How Much Does It Cost To Start a Blog? Calculating Initial & Ongoing Fees - Ippei Best Online Business

It costs around $39 to $1,748 to start a blog. This is the initial first-year expense that you incur from using basic internet services. These include domain name registration, web hosting, and blogging platforms. Your monthly cost after the first year ranges from $3.25 to $101.67 per month. Initial blogging costs depend on the type of blog you create, according to Ryan Robinson.

However, running a blog involves other factors like cybersecurity, website personalization, and accessibility. You need to consider ongoing costs to keep your site secure and optimized for your users. The recurring cost of blogs ranges from $93 to $2,324 per month. Some service costs are optional, like SEO tools and content creation platforms.

Gillian Perkins has over 7 years of blogging experience. She says anyone can start a blog for as low as $12 for domain name registration (plus a $4 monthly hosting cost). Gillian recommends using free platforms for website themes, email marketing, and site management. These include WordPress, Webflow, and MailChimp.

One Redditor mentions spending $70-$75 yearly for domain name and hosting. Another individual reveals that he pays $320 per year. It’s more than the average cost of blogging. But, he says that writing is more important than working on custom website design.

While blogging entails monthly or yearly costs, it also generates sustainable income. As per Vision Factory, inexperienced bloggers can make up to $500 monthly. Alternatively, 5- to 10-year-old blogs can generate $5,450 monthly on average (Productive Blogging). This is the primary reason I switched to making niche websites in 2014. I only spend $10 to $50 on a single site, but I make $500 to $2,000 monthly for each one.

This article dives into the initial costs of starting a blog, like domain name and web hosting. We also discuss other blogging expenses, such as premium themes and plugins. Plus, we feature online website services like Blue Host, Squarespace, and Namecheap. Finally, we reveal the best way to make money online with content creation.

What are the Main Costs To Start a Blog?

• Domain Name Registration. As per Shopify, domain names cost $10 to $20 yearly. However, some domain service providers offer promos. For example, Namecheap has a 57% discount on new customers. You pay $6.49 for the first year instead of $14.98. This is the cost of legitimizing your blog’s digital space. Domain names act as the online identity of your website. Some common top-level domains (TLDs) are “.com” and “.org”.

• Website Hosting Costs. Ryan Robinson reveals that web hosting plans range from $3 to $100 yearly. This depends on your storage, bandwidth, and technical requirements (Shopify and Hostinger). Consider your budget and expected site traffic. Web hosting services allow you to store your website data and files on the internet.

• Blogging Platform/Content Management System. Website builder fees range from $0 to $528 yearly. Some service providers offer 28% to 31% discounts on annual memberships, like Squarespace. Blogging platforms provide tools for website customization, monitoring, and optimization.

What are the Other Expenses Involved in Starting a Blog?

• Premium Website Themes and Templates. These are the overall layout of a site’s color palette, fonts, and content blocks. They come in one-time payments for licenses or yearly plans. The price for web themes depends on the complexity and aesthetics of the design.

• Premium Website Plugins. These are the customizable functions of a website. They are also called web applications or extensions. Some website plugins are free, such as Akismet and UpdraftPlus.

• SSL Certificate. A “Secure Sockets Layer” certificate is a digital verification of a secure connection. It encrypts the link between the website and the user. You see this before the subdomain as “https.”

• Website Maintenance. It is a service that monitors and resolves website issues and glitches. These include data backups, bug fixes, software updates, and many more. Web maintenance services improve a website user’s experience.

• Content Creation Tools. These are apps and software for generating written content, visuals, or other media. Most of these platforms are AI-powered, like Claude and Google Bard. Some have broad editing capabilities, such as Adobe Illustrator.

• Paid Stock Photos and Videos. These are pre-made media assets sold by content creators. Stock videos and photos help bloggers find relevant content without actually making them. Buy the license for these assets on a packaged, monthly, or yearly basis.

• SEO Tools. Search engine optimization platforms improve a blog’s performance through in-depth monitoring. They provide site reports for technical issues, improvements, traffic, and more. SEO tools also optimize your web content for better online and search engine visibility.

