2020 Website Maintenance Pricing
How Much Should You Pay?

What do website maintenance fees include?

As you browse website maintenance rates, it’s essential to look at what the provider includes with their services. If you purchase a package without looking at the deliverables, you can end up not only wasting money but also getting locked into the wrong service contract.

For the best experience, you want a service provider that includes the following as a part of their website maintenance pricing:

Depending on your business, these services won’t apply to your company.

For example, if your company operates offline, then you don’t need to worry about maintenance to your ecommerce system. Your business may also have an internal team member to handle technical issues, which can remove tech support expenses from your website maintenance costs.

Keep reading to learn more about each feature of website maintenance pricing.

8 core website maintenance costs

When researching your website maintenance costs, you'll want to consider these eight factors (mentioned in the table above), which will influence how much website maintenance costs your business.

1. DOMAIN NAME ($0.08 to $1 /mo)

A domain name is unique to your business, appearing in your website’s URL. Without a domain name, it’s impossible for users to visit your site, which is why you must pay to renew your domain name each year. If you don’t, someone else could purchase the name and force your company to find a new one.

On average, businesses pay $0.08 to $1 per month or $2 to $20 per year to renew their domain name.

2. SSL CERTIFICATE ($0 to $125 /mo)

An SSL certificate, also known as a Secure Sockets Layer, protects your company and your site visitors. This certificate works by allowing your site to receive, transfer, and secure sensitive data provided by users or your business.

If you have an active SSL certificate, your website URL appears with a padlock next to it in Internet browsers like Google Chrome. Your URL also updates from “http” to “https” for users. In most cases, shoppers look for the padlock before making a purchase, which is why this site feature matters.

Companies can purchase an SSL certificate for free, but most invest in a paid license. A paid SSL certificate often includes additional features, like customer support and higher encryption rates, which are beneficial for businesses of any size.

Prices for paid SSL certificates range from $0.80 to $125 per month or $10 to $1500 per year.

3. WEBSITE HOSTING ($2 to $835 /mo)

Like your domain name, website hosting is essential. If you don’t have a hosting provider, it’s impossible for people to access your website. That’s why your business needs to include website hosting costs in your website maintenance budget.

Your business can choose from a few options for website hosting:

• Shared host: A shared host costs $24 to $120 per year. It’s the lowest cost option because it hosts your website on a server with several other sites. If you have minimal website traffic, a shared host service can work well.

• Website builder: A website builder hosting service, like from Wix or WordPress, costs $60 to $180 per year. This service option provides an excellent solution for small businesses and professional bloggers.

• Virtual private server (VPS): A VPS costs $240 to $600 per year. While you share your server, like with shared hosting, you have complete access to your server’s resources because the provider divides the server into multiple virtual servers. You can look at a VPS like an apartment building, with the server representing the building and the virtual servers the apartments.

• Dedicated server: A dedicated server costs $1200 to $24,000 per year. It’s the most expensive website hosting option, which is why most websites that use a dedicated server have more than 100,000 site visitors per month. With a dedicated server, you have complete access to your own server.

While your business may want to save money by choosing a less expensive website hosting option, it’s essential for your team to select the best one for your site. If you opt for a hosting option that doesn’t meet your current website traffic levels, this can result in a sluggish site and you may lose quality leads.

Today, most people expect a website to load in two seconds or less. If it doesn’t, they go somewhere else to research a product, find a service provider, or spend their money. That’s why your business needs to make the speed of your pages and site a priority.

Companies can spend $2 to $835 per month or $24 to $10,000 per year on website hosting.

4. GENERAL WEBSITE UPDATES ($15 to $105 /mo)

From a user perspective, general website updates keep your site looking fresh and modern, as well as secure. Even if your company, like a home improvement store, processes payments offline, it’s essential to have an online presence that conveys trust and quality.

If you don’t, you exclude yourself from a massive online audience. Like the homeowners, for example, researching local stores for their next home improvement project online. Or, the property managers that need a consistent and reliable supplier for their nearby apartment complex.

Provide your site with routine maintenance, and you can improve the chances of people not only finding your company but also investing in it, whether by visiting your store, calling your team, or purchasing your products or services.

In most instances, general website upkeep from a professional provider includes updates to your:

• Webpages
• Content
• Media
• Navigation
• Files
• Links
• Forms
• Background images
• Colors

When it comes to website upkeep, most companies spend $15 to $105 per month.

It’s worth mentioning that many companies misinterpret what website updates include, especially when a part of a website maintenance package. Upkeep to your website’s elements like content, navigation, and forms maintains the quality and functionality of your site.

