We all know WordPress is free to install and run, but if you want to have a fully functional website with the features and design that you want, you will have to invest some money and of course some time. Luckily, WordPress is super user-friendly and don’t have to spend a whole fortune to hire someone to help you run a website on WordPress. And this is post is all about how to run and manage a WordPress powered website in a cost and time-efficient way.
Before we get to the actual tips,it’s worth mentioning that your costs will depend on what kind of a website you want to build and run. Most probably you’ll need to invest more money in a eCommerce website than in a simple blog.
So let’s go through the general things you’ll need to pay for to run a fully functional website and see how you can save bucks and time along the way.
Domain and hosting
While you can still run a blog on wordpress.com for absolutely free,the free plan is indeed limited it features and functionalities. For a fully functional self-hosted website you’ll need to buy a domain name and pay for the hosting service. These expenses are not high, and fortunately there are various companies that will offer you affordable plans that include both domain and hosting services.
Plugins and Themes
WordPress does not initially come well equipped though. All those social sharing buttons, contact forms, sliders, photo galleries, beautiful themes and various other features can be later added to the website using plugins and themes. The good news is that there are literally tens of thousand of free plugins and themes in the WordPress directory and you can download and use those at absolutely no cost to you. However, to unlock more features of the plugins and themes which oftentimes are the ones you’ll need the most , you’ll need to cough up. Prices of premium plugins and themes vary, depending on the plan and functionality, but you can still find cheaper options for the functionality you need.
SEO
Of course plugins can help you optimize your website too, but there is much more to SEO than setting up a plugin for tags and titles. For your new website to get attention from search engines you’ll need to have a solid understanding of how SEO works. Otherwise you’ll need to hire an SEO specialist to help you with the task. The good thing is that there are still some great SEO services available on the web that are pretty affordable and can help your website get the attention you want.
These are basically the expenses you’ll need to make to run a self-hosted and fully functional website on WordPress. Out of these paid SEO is optional, but you’ll definitely need to pay for the domain and hosting.
Now let’s get to some of the tips I use to get good deals for my WordPress website and save money.
Plugin and Theme Bundles
One way to save money on WordPress is to get bundles of plugins and themes for your website. Those bundles usually provide the essential plugins and themes you need to start off a complete and fully functional website.The number of the plugins/themes in the bundle will vary depending on the company offering the bundle, but as a general rule they come in bundles of over 20,sometimes reaching up to 80 plugins. These bundles are way cheaper than if you get the offered plugins separately, so this is a legit option to get multiple plugins and themes and save a bunch of money at the same time. There are various companies and individual developers offering plugin and theme bundles, so you just go ahead and find the bundle of plugins your website actually needs.
Specialized WordPress Services
Another great way to equip your website with top notch functionality with a budget is to get an all-in-one WordPress service that will take over your site’s management. These services usually include plugin bundles and offer some additional services like backups, hosting, optimization, etc. Again, these services are cheaper and provide an efficient way for managing websites. One of those services is offered by 10Web, which provides a complete set of WordPress management services and tools together with speedy customer support to take your WordPress website to the next level.By activating the service you’ll get a bundle of over 60 premium WordPress plugins and multiple themes. It also provides a backup service, SEO and image optimization solutions, and better performance services with the plan, so it basically covers all the core services you’ll need to run a website.
Moreover, you’ll get a centralized dashboard where you’ll easily manage all your plugins and themes, which is a prerequisite to have things done really quick. 10Web offers various affordable plans, starting at only $12 per month.Also, you can try its 14-day free trial version,and cancel anytime before the trial ends. You can still continue using the plugins even after the cancellation, just not their premium features.
Special offers
On several occasions throughout the year, there are various sales, promotions and special offers available from the developers for premium plugins, themes and other services, and these are great chances to get some great deals paying less. The most famous sale events that also benefit the WordPress community are Black Friday and Cyber Monday,Halloween, Christmas sales, etc. Some companies also offer special deals on their anniversaries and sometimes even random sales and discounts, so you need to keep an eye on your favorite companies and subscribe for newsletters and offers.
Well, this is basically it. These are some simple yet proven to work options to run a fully functional WordPress website with a budget , without having to spend tons of money. If you have your own ways of saving money and time while managing a blog or site on WordPress, feel free to share your tips with us in the comments section below.
