If you are planning on establishing your brand online and creating an online storefront then the very first thing you will need is a website.
A website is the most basic thing you can get if you want to create a brand image and also online relevance and you can move on from there to other means of online relevance.
Today we are going to talk about how you can maintain a website and most importantly the costs associated with maintaining a website.
However, before we start, we would like to tell you that all the costs mentioned in this blog are approximate and can vary depending on the country of origin as well as the market conditions and so many other important factors.
And there are a lot of factors simply because the web development industry is massive.
The global web development industry market size stands currently at nearly $70 billion USD in 2024 and is expected to reach at least $130 billion USD by 2032 with a CAGR of a healthy 80.3%.
The global trend suggests that this industry is only going to grow and expand as new businesses are definitely going to need a website.
Of course, we are going to see traditional websites giving way to other forms of accessing websites in the form of web apps but that too can be included within this industry.
So, let us get into the website maintenance costs associated with smoothly running a website. However, before we do that, let’s understand the reasons why your website might need maintenance.
Reasons For Website Maintenance
Website Running Slow
The first and the most important reason why your website might need maintenance recently is because it is not performing well and you can feel it yourself.
If your website takes too much time to load or the website is unable to load certain sections of content or is unable to load videos or perform the kind of functionalities you require from it then it needs maintenance.
This can be very well understood by the admins of the website themselves and this can have a very negative effect on brand reputation as your clients will not be able to browse the website and make business decisions and it is worse if your website is an eCommerce website because it will directly affect sales negatively.
Website Not Generating Leads
If you feel like everything about the website is alright and even the performance is relatively alright but the website is simply not generating leads in spite of you doing everything according to the books.
This usually happens when there are internal issues with the website which can only be found out during website maintenance audits.
Perhaps there are broken links and perhaps there is incomplete content or something even more serious in the form of missing tags and much more.
Maybe the website is not responsive when it comes to responsive web design on mobiles or maybe there are 404 errors.
There can be a number of issues with the website from bad website architecture to incorrect tracking and a lack of schema markup as well as non-compliant code. These issues need identifying and that is where maintenance can help.
When you perform website maintenance you can also improve the SEO situation of your website which will directly result in leads.
Bad Customer Feedback
If you are getting too many complaints from customers regarding bad navigation or bad user interface or even other issues such as sign-in problems and anything else related to experience then it is time for a maintenance.
These issues can be due to a number of reasons like server errors, confusing navigation, bad site structure, missing pages or even badly designed CTAs.
There can be a number of issues whether functional or aesthetic that can cause problems to your clients when they visit your website.
These issues can only be addressed if you do a maintenance.
Content Reorganisation Overdue
The thing we need to understand about content is that it is not static and it is dynamic which means that content becomes irrelevant over time.
If you keep on hosting outdated content on your website in the form of text or images or any other kind of media or even visual elements in the navigation of the website, this can lead to a downfall in traffic.
One of the quickest ways to improve the relevance of your website regarding the topic of your market is to simply reorganise the content on your website.
This can be in the form of content optimisation like image optimisation for improved page speed or this can even be the removal of irrelevant content that is just not going to bring you any traffic.
Content organisation takes time but it is something that you have to do if you want a smooth-running website that actually performs well and that is where maintenance comes in handy.
Functionality Add-Ons
Just like content, the role of any business or website changes according to market needs and it is a very healthy practice to keep on changing the role of your business and to accommodate new things.
However, when you do that, you also need to keep in mind that your existing website might not have the functionality that is needed for this business role change.
For example, let’s say you exclusively operated offline with a website just to showcase products but now you have decided to also sell products online and that website’s role has been transformed from a catalogue website to an eCommerce website.
This means you need to accommodate new functionality and features such as better security as well as payment gateways and user logins.
When you need to add functionality to your website the only way to do it is with the help of maintenance.
Now that we know why your website might need a maintenance, let us look at the average maintenance costs.
Average Maintenance Costs of a Website
The average maintenance cost of a website depends on a lot of factors and these monthly costs associated with the maintenance of a website mentioned below are approximate and can be widely different from the rates available in your region.