For example, if you’re launching a seasonal sale and need to update your product or service pricing, most website maintenance plans would include that kind of update. If you’re looking for your provider to redesign your product and service pages, however, you can expect a separate fee.

Depending on the requested updates, your business may also need to supply materials like content or images. For instance, if you want to change the copy on a product or service page, you must send that revised copy to your service provider.

If you’re confused about what your website maintenance pricing plan includes, talk to your service provider. With our dedicated account managers (which means you always have one consistent point of contact), it’s stress-free to talk about your account and package.

5. CMS UPDATES ($0 to $3500 /mo)

With content marketing capable of doubling website conversion rates, it’s not surprising that many businesses have a content marketing strategy. A core part of a content marketing strategy, however, is a content management system (CMS).

A CMS allows you to upload, publish, and manage your website’s content.

A few examples of some go-to CMS applications include:

• WordPress
• Joomla!
• Magento
• WooCommerce

In some cases, businesses will build a custom CMS.

Whether you choose a standard or custom CMS, it’s critical for your company to maintain it with security patches and routine updates. With consistent maintenance, your CMS remains secure and functional. Plus, your team can access new features and tools with most updates.

Depending on your CMS, your website maintenance costs may also include a subscription or service fee for using your CMS. WordPress, for example, features several paid service plans. You get billed yearly but pay monthly.

In addition to your service fee, your business also needs to consider the cost of the team updating and maintaining your CMS. If you don’t have the means to support your CMS in-house, you need to partner with an agency that can provide those services.

That’s why businesses can spend as little as $0 or as much as $3500 per month on their CMS.

6. TECH SUPPORT ($1500 to $3000 /mo)

A website can experience a variety of issues, from broken contact forms to server errors. That’s why website maintenance pricing includes technical support from your provider. With this service, your team can forward site issues for your provider to fix.

In most cases, service agreements specify turnaround times for issues.

As an example, a basic website maintenance pricing package may include a turnaround time of five business days while a premium plan offers a turnaround time of two business days. Expect to pay more if you want a faster turnaround time.

Before your partner with a provider, review their turnaround times and make sure they meet your company’s needs. You may have to find another provider or opt for a higher-priced plan to match your standards if they don’t.

It’s essential to remember, as well as to explain to company decision makers, that tech support is critical. With professional assistance, you ensure the functionality of your website. Without tech support, it’s up to your in-house team to fix difficult situations, like broken shopping carts, quickly.

That’s why many businesses invest $1500 to $3000 per month on tech support.

7. WEBSITE ANALYTICS REPORTS ($5 to $15 /mo)

While optional, many website maintenance providers include monthly analytics reports with their services. A monthly summary of your website’s analytics offers insight into the performance of your site, as well as your digital marketing strategies, like search engine optimization (SEO).

A few factors a website analytics report looks at include:

• Number of unique website visitors
• Average time on site
• Average bounce rate

Depending on your digital marketing strategy, you may already receive reports on your website’s performance. If you haven’t invested in digital marketing yet, an analytics report can serve as a unique selling point (USP) when researching service providers.

In most cases, a website analytics report adds $5 to $15 to your monthly website maintenance costs.

8. ECOMMERCE SYSTEM SUPPORT ($15 to $25 /mo)

If you’re an ecommerce business, then you understand the essential role of your payment system. Without your payment system, it becomes impossible to accept, process, and fulfill orders, which decreases your revenue severely.

That’s why ecommerce system support is essential for your company.

With ecommerce system support, your service provider keeps your system secure, up-to-date, and live. Like tech support, your team can also submit tickets when system errors appear. For example, maybe shoppers aren’t receiving an order confirmation email.

Depending on your provider, they may look at tech support and ecommerce system support separately. That means your business needs to pay for tech support, plus ecommerce system support to keep your website operational.

As with tech support, ecommerce system support will include an estimated turnaround time. Again, expect higher website maintenance costs if you want a faster turnaround time. For many ecommerce businesses, expedited turnaround time is worth the investment.

In most cases, ecommerce companies spend $15 to $25 a month for ecommerce system support.

FAQs about website maintenance costs

If you have questions about website maintenance, check out this helpful FAQ from our developers!

What is website maintenance?

Website maintenance is a routine process of inspecting and updating your website to industry standards, as well as company changes. With website maintenance, for example, you ensure your site features the latest prices for your services or images of your product.

You also make sure your website adheres to industry standards for security and data protection. This process is critical since more businesses, even those that operate offline, support online transactions. For instance, a heating and oil company may allow shoppers to pay their bill online.

Like maintaining your vehicle, website maintenance is essential to your business.

Why pay for website maintenance?

