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This is an itemized breakdown of the yearly costs associated with starting a blog and keeping it going.
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Running a blog can be a long-term lucrative and worthwhile venture. However, to reach that passive income that everyone is after, you'll have to be willing to make the financial investment. The bad news: The majority of the cost will be required upfront. The good news: There are low-cost options for tight budgets making blogging an affordable endeavor for just about everyone.
We're going to show potential price ranges and our recommendation for each item to give you a better understanding of your potential out-of-pocket yearly cost.
Web Host
You'll need a company to host your blog on. This is the service that makes your website visible to the web and stores the components of your site, like pictures and plugins. This can cost between about $40 a year up to about $1000 a year. Generally, web hosts will give you a better deal if you sign up for multiple years upfront instead of just a 1-year contract. Our recommended service to host your website is Bluehost. Bluehost is a reliable and professional service that starts at less than $3/month and has a bunch of other perks that come with the service. They were PCMag's 2021 Editors' Choice for web hosting and a top recommended provider by WordPress. We found Bluehost's interface to be easy to navigate, and their customer service team was professional and easy to reach. Click on the logo below to sign up at the low price of only 2.95/mo. (Only about $35 a year!)
Domain Name
The domain name is the URL or web address for your blog. This has some importance as it becomes part of your brand and if chosen incorrectly, can do more harm than good. Read our blog post on how to choose a powerful domain name. Once you've done everything we taught you in the blog post to optimize your domain name, now you have to buy it. This can cost you from $20 to $40 a year. There are several domain name registrars to choose from- GoDaddy, NameCheap, and even Google Domains just to name a very small few. Bonus Tip: If you choose our recommended web host Bluehost, you'll get your domain name free for your first year.
Now, truth be told, this is all you need. A place to host the site so readers can read your literary genius and an address to go along with it. However, we recommend some optional choices to help make your site more appealing and functional for both you and your readers.
Recommended
Domain Privacy:
While this isn't a requirement, this can be time-saving and extremely useful. When you purchase domain privacy, which is a separate charge and not included with your web hosting, you prevent your name and contact information from being discoverable in a domain name lookup. Instead, the only thing listed is the name of the web host. This cuts down on an immense amount of annoying emails and phone calls you'll receive as people and bots scrub domain name contacts to add them to spam email and phone call lists. This will cost between $15 - $25 a year. This price will depend on the web host you choose.
SSL Certificate
A Secure Socket Layer (SSL) certificate is a digital certificate that confirms your computer's identity to servers, websites and users.
You know a site is using an SSL when you look at the browser address bar and the internet address starts with "https" instead of just "http". Having an SSL certificate keeps your site safe from many cyber attacks, lets users know that your site is safe, and is essential if you want Google and other search engines to rank your site high in their search results. This can cost you between $6 to $600 dollars depending on what packages you purchase. Bonus Tip: Many website hosts, like Wix and Bluehost, will provide SSL certificates for free for their users.
Site Backup
This can be a lifesaver once you've been blogging for a while to assure that your blog doesn't go from providing a nice bit of passive income a month to $0. Data corruption or deletion due to a cyber-attack or a platform upgrade can be disastrous. Some 3rd party solutions to this will cost you about $25 - $30 a year. If you are running a WordPress blog, then you should check out ManageWP.
Website Design
If you don't have the skills, you'll have to hire someone to design your website for you, which can get pretty pricey. While breaking the bank isn't necessary, the goal should be to make the site look attractive and professional. Like it or not, you will be judged on the look and functionality of your website. Website design can range from the dirt-cheap $100 to a whopping $3000. A cheaper solution would be to either pick up a clean WordPress theme or use the themes that your chosen website host makes available for you.
Brand Logo
An important part of your branding, especially if you intend to monetize your blog. With the right skills and products, you can produce a logo for free. However, if you lack the skill or are just interested in purchasing a logo, you can reasonably expect to spend between $30 - $300. A couple of places you can go for logo creation are Fiverr or 48hourslogo.
Conclusion
As you can see there are a bunch of options to choose from to customize your blog. After taking advantage of savings and deals, the average upfront expense you should expense should be around $250. Keep in mind that many of these expenses are optional. Ultimately, the most influential thing on your blog will be your content. If you focus on providing quality content and value to your readers, it won't be long before you'll see some return on your investments.
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