Why Does Your WordPress Site Cost So Much?
WordPress is one of the most popular content management systems (CMS) used today. For those unfamiliar, a CMS allows users to easily upload content (such as web pages, products, videos, etc.) and to organize that content into an attractive, search-optimized website. The benefits of using a CMS are countless, but here are just a few examples:
1. No coding knowledge required.
Anyone can learn to use a CMS with minimal training. You don’t need to be a professional web developer to create and design engaging websites using WordPress.
2. Scalable.
Scalable means a website can be expanded to fit any device, screen resolution, and browser. This is extremely important for a website that is actively used by the community. If your site grows beyond the capacity of your current web host, you’ll have to upgrade or move servers.
3. Industry-standard.
WordPress is incredibly popular in the online marketing industry due to its versatility and simplicity of use. Designing and implementing a marketing strategy for a brand or company using WordPress is extremely easy. The same can be said about creating a digital marketing brochure (i.e. a sales page.) For those unfamiliar, a digital marketing brochure is a static page on a website that gathers together various pieces of marketing and sales information.
4. Security.
Unlike traditional websites that are hosted on physical servers, WordPress-based websites are stored electronically on a database. Since the website files are stored on a remote server, they’re not directly accessible by visitors. This makes it much more difficult for hackers to break into a WordPress site and alter the content in some way.
2. Server costs.
If you’re using WordPress to host a business website, you’ll need to pay for a premium (or dedicated) server. A server is a physical computer that connects to the internet and allows you to store and display content to visitors. The cost of a server can vary dramatically, but you can expect to pay between $5 and $20 per month depending on the size of the plan you choose.
3. Bandwidth costs.
Just like with a physical server plan, you’ll also need to consider the bandwidth costs of a WordPress plan. Bandwidth is the amount of data that is transferred across the internet in a given time period. The faster your bandwidth, the more content you can display to your audience.
For example, a 1 GB monthly data cap would suffice for a site that mostly features products for sale. However, if you’re providing content for free (e.g. news articles, blog posts, etc.), you might want to consider upgrading to a higher-tiered plan with 5 GB or 10 GB of data transfer per month.
3. Technical support costs.
Not all web hosts are equal, and we mean this in the most literal way. Some web hosts are extremely affordable, but have customer support that is terrible. So, if you want a reliable source of technical support, be sure to budget for the additional costs that a premium plan will bring. Fortunately, most web hosts these days offer support via email or live chat, so you can minimize your exposure to these high costs. However, if you’re using a dedicated server or VPS, technical support can be extremely costly and time-consuming.
The bottom line is that WordPress is an extremely popular choice for websites and can be used to create professional-looking websites with no prior experience required. However, due to its popularity, you’ll probably need to budget for additional costs (such as a premium plan and technical support) to have a successful site using WordPress.