Companies may invest in third-party website maintenance services for a variety of reasons, including:

• Small in-house development team
• High costs for internal management
• Limited resources for in-house management

In most cases, it makes sense for businesses to partner with a service provider that features a dedicated team of developers, like WebFX. Working with a company like WebFX allows your business to focus your funds and efforts on tasks that offer the most impact.

For example, if you’re a landscaping company, it makes sense for your business to invest in equipment, tools, or talent related to your services rather than incurring the ongoing costs of having someone manage your website in-house.

From this perspective, you’re making effective use of your budget.

How often should a website have maintenance?

A website should receive maintenance at least once a year, which generally includes:

• Domain name, SSL certificate, and website hosting renewal
• CMS updates and security patches
• Ecommerce system updates

Now that website maintenance includes more than domain name renewals and website hosting updates, it’s becoming critical for companies to maintain their website on a more frequent basis. That’s why many service providers offer monthly plans.

With a monthly plan, your company’s website receives regular updates, as well as fixes to bugs, content, and images. It’s a proactive approach that helps your site remain accurate and provide users with the latest information on your products, services, and accomplishments.

Why do website maintenance costs vary so much?

Prices for website maintenance have a wide range due to several factors, including:

• Your website’s size
• Your website’s complexity
• Your service provider’s experience
• Your service provider’s resources
• Your website maintenance service selection

While most service providers try to provide a one-size-fits-all package for website maintenance, many sites require a customized service and pricing plan. That’s why WebFX offers several standard packages, as well as the option to customize those plans for your business.

With the ability to personalize your plan, you eliminate the frustration and hassle that comes when working with a company that doesn’t adapt to your needs. You don’t have to argue with representatives or explain to your boss that the provider you chose isn’t the right fit for your business.

Even though pricing is a critical factor, you shouldn’t use it as the deciding factor.

Fixating on website maintenance pricing can result in your company partnering with an inexperienced, unresponsive provider. That’s why businesses need to look at price as a component rather than as a decision maker when comparing service providers.

For example, you may have two potential agencies: one charges $45 a month and the other $150 a month. While the one is cheaper, they also have less experience and fewer team members than the competing company. This difference can result in slower response times and longer turnaround times.

Get your business and your website the best service possible by considering more than pricing.

That doesn’t mean your company needs to exceed your website maintenance budget. Instead, you should partner with a service provider that offers the best service and customer experience, versus the lowest price.

How much does monthly website maintenance cost?

The average price for monthly website maintenance is $35 to $5000 per month. Depending on your business and website, you may spend a different amount. That’s why it’s helpful to use this monthly average as a reference rather than a standard.

To put the variance of monthly website maintenance pricing in perspective, think about the maintenance for a massive and complex ecommerce site like Amazon. Due to the size and complexity of Amazon.com, it makes sense that Amazon would exceed this monthly average.

In comparison, a local coffee shop may have website maintenance fees of less than $35 per month. They have a small, simple site without ecommerce functionality. Plus, they get their SSL certificate for free. Those features simplify their upkeep tasks and reduce their costs.

If you’re searching for an accurate estimate for monthly website maintenance costs, get started by looking at your current expenses. You can find what you pay for your domain name and website hosting, for example, as well as if you have any additional CMS fees.

How much does website maintenance cost per year?

The average cost for website maintenance each year is $400 to $60,000. While you may pay for some services on a monthly basis like tech support and website updates, other website maintenance fees require an annual payment.

A few examples of services that usually require upfront payment for the year include:

• Domain name
• SSL certificate
• Website hosting

When you build your website maintenance budget, your team should research which services mandate upfront payment for the year. This approach allows your department to secure these funds immediately versus over time.

If you’re looking to partner with a service provider for website maintenance, many operate on a per-month pricing plan. WebFX, for example, offers monthly service plans to give your company and your team the flexibility and convenience of modifying your package.

For example, if your company’s launching a redesigned website, you may want to invest in a 24/7/365 website maintenance plan for the month. This package can help your business fix any issues with the new site fast, which ensures an optimal experience for website visitors.

After that first month, your business can then downgrade to a less aggressive plan to meet your needs.

Should I outsource or DIY my website maintenance?

While you can lower your website maintenance costs by managing and maintaining your site in-house, there are some downsides. You’ll need to have the time, for example, as well as the development background to maintain your site successfully.

In comparison, outsourcing increases your web maintenance costs. It does save you time, though, as well as connects you with an experienced developer or development team. You can outsource your website maintenance to freelancers, contractors, or even agencies like WebFX.

Unless you (or your company) has the experience and time to maintain your website in-house, it’s often better to outsource the task. That way, you ensure your site remains secure, accessible, and functional year-round.