There are three options when it comes to setting up a WordPress powered site:
| Solution | Details | Your Investment | Your Effort | Your Immediate Returns |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DIY | Just do it yourself by watching these videos and reading my posts. It can be fun and rewarding. This is how I got into WordPress development -when I moved my personal blog from Blogger to WordPress. | $0 | Very High | Medium |
| Packages | Choose my affordable web design packages for: – small business (from $2000) or – online store (from $3000). I charge a fixed price for a fully functional site (or store) with a blog and ready for SEO. Revisions and Basic Training included. | $2000 – $10000 | Medium | High |
| Custom Development | Get a fully customised WordPress site to suit all your business and on-page SEO needs – get in touch for an obligation-free consultation. | $75 per hour | Low | Very High |
What do I need to build a WordPress site?
These are the must-haves when building a WordPress powered website:
Start small. Don't delay.
Watch my video What does a WordPress website cost? or read the post below.
WordPress
When building a WordPress powered website there are a few things we need first of all there’s WordPress, the software to create and manage our content. This is open-source and free and can be downloaded from https://wordpress.org/
Cost: $0
Domain Name
Then you need something called a domain name, a short, easy to remember address that you type into your browser to load a website. For example, you can easily type ‘vjdesign.com.au’ into your web browser to bring up your website. For more information, refer to Domain Name: What is it? and How to register one?
Cost: ~$20 AUD per year
Hosting
Hosting is the process of renting some space on a server to store your website content to be viewable online. You would need to consider RAM (computing power), bandwidth and storage space needed. Since WordPress is a CMS (Content Management System), the hosting company also needs to be able to support PHP (in which WordPress is coded) and a database (to store your data).
Good hosting can impact your page speed which can impact your user experience (and therefore your SEO).
I personally use and recommend SiteGround for Affordable and Quality Web Hosting (they are also recommended by WordPress). Another cheaper alternative for new business or hobby bloggers is Bluehost. Cloudways is another newcomer that is getting rave reviews.
Cost: ~$15 – $20 AUD per month or choose my hosting package (***coming soon).
Theme
GeneratePress is my go-to theme for all of my own and client WordPress projects. Using GeneratePress, I am able to develop a custom design to fit your needs rather than fit your content to a template. Stable coding standards, use of valid HTML, structured data and being lightweight allows your sites to rank higher in search engines (SEO). It is also accessibility-ready (WCAG 2.0 standards). Learn more about My WordPress Workflow using the GeneratePress theme.
Cost: $60 USD per year (this is included for free in all of my web design packages)
Plugins
I use plugins that have been tested, are lightweight and performant.
- Design: GeneratePress Premium and GenerateBlocks
- SEO – Yoast SEO and FAQ Accordion
- eCommerce – WooCommerce
- Custom Development – Advanced Custom Fields, Custom Post Type UI
- Analytics – Koko Analytics or Google Site Kit
- Forms – Fluent Forms, Ninja Forms or Contact Form 7
- Page Speed Optimisation – SiteGround Optimizer, Autoptimize
- Backups – WPvivid or All-in-one migration
Check out my full list of plugins on my Tools page.
Cost: $0 to $1500 per year – depends on your needs
Conclusion
You go the free route and put everything on wordpress.com or Wix. This is only suitable for personal blogs since you need to allow for ads. You will be restricted in your future growth.
If you are serious about your business, budget around $200 a year for a proper website – $20 on domain name charges and around ~$10 dollars per month on hosting charges.
Contact me to set up a basic affordable web design package for you and take that for a spin. You can get additional features custom-developed later.
