Having a professional website for your business is essential for online growth and revenue generation. It attracts potential customers to your business and builds credibility among the existing ones. However, simply developing an attractive website is not enough to generate leads. It needs proper maintenance and upkeep to attract the right audience and build brand awareness.After developing a website, many businesses overlook the importance of website maintenance and only invest in it when an issue arises. This retrograde the website ranking and credibility, resulting in a gradual decrease in the number of new visitors.
That is where website maintenance services come into the picture, to ensure a smooth user experience, keeping up with the new market trends, and attracting potential customers. If you are a new business or have built a new website for your business, understanding the maintenance services might feel like a challenge.
This is why WillShall has come up with a detailed guide to help you understand all you need about website maintenance service costs. In this informative blog post, we will discuss–what are the maintenance services, the importance of maintaining a website, essential services involved in maintenance services, and much more.
Keep reading to learn more!
What are Website Maintenance Services?
Website maintenance services consist of the whole process of examining and regularly updating the website. The process involves checking for errors in the website, updating the content, and ensuring that everything runs smoothly on the website. The main objectives of website maintenance are to ensure the website data is latest and authentic, identify errors and weaknesses in the website, and keep the software updated at all times. This dynamic appeal results in a better user experience and protects your website from data and security threats. Website maintenance is an essential process to keep your website organized and reliable for the user.
It helps you protect the website from external threats and build trustworthiness among the audience. So, if you want to retain user’s interest and safeguard your website against internal and external errors, it’s time to invest in website maintenance services.
The Importance of Maintaining a Website
Simply having a website does not guarantee the online success of your brand. To compete in the vast digital market, it is essential to regularly maintain and upgrade the website. It ensures the smooth functioning of your website and enhances user experience through regular upgrades and authentic information. Regular website maintenance ensures:
1. Security from online threats:
Regularly maintaining the website ensures protection against cyberattacks and other threats online.
2. Better user experience:
Maintaining the website is essential for smooth user experience. It attracts potential customers to your website and ensures to retain their interest.
3. Higher Google ranking:
Regular updates and new content indicate relevancy to search engines such as Google, resulting in improved organic traffic and ranking of your website.
4. Competitive edge:
Having a well-maintained website with frequent updates and software upgrades ensures a competitive edge over the competitors in the market.
5. Improved website speed:
The loading speed of a website significantly affects the user experience and improves the chances of retaining the user on the website.
6. Improved Functionality:
Regular updates guard against out-of-date plugins and broken links that could ruin users’ experiences. Plus, it enables the addition of new features to enhance the overall website experience for users.
Factors Influencing Website Maintenance Costs
Here are the factors that influence website maintenance costs:
1. Type of website
The cost of maintenance may vary according to the type of website. For a personal blog, the maintenance charges are fewer than eCommerce or corporate websites. It also varies for different sizes of companies according to the scale of business.
2. Website complexity
The level of complexity of a website also determines its maintenance costs. If you have a simple website with minimum features and content, maintenance costs will be less than a complex website with dynamic features and functionality.
3. Frequency of updates
The frequency of posting new content and updates also plays a role in its maintenance costs.
Technical updates and frequent upgrades are more expensive than irregular basic content updates.
4. External integrations
Integrating any external plugins or CMS is costly and needs frequent updates. Third party mergers usually involve more costs.
5. Additional features
Other than these there are various factors that contribute to maintenance services costs such as adding extra web pages and features on the website.
What are the Essential Website Maintenance Costs?
Essential Website Maintenance Cost
- Domain Name
- SSL Certificate
- Technical Services
- External Plugins
- Email Services
Here are some of the essential costs included in website maintenance:
1. Domain name
Domain is one of the most important costs involved in a website. It costs around $5 to $130 per year for the renewal of a domain name. For those developing websites with a hosting platform may not need to pay a yearly domain fee, however, for a simple website this is an essential cost.
2. SSL certification
Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is a protocol that allows the communication between the system and the user; ‘s browser. An SSL certificate costs around $1 to $70 per year. The costs may vary according to the number of domains on your website. Some of the hosting platforms facilitate free SSL certification with their plan.
3. Technical services
Reliable IT support is essential for the smooth functioning of a website. On average technical or IT support costs around $5 to $300 per month. It is one of the most essential maintenance services as it fixes any broken links, website crashes, and bugs. The costs may vary depending upon the level of technical requirements of a website.
4. External plugins
External plugins in a website improve its capabilities and functionality. On average costs of plugins are $5 to $50 per month. Although external plugins are optional to add to your website, these highly enhance the functionality of the website.
5. Email services
Custom email service per person costs around $1 to $5/month. It allows you to create personalized email addresses with your domain name. For example, username123@domain.com. It greatly helps in building business credibility and customer loyalty towards your brand.
6. SEO and digital marketing
SEO and marketing are an integral part of website maintenance services. It helps your business grow online and get top ranks on search engines. On average the SEO and marketing services costs range from $5 to $500 per month. Digital marketing services include- Seo Services, website optimization, email marketing, social media marketing, and advertising services like PPC and more.
Self Maintenance vs Hiring a Professional
It is possible to self-maintain your business website with minimum costs and additional charges. However, a professional website developer has the technical skills and knowledge to maintain a website. A professional may charge you around $100 to $4000 a month, depending on the number of maintenance services and level of expertise.
Whereas maintaining a website on your own costs you around $100 including the hosting platform charges and fees. Individuals may also opt for any hosting platform for maintenance services that includes an extra fee for each service. Whether you hire a professional for the maintenance services or self maintain your website, the costs vary depending upon the features and level of tech support required in a website.
Conclusion
Maintaining a website is crucial for a business for the growth of a website and brand image. It helps a business build brand awareness through regular content updates and software upgrades. A well maintained website attracts more visitors to your website and enhances its online visibility. As discussed in the blog earlier, many services are involved in maintaining a website. The maintenance costs depend on various factors such as website complexity and expertise of the professional.
I bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to WillShall Consulting with two decades of expertise in Website Design, Development, and Digital Marketing, My journey has been marked by a passion for creating innovative web solutions that not only meet but exceed client expectations. As an avid analyst, I dedicate myself to understanding each customer’s unique needs, ensuring that our web solutions are not just functional but exceptional.