WordPress Pricing: Understanding WordPress Costs Beyond the Blog

Congratulations on deciding to take the next step and start a WordPress blog!  It’s a big moment and you should be proud! Of course, there are some costs involved, and like any smart blogger, you want to know what’s involved, so that you can blog and not break the bank. Understandable!  Here are some of the costs that you may want to consider as you start and work on your blogging journey: 

WordPress Hosting

You don’t specifically have to have hosting that’s designed for WordPress, but it’s better if you do. Why? Because hosting which is specifically tuned for WordPress websites means that your site will load faster, and you’ll also be able to get support that understands WordPress in case there are any server issues. If you don’t have hosting specifically designed for WordPress, and you’re happy with your host, by all means, you can keep your WordPress blog there and you shouldn’t have any problems.

Still, it’s nice to know that with WordPress-specific hosting, if you do run into trouble, you can get support from a team that understands how best to optimize their servers for WordPress blogs. 

WordPress Theme

This is another cost that can be entirely optional but is often worth the cost if you want to run a professional blog. There are many WordPress blogs out there that are free, but WordPress pricing centers less on the content management system itself (WordPress is free if you’re hosting it on your own server and not using WordPress.com). If you are hosting your own WordPress website, you’ll have the choice to use a free theme or a premium theme – which costs a one-time fee. 

There are plenty of free themes out there that offer a lot of features, but many of them also have paid variations that give you more customizability or more features for a price. You’ll need to consider what your blog is about and how you plan to make money with it (if you’re planning to turn it into a business) to consider whether or not a paid theme is something you’ll want to factor into your WordPress pricing. 

There are even some sites that give you access to an entire library of themes for one price. This lets you try out different themes until you find the one that’s perfect for your specific needs. Be sure to check out our article on the best premium WordPress themes to give you a starting point if you’re considering using a paid theme for your blog! Get your money’s worth and get a professional theme that’s elegant and coded for performance! 

WordPress Plugins 

Like themes, there are plenty of free plugins out there. And like ordinary WordPress pricing, the plugins in the WordPress repository are available to download free of charge. There are, however, many premium plugins which vary in cost depending on what they’re used for. Many of the plugins we’ve reviewed here on WPDandy are premium plugins which are designed to provide your site with greater security (more on that below), as well as other great features that help with search engine optimization, customizability, email marketing and much more. 

But as with other factors involved in WordPress pricing, you can choose to use entirely free plugins on your blog. Just be aware that while there are many free versions of plugins out there, the paid varieties typically offer something extra that their free variants do not. 

WordPress Security

This is also another feature that you can optionally choose to include as part of your WordPress pricing beyond the blog. Oftentimes, professional bloggers work with third party WordPress security companies to provide ongoing scanning and protection of their  blog from viruses, malware and other hacks and exploits. Because WordPress is one of the most popular content management systems on the web, and so many sites are powered by it, it’s understandable that WordPress code itself can also be a target for hacking. 

Even if your WordPress installation is totally secure, you may be using a theme or plugins that are poorly coded or could allow for exploits or third party scripts to be launched. Investing in WordPress security can help keep these threats at bay. It’s something you’ll want to consider as your blog grows and becomes more popular! 

Advertising and Promotion

Finally, although it’s not a factor in WordPress pricing itself, you’ll also want to think about how you plan to promote your site. Whether you want to use paid ads on Google, or you want to try advertising on Facebook or other social networks, these are costs that all need to be taken into consideration as part of your overall blogging plan.

The fact is that no two blogs are alike, which means that there are no two ways to map out and plan for specific costs in terms of WordPress pricing. If you have your blog but you’re ready to take the next step and figure out what you want to do with it and how you want it to grow, you’re in luck!  

At WPDandy, we specialize in helping to take the drudgery out of WordPress. Our comprehensive, dedicated and professional WordPress maintenance and management services will keep your blog up and running smoothly, and most importantly, won’t break the bank.That means you can enjoy a smooth, faster loading and up to date WordPress without worrying about coding, plugin conflicts or theme issues. 

As you can see, there are a variety of possible costs involved in WordPress pricing outside of the actual blog itself. But many of them are optional, and when you’re just starting out and on a tight budget, you can absolutely create a fully functioning and professional blog at a very low cost. When you’re ready to take the next step though, it’s worth working with professionals to make sure the job is done right!