How much does website maintenance cost?
If you’ve found yourself wondering: ‘How much does it cost for website maintenance?’ this guide is for you.
Website maintenance is essential for ensuring your website runs smoothly, stays secure, and continues to provide a great user experience. But how much does it really cost? Whether you run a simple blog or a complex eCommerce store, understanding the breakdown of these costs can help you budget effectively.
This guide focuses on the costs associated with website support with a brief overview of other website maintenance expenses.
The amount you will need to pay for your website maintenance costs depends on many variables. The size and type of your website, its features and functionality, and your industry being just a few.
As a guide, our experience and comprehensive research leads us to the following conclusions:
- Small business websites can have an average monthly maintenance of around £80
- Medium business sites will cost approximately £200 monthly
- A large, corporate website could cost anywhere between £500 – £1,000 per month
- To maintain an effective eCommerce website, it would cost approximately £750 – £5,000
- Ad-hoc support – some providers offer pay-as-you-go services at hourly rates range between £25 and £200. This can also vary depending on the nature of the support required
eCommerce system maintenance
With eCommerce websites, there are additional features, such as inventory management and payment gateways, which means maintaining them can cost more.
You may not need all eCommerce features, so it makes sense to be sure they’re not included at setup and adding to your costs.
As an overview, here are the approximate costs of eCommerce system maintenance in the UK
- Platform updates: Regular updates to systems like Shopify, WooCommerce, or Magento, can vary widely, with Shopify ranging from £5 for the starter plan to £344 for the advanced package
- Inventory management: Maintenance of inventory integrations can cost between £20 to £150 per month, depending on complexity, but these costs can jump when considering custom development
- Payment gateway support: Keeping payment systems secure and updated costs around £30 to £500 per month
When it comes to deciding how frequently your website needs maintenance attention, it will very much depend on the type of website you have. A straightforward blog with few bells and whistles will not need to be updated as often as an eCommerce website. These types of websites should be checked more regularly for any potential security issues and for overall performance.
Most businesses tend to opt for monthly maintenance, to make sure their website is operating efficiently and that there are no matters that need addressing. Like cars, the longer you leave between ‘checks’, the more chance there is of minor niggles which will inevitably hinder functionality.
If budget allows, consider hiring specialists who offer packages. Website maintenance package pricing will vary depending on the provider.
These kinds of packages typically include everything from routine updates to security checks, backup management and technical support.
Other factors associated with website maintenance
While technical support is a key feature of the ongoing costs of a website, other costs need to be factored in such as hosting, a domain name, an SSL certificate, plugins, content updates, digital marketing and more.
Some agencies may not go over all of these costs in detail, so it’s best to know exactly what you need to pay for to keep your website live and serving your audience. We have a guide here on how much it costs to create a business website. You can read it to learn more about these costs to ensure that you make the right decision according to your business needs and your budget.
With a little know-how, maintaining your own website is a viable option. That said, it is not without a few drawbacks.
Our first point is one of the more obvious ones. We say a little know-how. And that’s true, unless you hit a snag. Professional technical support can be a game changer. The fact that you can get in touch with a professional at any given time and work out any technical difficulties you are having, whether you’re in the process of maintaining your website or not, can be worth its weight in gold. When you contrast this with spending lots of time trying to deal with a technical error with no support, it’s clear why using a specialist could be the way to go.
When comparing the two options, the obvious downside of outsourcing your website maintenance is that it does cost. The question only you can answer is: ‘Do I have the time and the expertise?’
At WEBPRO, we see website maintenance costs as an insurance. With this ‘insurance’ you can now sit back and relax, knowing that the risk of technical issues (that could hurt your revenue stream) are greatly reduced and, if they do happen, they can be pounced on right away by a knowledgeable team who can fix the issue quickly. If you don’t have this technical know-how, how much business would you lose if your website was down for an hour? A day?
So, with your website likely being at the forefront of your business, is it worth protecting?
Website maintenance can vary widely depending on the type of website you have (or want to have) and the website support agency providing the service. Smaller, less-complex websites tend to have lower costs, while large corporations and eCommerce websites have added costs due to their scaled complexity and added features. Similarly, if you see your business website rapidly growing in complexity as you grow, this too needs to be taken into consideration.
What’s best for you will largely depend on how much maintenance is needed and what your budget is.
At WEBPRO, we offer all levels of website maintenance packages and would be happy to discuss your requirements or any ideas you may have on how you see things working.
How do I estimate the total cost of website maintenance charges?
Evaluate your needs and the complexity of your website first to give yourself an overview of average costs (with this guide) then, talk to website support agencies and gather quotes. WEBPRO can help with this. You can reach us by phone on 03333 447 300 or email at [email protected].
What affects the total cost of website maintenance?
Prices vary depending on the package’s services and features. The size and type of your website (e.g. an eCommerce site) will also impact the cost. And even your industry can affect it.
Should I pay someone to maintain my website?
Professional website maintenance can benefit any website, but some websites may need ongoing tech support more than others. For example, an eCommerce store needs to be live to serve customers and keep revenue flowing in, while a personal portfolio website may not be impacted much by a short outage. If you have the budget, then go for it! Knowing your website is insured against technical mishaps lets you focus on growing your business!
- We have all the designers, marketers, developers and branders under one roof, so you get everything your project needs from one conveniently placed team
- Our team has been cherry-picked to only include the most experienced and skilled individuals to ensure the very best results for clients
- We only take a personalised approach and promise to treat you and your business as true individuals
When our genius developers get to work on your website, they will ensure it’s built around your business needs and goals. Whether it’s a smaller template website that you need or a larger, more complex bespoke one, our team has the expertise to make it something special. We’ll be happy to host and maintain your new website for you too. You’ll find our website design and maintenance costs offer extraordinarily good value for money.
Our innovative developers can build you a website that has all the functionality you need – and even functionality you weren’t aware you did.
