your website looking fresh and up to date.
Tech support
Even though the most robust websites may face issues, it is essential to have a team ready to handle any problems that may arrive as quickly as possible.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
Another crucial aspect you will want to cover is making your website visible and ranking as high as possible. The best website maintenance agencies will cover technical and non-technical SEO and ensure your site runs as quickly and smoothly as possible.
Conclusion
How much you should pay someone to manage your site depends on your size or business, how much traffic you expect, and how many features you want to implement on your site.
As this article illustrates, building a website and forgetting about it is not the best way forward. A website must be maintained constantly, and it is better to use professional services rather than DIY.
Hopefully, you can use the information in this article to decide how much you should spend to manage your website.