These rates are approximate based on what it usually costs for the maintenance and upkeep of regular websites within a subscription model.
We must also understand that these costs can be significantly reduced if the subscription is for a longer duration like a year or longer.
| Type Of Website | Monthly Associated Costs in USD (Approximate) |
| Simple Basic Website | $10 – $50 (content update, security, troubleshooting etc) |
| CMS-Based Website | $50 – $250 (minor changes, backup management, plugin maintenance etc) |
| E-commerce Website | $100 – $500 (security, several e-commerce optimisations, performance improvements etc) |
| Custom Website | $500 – $3,000+ (UI/UX optimisations, custom database management etc) |
| Functionality Add-ons | $10 – $500+ (payment gateways etc) |
Important Elements That Determine the Maintenance Costs of a Website
Website Design
Oftentimes website maintenance means a website design or redesign because companies usually go for a maintenance when they have an outdated website.
The cost of doing this is quite equivalent to getting a new website because the designers have to create an entirely new website from scratch and they might be able to utilise some elements but the majority of it will be new.
This is where you are looking for rates that are applicable to your region and the type of website you have.
Web Hosting
While this is not really the most expensive element of website maintenance but it can add up if you are looking for something dedicated or custom.
Web hosting can be in the form of shared hosting which will not really cost more than $20 per month but if you want that hosting to be for a high-traffic website then you should get a Virtual Private Server (VPS) which is going to be around a $100 for a really good hosting.
If your website deals with sensitive data and you want the best kind of control then you should go with dedicated hosting which will cost around $200 to $500 dollars or more depending on the hosting.
SSL Certificate
SSL certificates come in all shapes and sizes and while you can definitely work with a basic SSL for almost free but you are not going to get a lot of functionality or security with that.
If you run a website where security is paramount such as a website that deals with customer data on a daily basis then you can get a premium SSL for nearly $100 per year and this will ensure better security.
Plugins and Extensions
One of the other things you must keep in mind as far as maintenance costs are concerned is going to be plugins and extensions.
Clients usually opt for additional functionality to their website when it comes to maintenance and that is where they might need specific plugins for different kinds of edit functionality.
Of course, there are free plugins that might be basic and get the job done in most cases but if you are looking for something that comes with support and updates as well as reliability then premium plugins usually run up to $100. Clients can even request custom plugins which might need to be developed separately and cost more.
eCommerce Features
Maintenance might require you to add E-Commerce functionality to the website of the client and there are a few things to keep in mind when it comes to eCommerce features and functionality.
There is the platform fee that you need to pay and in addition to that, there are additional expenses related to security and compliance. This largely depends on the region of operation.
You might need an extra set of plugins specially created for added eCommerce functionality.
Tech Support
While this strictly does not fall into the category of maintenance because it is a service itself but this can definitely be considered maintenance because tech support is all about being there for the clients during the maintenance cycle and even after it.
This is usually done in the form of different plans for different levels of tech support services. Every level of tech support comes with chat support but the higher up the levels you go the better you get prioritized support.
Marketing and SEO
One of the most significant costs associated with maintenance can be attributed to marketing and Search Engine Optimisation (SEO).
Clients usually opt for maintenance when the website is not performing according to their needs and this means realignment of the SEO and even marketing strategy.
SEO works in different maintenance packages where a basic package can be around $50 per month and something very advanced can be upwards of $500.
In addition to that you can also add other forms of marketing maintenance services in the form of email marketing or social media marketing.
Content updating also falls under the same category of marketing and SEO.
Apart from that, there are a whole host of other important maintenance-based services that can be very important to a website and can transform the performance of a website.
If you are someone looking for a complete website maintenance and overhaul and would like only the finest professionals with nearly a decade of experience in web design and development services including specialised maintenance services to work for you, we are here for you.
We are Think To Share IT Solutions and we are one of the most experienced and finest names in the web design and development industry globally with extensive experience in rejuvenating websites.
In addition to that we are also among the pioneers when it comes to AI integration and implementation services along with specialised experience in cloud implementation services. Additionally, we also provide a whole host of other important IT services.
