I’m glad you asked this question, and the answer is simple, it depends on what you want. How much does a WordPress website cost in 2020? I have to make a few assumptions to answer the question in a way that is helpful to you, but the following article is a guideline, based on 2 common scenarios. I have developed websites both public-facing and internal corporate web application frameworks that vary from free to several hundred thousand Rands. This article refers to public-facing websites, using WordPress as a content management system (CMS). If you are not sure that WordPress websites are for you, please read my article – “Why choose a WordPress website vs an HTML custom coded website?” before this one.

I am going to give you an estimate of what a WordPress website would cost in 2020 based on the following 2 scenarios:

1. A website for a small business or guesthouse (no E-Commerce).
2. An E-Commerce website and online store for a small company with up to 20 initial physical products.

The following assumptions are being made:

• Branding, draft copywriting and identity are already established by the client and don’t form part of these estimates.
• All Social Media accounts are set up and branded.
• All video assets are already produced, edited and rendered.
• Product photos have been supplied.
• Several cost elements are linked to the US Dollar exchange rate and subject to change accordingly.
• Most options specified have several variations that can significantly affect the price. I have tried to keep the price in the middle of the pricing range without compromising quality.
• I have not included the use of some professional versions of plugins. These typically carry an annual cost.
• I have not included CDN content distribution pricing in the scenarios.

Annual Hosting Costs:

Domain Name Registration for a non-premium .com domain (annual fee)	R 300	$ 19
SSL Certificate (annual fee)	R 700	$ 44
Professional Hosting Service (annual fee) – includes email, FTP, Databases, IP address	R 4,000	$ 250
TOTAL:	R 5,000	$ 313
Optional Annual Maintenance Fee (monitoring security logs, and component updates on a monthly basis)	R2,400	$150

There are cheaper hosting options available, but this is the recommended configuration for a professional business WordPress website. I recommend the annual maintenance fee to all clients, as this is a key to keeping the site stable and keeping hackers out. See my article – “Why choose a WordPress website vs an HTML custom coded website?” where I discuss some of the keys to successful WordPress websites – good hosting is one of them. If you are looking to manage your own hosting, I recommend you make sure you have a good security strategy. I offer managed hosting and handle the technical, hosting maintenance and security details for you.

A WordPress website for a small business or guesthouse

This scenario is for a small business or guesthouse requiring a basic website presence. It would include the following standard pages: Home, About us, Contact, Thank You, Terms of Use, Privacy. A small business would have 4 to 5 other pages including details of their Products or Services pages. A guesthouse would have Accommodation, Facilities, Rates, Gallery and Booking Enquiry pages. I have excluded landing pages and further detail pages for clarity. I have included an average amount of image optimisation. Sourcing images and optimising them for a website is a key step that needs to be done SEO, site performance and user experience. I have found that most clients need this service, and just supply raw images. I include some basic post-processing in Photoshop where needed.

WordPress Site Set-Up and Configuration – Base Plugins, Security, SSL, Email & Accounts	R 1,500	$ 94
Professional Theme (some themes require annual fees for updates)	R 800	$ 50
Theme configuration and branding set-up, including Home, About us, Contact, Thank you, Terms, Privacy pages	R 2,400	$ 150
4 to 5 Additional Pages – Products/Services or Accommodation, Facilities, Rates, Booking Enquiries.	R 1,200	$ 75
Stock Image Sourcing and Optimisation (excluding image licensing fee where applicable)	R 800	$ 50
Supplied Image Optimisation	R 800	$ 50
SEO Optimisation	R 1,000	$ 63
TOTAL:	R 8,500	$ 532

Some projects require copywriting, branding, Social Media set-up, video production and marketing services in addition to the above line items. Anchorage Guesthouse is an example site you can view here.

E-Commerce Online Store

This scenario is for a small business based on the previous costing with the addition of a WooCommerce online shopping store. I have based the costing on 20 physical products using the standard extensions for WooCommerce. There are premium extensions that you may need to license.

Basic WordPress website for small business – as above	R 8,500	$ 532
WooCommerce Configuration	R 1,500	$ 94
Payment Gateway Integration	R 1,000	$ 63
Shipping Integration	R 1,000	$ 63
Initial 20 Products set-up	R 2,400	$ 150
Supplied Image Optimisation	R 2,600	$ 162
TOTAL COST:	R 17,000	$ 1,064

Some projects require copywriting, branding, Social Media set-up, video production and marketing services in addition to the above line items. The above figures are guidelines, to give you an idea. A WordPress website cost can vary significantly. If you are looking at a new website or revamping your existing site, please contact me to discuss your needs, and see how I can help you.

