Monthly costs range between R900 to 5000 or more. In most cases where no major website maintenance is required, you will normally only pay R2400 pm (Incl VAT) for SEO, website script updates, content updates and website speed and mobile optimisations. For ad-hoc maintenance, web companies normally charge an hourly rate between R250 to R600.
Maintaining a website is essential for keeping it up-to-date and running smoothly, but it can also come with a cost (website maintenance cost). If you're not sure how much website maintenance will cost for your business, we'll look at the various costs involved so you can make an informed decision.
Follow these seven steps to help you determine the accurate cost of website maintenance for your specific needs.
1. Estimate Your Website Needs.
Before predicting a budget, you need to estimate your website needs. How often do you want updates to content and design? How often will you be adding new features or updating existing ones? Do you need ecommerce website maintenance? Depending on the size and scope of your business, these costs can vary greatly. Outline your website needs so you have a better idea of the budget it'll require for upkeep. This can help in understanding what kind of maintenance tasks should be included and estimated in the budget. For example, if you already have a WordPress website, it would make more sense to ask for a WordPress website maintenance package so that accurate quoting can be provided for maintaining your WordPress plugins and other website scripts.
2. Gauge the Cost of Content Updating and Management.
Content updating and management is an important part of website maintenance, and can include anything from creating new content to revising existing content. If your business is creating fresh digital content more than once a month, it’s reasonable to include a budget for a content manager or writing services. Be mindful of the resources needed in order to effectively update, manage, and monitor the content on your website.
3. Compare Any Additional Costs of Website Maintenance and Development Services.
One of the most important steps you can take when it comes to cost-effectively maintaining a website is to compare the various services and maintenance packages available and make an informed decision. It’s important to remember that there are many different elements of website maintenance, from software updates, hosting services, and security features . Consider the advantages and disadvantages of each service provider as well as price range for more efficient cost management.
4. Include Prices for Preventative Website Maintenance, Security and Support Services.
When budgeting for website maintenance, it’s a good idea to include prices for preventative measures that help protect the site from bugs, hackers, and other malicious threats. This might include regular updates on software and plugins as well as security support services such as firewall protection and malware monitoring. Also consider factoring in disaster recovery plans, which helps ensure the integrity of the website should disaster strike.
5. Determine Internally Available Resources to Cut Costs Whenever Possible.
Many website maintenance tasks, such as minor code fixes, editing and creating web pages, managing content, and optimizing for SEO can be completed in-house. To cut down on website maintenance costs and make sure you are getting the most bang for your buck, determine which tasks can easily be managed internally with existing resources or outsourced to a reliable third party. Doing this will not only help you save money but also ensure that necessary website maintenance tasks get done properly and efficiently.
6. How to Calculate the Cost of Website Maintenance
Calculating the cost of website maintenance doesn't have to be difficult. With the right information and some basic math, you can quickly understand what it costs to keep your website up and running. In this guide, we'll cover everything from web hosting fees to ongoing updates and other maintenance charges that you need to consider when calculating the cost of maintaining your website.
Hosting Costs
Hosting is usually the biggest cost associated with website maintenance. Depending on your provider, hosting fees can range anywhere from R100 to R900 each month. Keep in mind that the more traffic you have, the more expensive the hosting fees will be. Make sure to calculate both upfront and monthly costs when budgeting for web maintenance. You must also ensure you dont go for the cheapest option as this generally means your hosting account has been given limited server resources and this can impact your websites performance. Take a look at our website hosting services to get an idea of the cost of website hosting in South Africa.
Content Updates
The majority of your website maintenance will likely be updating content, such as text and images. Most websites require some degree of ongoing maintenance to ensure that information is accurate and up-to-date. Improving or changing content also helps keep website visitors engaged and returning. If you don’t have an experienced team member to handle these updates yourself, it may be best to outsource them instead. Consider the quality, expertise, turnaround time, and other variables when choosing a professional service provider.
Security & Performance Monitoring
Website security is an essential part of managing and maintaining a website. Regular monitoring and updating of your site’s plugins, themes, software, and other components are necessary steps to take in order to protect your site from malware, hackers, and other cyber threats. Additionally, performance monitoring is critical for ensuring that the websites are loading quickly enough on all user agents and browsers. This can be done manually using basic tools or via automated third-party services.
Database Maintenance
Database maintenance is often overlooked as part of website maintenance costs. As the core component of your website, keeping your database healthy and up-to-date is critical for both security and performance. Database maintenance includes regularly performing backups, optimizing tables and cleaning unwanted records, as well as running tests to verify that everything is working correctly. Depending on how much data your site stores and how frequently it changes, these tasks could involve significant overhead costs when done properly.
Technical Support
Technical support costs are another important component of website maintenance. If your website has a lot of visitors, visitors who need technical help or if transactions start spiking during unexpected times, you may need to prepare for increased support costs. It is important to pay attention to the time spent on these tasks and factor in any possible new fees or additional personnel involved in order to have accurate estimates. Additionally, having expired website licenses, plugins may affect your website in significant ways that could result in security vulnerabilities—another potential expense caused by lack of proper and timely updates.
Website Cost Calculators
There are a number of online website cost calculators that help you break down the various items that are being charged for by the web design company. These calculators help you in determining the cost of your website by providing you with numbers that you can work with and include in your budget. Try our website calculator included in our web design quote page.
7. Adhoc vs Monthly Website Maintenance
It would be best to consider a fixed monthly website maintenance package over ad hoc website maintenance. The benefits of a monthly package are that your website receives regular updates, which help with search engine ranking. Ad hoc maintenance can be challenging to manage and will require more effort as you will have to request specific updates and changes. A monthly package also usually allows you to negotiate a reduced hourly rate from the website maintenance company.
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