How Much It Costs to Start a Self Hosted WordPress Blog?

Everyone knows that hosting your own blog is a costly affair and this question arises in everybody’s mind who just started with Blogging or plan to start with their own self hosted blog. How much it’s going to cost to create a self hosted WordPress blog. In this post, I will point out some of the cost which is involved in the process of set up a WordPress blog.

How Much Does It Cost To Setup a WordPress Blog?

WordPress is one of those platform, where you can start at minimal cost. WordPress software is free and you can download it for free from WordPress.org page. Though, there are some requirements like a domain name, a hosting space which you have to pay for and after that it depends upon your requirement, how much you wish to spend on customization, SEO and other factors.
If your interest is just to start a blog on WordPress, you can start with minimal cost of $60 for an unlimited hosting and domain with Bluehost and Dreamhost. You can learn about all such hosting which is best for WordPress here.

Domain: Cost: $10

This is the first thing which you will be shopping. Having a domain name is like a giving an address to your new website. You need to make sure that your domain name should be brandable and if not, at least keyword rich. One should prefer domains in order of .com, .org or .net.  Domain typically cost this much from different domain providers: (.Com domains price)

• Godaddy: $11.98
• NameCheap: $9.98

Note: before you buy domain name specifically, look at below hosting options. Bluehost hosting gives you one free domain name with every hosting package.
Here are some guide from the past, which will help you in selecting domain name:

Webhosting Cost: 56-100$

This is one major investment that you will be doing in the process of starting your own WordPress blog. I will never suggest to compromise with the quality of Hosting. You should try to get reliable and affordable Webhosting. For a new blog, shared hosting are recommended and here are some of the recommended WordPress hosting along with price for 1 year.

• Bluehost: $69  (One free domain)
• Hostgator: $56 with coupon code

Setting up cost: (Free [DIY] or $99)

There are many tutorials and resources available on Internet which will help you to set up WordPress blog. But if not, here are some of the tutorials which is written by me and you can use it to install WordPress and set up your blog:
You can easily follow our DIY guide above to get things done; in case if you are not so technical, you can take advantage of ShoutMeLoud WordPress services.  You can also refer to our WordPress guide page for more WordPress resources for a newbie.

WordPress Theme cost: (Free to $86)

From my experience, the toughest task is to get the theme of your choice and which is good in terms of speed, price and functionality. There are many free WordPress themes, but they miss out some of the important aspect of premium WordPress theme. If you are looking for low cost solution, I would suggest try Elegant themes or Theme-junkie. In case if you don’t want to compromise on SEO terms, try Genesis theme.

WordPress SEO: $0-$1000

This is something which you will be paying if you wish to start with a professional blog. Many WordPress services offer free SEO optimization while you set up blog for them. Though if you wish, you can always hire a 3rd party SEO company who can do off page SEO optimization for you,though price depends on your budget. For a newbie bloggers, I would suggest, just follow SEO guidelines for WordPress and start blogging. Make sure you don’t miss out any essential elements of on page SEO optimization.  The best idea would be self learning and try out.
Ultimate DIY guide to WordPress SEO (You can use this guide to learn everything about SEO of WordPress blog). You can take help of ShoutMeLoud WordPress setup service to enjoy a free SEO optimized WordPress blog.

WordPress Premium plugins: ( $47-$200)

One of the major benefit of WordPress is a great list of free plugins that you can find at WordPress plugin repo. But, there are many plugins which are available at some cost. Technically you might not need it as a newbie bloggers and with low investment. But if you don’t have any investment issue, you can always grab some of the premium plugins which will help you to boost your on page SEO optimization. Though both the plugins I suggest for serious bloggers and one who have already started making money with blogging, can consider buying premium plugins. I personally use, EasyWPSEO on my blog and I believe they are worth your investment.
Now let me figure out minimum cost for a self hosted WordPress blog where you will be doing everything of your own:

• Basic Set up with Free Theme:  $70
• Basic set up with Premium Theme:  $110
• Professional set up with Genesis theme: $399
• Professional set up with premium stuffs: $499-$1499

As a newbie blogger, one can always look at the basic set up with a premium WordPress theme. Do you have any other question regarding setting up WordPress blog and it’s cost? Do let us know.