How Much Does Website Maintenance Cost Per Month
If you’re a business without a website, you could be missing out on potential leads and conversions. In this modern era, most customers are using digital platforms to look for a specific product or service. Hence, ensuring your website is well-maintained could do wonders for your overall business growth. If you’re not sure how much does website maintenance cost per month, in this article, we go in-depth on everything you need to know.
What is website maintenance?
Website maintenance involves the process of monitoring the website on a frequent basis to ensure it is up-to-date and free from any issues. Some of the common website maintenance tasks include updating the themes or plugins and ensuring the website loads quickly. With a well-maintained website, you can prevent any serious problems and make sure it runs at optimal performance.
What is typically included in website maintenance?
It depends on the type of website maintenance as it differs from one package to another. There are two most common types of website maintenance which are:
- Basic website maintenance: This involves minor issue fixes, standard data backups, and basic content updates.
- Advanced website maintenance: This involves advanced technical fixes, security enhancements, SEO optimization, and so on. The website maintenance tasks are more in-depth and technical.
How often do I need website maintenance?
There’s no one-size-fits-all solution to how often should you perform website maintenance. A good rule of thumb is to ensure monthly website maintenance checks are being done. If you have a more complicated website, a weekly check should be performed.
It all depends on the size of your website and the functionalities included. For instance, a larger website may require frequent website updates or speed optimization as the heavy load could slow down the speed over time.
How much does website maintenance cost per month?
The overall website maintenance cost per month depends on several aspects of the website. Here’s a rough breakdown of the standard costs of website maintenance:
1. Domain Name
Firstly, the domain name is the most important aspect of a website. Therefore, it’s important to include it in any website maintenance service. The average cost to renew a domain name every year is around RM80 to RM200.
2. Website Hosting
The second most important aspect of a website is hosting, which stores all your website’s data and allows customers to access it online. The cost of website hosting varies depending on the provider, features, storage space, and hosting type (shared hosting, cloud hosting, VPS, or dedicated hosting). On average, it can range from RM300 to RM5,000 per year.
3. Website Updates
As your business grows over time, the information or products and services offered will vary as well. Hence, frequent website updating is required to ensure all of the information is up-to-date. The standard website updates include changing the photos or product information. On average, the website maintenance cost for this will be RM500 to RM3,000 a year, depending on the overall workload.
4. Plugins, Themes & Software Updates
Themes, plugins, and software updates are important as without updating them, your website may not be able to function well. They require frequent updates whenever necessary as without updates, they will be prone to vulnerabilities or low performance. The average cost will be up to RM1,000 annually. However, it also depends on the overall updating required.
5. General Technical Support
This involves troubleshooting any unforeseen errors or glitches and requires urgent care. Usually, this will be charged per man hour starting from RM200 per hour. However, it depends on how complex the issue is. If the issue or error is complicated, it could be RM800 per hour.
6. Data Backups
Though the process of data backups differs based on website size, on a standard scale, the basic backups are usually performed on a weekly basis. If you require daily backups, then the cost will be more expensive. Data backups are usually included in a standard website maintenance service. If you only require website backups, the providers will probably charge per hour, which starts from RM100.
7. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of optimizing a website to appear higher on search engine results. If you wish to dominate your niche and be on the first page of search engines, you need to perform several SEO strategies to boost your rankings. The average cost per month is from RM500 to RM2,000, depending on the overall deliverables.
8. Security Scans or Maintenance
Since websites are prone to cyber attacks or threats, it’s important to ensure that security measures are top-notch. Website maintenance services usually include regular security checks with the latest technology to prevent any potential breaches. This service is included in most standard website maintenance services. Hence, the average cost will be per hour and starts from RM100.
Conclusion
All in all, after knowing more about how much does website maintenance costs per month, you might want to begin investing to maintain the overall upkeep of your website. On average, most websites no matter how big or small, require website maintenance on a frequent basis. Check out and explore more about the reasons as to why a website is important for any business.