Do you have an interest in building a website through the use of WordPress themes? You might have heard about it being free and easy to use. The actual truth is that if you need anything other than a blog, then you should know that WordPress is not as easy as it is made to look. For small businesses, there is a need for business owners to be careful because themes can waste a bunch of valuable time and the hidden charges may blow off your budget.
Examining the Stages of Cost
We are concentrating on the various stages of building a WordPress website which are the design, infrastructure, pre-launch, and contents. Each of these various stages has its own resources and monetary costs outside the cache of the theme price. Being aware of these costs will aid in your decision about the suitability of a WordPress theme for your website.
Infrastructure Set-up
All websites usually have the basic necessities to start up, and this is no different in the case of WordPress. There are some things that are exclusive to WordPress alone; plugins and themes. All these things come with a few unforeseen costs, and that is just to launch it and get it started!
Hidden Monetary Costs
- Web hosting. This varies monthly depending on the reliability, backup solutions, and security features that are provided
- WordPress theme. While there are a number of free themes available on the web, you should know that a lot of quality themes average about $50 annually.
- Domain name. It takes about $10 to register one annually.
- Backup plugins and Security. In case you opt for cheap web hosting, then there will be a need for you to purchase backup plugins and security separately. Also, you can find free ones, but some of the best solutions will cost about $100 yearly.
Hidden Resource Charges
- If you opt for the cheaper hosting and you do not find a way of getting an adequate security plugin to it, then you should know that your websites will be vulnerable to hackers.
- Just as discussed security, cheaper hosts do not cover backups. You will need to purchase a good plugin so that you do not lose precious data.
Do It Yourself Design
WordPress themes are just like their own site builders. They provide you with all the tools that are required to design your own website. This brings several DIY to the idea of employing the use of a theme. However, the major problem encountered is the fact that a lot of them are not as easy as they seem. It takes quite a lot of practice and time to achieve certain customizations.
Hidden Resource Charges
- Learning Curve. WordPress themes are more technical to use when compared with a lot of website builders out there. Designing your own website with WordPress can actually be time-consuming.
- You are likely to get some limitations when customizing your website the way you like. You are only limited to the tools that come with your theme.
- Themes can be described as being a mixed bag of quality. It is quite difficult for you to know which ones are made very well. There is a possibility that you come across a free theme that is perfectly done! And you can also come across an expensive theme that is totally horrible.
- Several themes come with a number of possible modifications so that they can work well for everyone. You tend to end up needing only about 10 percent of what is actually there. This leaves you carrying the extra unneeded baggage reducing your website load time.
Contents and Layouts
While WordPress gives you structure and design customization, it does little when it comes to a proper website layout for a good user experience. Your marketing messages and precise content structure are all in your hands. You can actually end up needing some helping hands which is some additional fee to think about.
Hidden Resource Charges
- This is of great importance when building a website. Where should some certain information be arranged so that they can receive the required attention? The structure of your page. Themes are not usually concerned with all these. There might be a need for you to hire extra hands if you do not want to lose out on some vital things on your website.
- Your website messages should help to market your business to its viewers with precision. If you do not put the right messages in place, then you might not be able to convert customers.
What do all these refer to? Should I go ahead with WordPress for My Website?
This all depends on your website requirement and what you are truly looking for. In case you are interested in Do-it-yourself solutions, have some technical knowledge under your belt, and are drawn towards WordPress because of the control and ownership it gives you over your website, then it is perfectly okay for you. However, if your reason is inclined to the cheaper price tag, then you might just be better off with some other site builder such as Wix or Squarespace. Furthermore, if you are a small business, we do not recommend do-it-yourself WordPress for your site.
The fees scale up too quickly. By breaking the extra costs, you will be required to pay at least $50 every month for your website. Also, this cost does not even cover your time spent in setting up and designing the website.
It Seems Like You are not a big fan of WordPress. Don’t use make use of this powerful web tool?
Yes! We actually do use WordPress, however, you should know that the learning curve can be difficult. We understand how WordPress works and we know just how to utilize it to work best for small businesses. We don’t use premade themes and also limit third-party plugins which make our website fast and secure.
While WordPress has a lot of risks and downfalls, it requires a level of expertise to conquer its negative sides. Decide if you are ready to go all the way to become an expert before employing its use.