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I’m going to just say it, “WordPress is a great Content Management System (CMS) for modern websites.” The question is “Why choose a WordPress website as a CMS platform vs a custom developed HTML website?” In 2018 WordPress hit a benchmark of an estimated 30% of all websites being run from the platform. This includes WordPress.com and privately hosted WordPress sites. This figure has been growing steadily and in a 2020 survey, WordPress websites are estimated to power between 35% to 37% of all websites and 60% of all CMS sites. These numbers are equally high for the number of E-Commerce enabled sites on the Internet using WordPress. WooCommerce is an excellent full-featured online store – a very effective solution. (Read these articles for more statistics: https://hostingtribunal.com/blog/wordpress-statistics/ and https://w3techs.com/technologies/overview/content_management).

I decided to move to WordPress CMS websites after years of designing custom websites for clients. The long-term cost to my clients is less than custom-developed websites and breaks the dependency of always having to get a website developer in to make changes. I have seen too many clients trapped in a continuous technical development cycle that ends up costing way more than the benefit, especially when their need is marketing. WordPress helps eliminate this problem if managed professionally.

The blogging or content management functionality is easy to learn and allows changes, extensions and content marketing to be handled with ease. In a world where websites have to move away from static brochures to engagement platforms with your audience, WordPress offers a solid platform to build on. The plugin architecture and seamless integration to E-Commerce facilities including full-featured digital stores, educational sites, membership management or subscription sites make it a great platform to get up and running quickly.

The only negative issues I have heard of (not experienced) have mostly to do with situations where poor hosting was used, untested themes or excessive plugins were active – some untested or unproven. This is technically not a WordPress issue, but rather a poor approach to managing a professional website. I only use plugins that I know work. I also put strict security and quality control measures in place. The number of hacking attempts on all websites is profound, and I pay close attention to updating the environment and monitoring firewall intrusion attempts. I also manage the web hosting for my clients using trusted hosting providers.

I have found that using WordPress, where I host, set up and configure the sites for my clients and then help with the initial or ongoing content management, allows us more time to focus on the message, content and marketing of my client’s brands. I only use professional licensed WordPress Themes that I know offer great caching, responsive design and sufficient features for my clients. Don’t get caught in a custom theme development cycle unless your business demands it. Most small to medium-sized businesses and even larger corporations can get all they need from proven themes and plugins.

4 Key benefits of using WordPress for your public website:

1. WordPress offers a rapid deployment platform, focussed on content and management.
2. WordPress is a mature and stable content management and delivery solution with proven capability and stability.
3. I have found WordPress to be more cost-effective in the long term (Total Cost of Ownership) for my clients than if I had to custom develop their website. The exception is for highly functional, specialised web applications, which fall into the category of Application Development and not your typical public marketing website.
4. With the plugin framework and custom themes, WordPress is dynamic in capability and functionality. You can use WordPress for Blogging, Online Stores, Download Management, Learning Management Solutions, Subscription-based business models, Directory based models, Landing Pages, Portfolios, News sites, portals, the list goes on. Some big brands use WordPress in their organisations, including Sony Music, Walt Disney, Bloomberg and BBC America.

7 Keys to a successful WordPress Website Installation:

1. Pay for professional hosting with adequate resources. Many hosting providers offer really low-cost starter packages that are so limited in resources and escalate quickly in cost if more resources are required. I offer managed hosting and handle the technical and security details for you.
2. Establish a professional installation and configuration, especially security management. Don’t let security be an afterthought.
3. Use a professional modern theme that is proven.
4. Plan in advance, the content and requirements, including look, feel, copywriting and images.
5. Only use proven plugins and try to limit these and any coding customisation to a minimum.
6. Budget for training yourself and your team to write articles, optimise images, and manage the website.
7. Have an offsite backup plan.

If you are needing a website or looking to revamp your existing one, please feel free to contact me. You can read about my Professional WordPress Website Design and Hosting services here.

I would love to hear your opinion or about your website experience. Let me know on my Facebook page in the comments on this article or email me.

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