How Much Should You Charge to Create a Website Using WordPress?
There are various factors that you need to consider before setting the price of your service, but the most important one is: how much does it cost you to create a basic website using WordPress? Let’s find out.
The Cost of Setting Up a WordPress Website
The first and most basic cost you’ll incur when setting up a WordPress website is simply the cost of the web hosting. This is the service that makes all of the other aspects of setting up a website possible (like creating an account with a domain registrar, buying a premium theme for your site, and installing WordPress on your server).
The cost of web hosting will vary from $5 to $10 a month, and it’s fairly priced. You can get a free domain and install WordPress on your server for up to 12 months from Bluehost. After that, you’ll have to purchase a premium plan.
In addition to the web hosting, you’ll have to pay a one-time fee to create a new WordPress account with a domain name. From there, you can install the WordPress customizer and activate the Jetpack plugin to start taking advantage of all its features. You’ll need to check with the developers of Jetpack to see which plan is right for you because it’s not always the cheapest option.
Design Of Your Website
Once you have a functioning WordPress website, the next step is to figure out how you want the site to look visually. This is what will make it stand out from all the other bland websites out there. It’s a common mistake for people to use a free WordPress theme for their site and then never customize it or install any plugins. This is why you must invest in a premium theme that you can use to its fullest to ensure that your website looks exactly how you want it to.
The cost of a premium theme will vary based on the size of the site because larger websites will have more features and take more time to build. ThemeForest and StudioPress are the two biggest providers of premium WordPress themes that you can use to build your site.
To create a basic website, you will need to purchase a simple theme from either of those companies, along with a domain name. Once you have that, you can start taking advantage of all the basic tools built into WordPress. From there, you can delve into the design of your website and figure out how you want it to look.
Once you have a basic design for your website, you can use a plugin like Beaver Builder to build out your site’s content area, or head into the WordPress admin to deal with things like email marketing and security. So while you’re at it, why not create a bit more than just a basic site? You can use Jetpack for that!
Type Of Content You’ll Post
Depending on your niche, the type of content you’ll post can vary. Generally speaking, you’ll want to avoid publishing content that is overly promotional in nature because your target audience is more likely to be turned off by it than turned on. Promotional content includes things like infographics, videos, and webinars.
A better option for you is to find a topic that you’re passionate about and then use that to attract and retain your audience. For example, if you hate selling and would rather focus on creating helpful content for others, you might start a blog about fashion trends or style tips. You can use the content you produce to attract and retain customers, while also providing value to your readers. This is a win-win for everyone.
If you’re fairly new to the game, you might not have figured this out yet, but being genuine and helpful is one of the best ways to build a following. Once you have a decent sized audience, you can use your platform to promote products and services that you believe in. If you can pull off this strategy successfully, you might just find that you can build a profitable business around what you love doing the most.
How Much Should You Charge For A Web Design Service?
As you might imagine, there are various methods for figuring out how much you should charge for a website design service. One way is to look at what you actually do and how complex a task it is. If you took on a complete rebranding project and created an entirely new site from scratch, you might want to bump up your rate a bit. Or, if you’re simply creating a WordPress website for a client, you might want to charge more than you would for a basic design. You have to walk a fine line between being underpriced and overpriced, but the general rule of thumb is: what makes you unique?
For example, it would be unusual to find a web design company that is also a social media agency, and this is what sets them apart from other organizations. If you specialize in offering social media monitoring and analytics, you can raise your rate a bit because there is a definite demand for this type of service. However, if you want to make sure that your customers are entirely satisfied with your work, it might be a good idea to lower your rate a bit.
Additional Fees
When someone visits your website, they’ll almost certainly want to know how much it will cost them to learn more about your products or services. Or, if they are considering making a purchase, how much will shipping cost? Will there be any hidden fees that they need to be aware of?
As a general rule, you’ll want to add a bit of padding to your prices to cover these minor incidental costs. For example, if you’re using a third-party delivery service like FedEx, there will be an additional charge for that. If you’re not, there’ll be a small handling fee that you’ll need to factor in.
Include all of this in your price calculation and you’ll soon find that it’s not as easy as just quoting a price! Still, if you play your cards right, you can negotiate a good price with the right client. Just make sure that you’re aware of all the other costs that you’re incurring so that you can accurately quote a price that includes all of the expenses.
You should also research how others in your niche are pricing their services. Some will even offer price breaks for clients who sign up for a certain period of time or for multiple projects. Be sure to ask about these price breaks because they can be very useful if you’re planning on using the service for a while.
As you can see, setting the price of your web design service is not as easy as it might seem. Depending on your experience and how much you want to charge, this could take some time. Still, as long as you make the right calculations and add in all of the necessary expenses, you’ll find that you’re able to build a profitable business without too much hassle.