• Email Marketing Platforms. These are tools and services for creating and sending email campaigns. Bloggers use these to send new content features to their audience or subscriber base. Email marketing platforms improve blog engagement and traffic.

How To Calculate the Cost To Start a Blog

• Add all the initial and other blogging costs.
• Compute the yearly and monthly pricing.
• Disregard any cost that doesn’t apply to your blogging process.
• The final total is the amount you pay monthly/yearly.

What Factors Affect the Cost of Starting a Blog?

• Skill Set. Knowledge of technical and creative skills lowers your potential blog costs. It eliminates the need to purchase a platform or hire professional services. Having good blogging-related skills improves audience engagement and online reputation. Some popular skills include:

• Search engine optimization (SEO)

• Proofreading and research

• Web design and development

• Graphic editing

• Branding and marketing

• Photography and videography

• Time Investment. Bloggers who have extra time can take on more tasks. They reduce potential ongoing blog costs like automation and analytics tools. Investing time to learn new platforms slashes your working hours and startup costs. For example, most bloggers don’t have the technical proficiency to develop their sites. They use drag-and-drop website builders instead. This adds $10 to $20 monthly (Hostinger Tutorials).

• Audience Base. Well-known individuals spend less on marketing costs to expand their reach. People who don’t have an established audience base require more advertising. WebFX reveals that paid ads cost $100 to $10,000 per month. Audience volume is also pivotal. Higher traffic requires better web hosting plans.

Can You Start a Blog for Free?

Yes, you can start a blog for free if you use subdomains and software trials. In fact, WordPress has a 61.8% market share among all free blogging platforms (W3Techs). When you use subdomains, you add the platform name on the suffix of your root domain. It shows like this:

“https:/www.yourblogname.myshopify.com”

Some website builders like Wix even offer free website hosting and themes. However, these versions have limited bandwidth (500MB) and storage (500MB). Most features are also not included, like customer support and website personalization. The same goes for free blogging tools, such as Substack and Google Analytics.

Some of the best platforms to start a blog are:

• WordPress
• Blogger (also known as Blogspot)
• Wix
• Tumblr

Can You Make Money Online With Blogs Despite Their Cost?

Yes, you can make money online with blogs despite their cost through:

• Advertising revenue. Earning ad revenue is per 1,000 views or Revenue Per Mille (RPM). For example, Google AdSense’s average RPM is $5 to $15 (Ranktracker).
• Affiliate marketing commissions. As per AffiliateWP, Amazon Associate commissions range from 3% to 12%.
• Product and service sales. Top examples of these are ebooks, online courses, and memberships. For example, ebooks generate an average of $2-$5 per sale (Publishing.com).
• Sponsored posts. Income from this monetization method depends on a blog’s pageviews. Productive Blogging says that blogs with less than 10K pageviews earn $350 on average.

According to Millennial Money, successful bloggers who have been running a site for over two years can earn over $8,300 monthly. They can make around $500 to $2,000 per month in their first year.

Is Local Lead Generation a Better Alternative to Blogging?

Local lead generation is a better alternative to blogging because it focuses on a specific audience. In fact, 32% of consumers use local searches multiple times a week to find businesses (BrightLocal’s 2023 survey). Blogging is more generalized and niche-based. Your income relies on your performance, such as utilizing sponsorships and affiliate marketing. Maintaining a blog entails monthly recurring costs. If you don’t make enough income to cover your expenses, you end up with a negative cash flow.

The local lead gen biz model offers a more sustainable income because of a stable demand for leads. You target locally in-demand services, so you have less competition. Potential customers from these local areas have a high intent to buy. You get better online presence, traffic, and conversions. First, you need to build niche websites for each service. Next, you use local SEO to rank these sites organically on search engines. Once it ranks on Google, you get high-quality leads at zero cost.

I’ve been doing local lead generation for over 10 years, earning more than $50K monthly. Each of my local sites generates around $500 to $2,000+ in passive income monthly. Local lead gen brings in 80% to 95% in profit margins without the demanding nature of blogging.