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If you’re asking yourself, “How much does it cost to start a blog?”, then you’re in the right place! I’ve been blogging for over a decade and know exactly how much it costs.
I’m going to walk you through all of the expenses you’re about to have when starting a self-hosted WordPress blog.
Hosting: $35.40 + taxes
While there are free ways to start a blog, I believe the best way is to have a self-hosted WordPress blog. This will put you in complete control of your blog.
This means being able to choose the URL, whether or not you want ads, the way your site looks, what functionality you want, and more!
For hosting, I recommend Bluehost. They will give you a free domain name. Readers of That Blogging Couple can get started for as low as $2.95/month for the first year. After that, it will be $9.99/month.
Domain Privacy + Protection: $11.88/year
Unless you purchase this domain add-on, your personal information is made public. This includes your name, home address, email address, phone number, and city.
One time I was too cheap and skipped out on buying this. Next thing I know, my email inbox was flooded with spam. Be smart and purchase this for every website you build!
WordPress Theme: $0-$200
Themes are responsible for the way your site looks. There are both free and premium themes. I personally recommend getting a premium theme.
They come with lots of bells and whistles, are full supported, and quite frankly look much nicer than free themes. The theme that I use for all of our sites costs $75.
WordPress Plugins
Spending money on plugins is where your spending can get out of control. Some companies will try to convince you that you need their plugin, when it actuality you don’t.
There are only two plugins that I recommend purchasing. They are WP Rocket and WP Imagify. They are used to speed up your site so that it loads quicker and reduce image file sizes. WP Rocket costs $49/year and WP Imagify costs $4.99/month.
I should also mention that it’s not recommended to have lots of plugins. The more you have, the slower your site will be. Choose wisely!
Email Marketing Platform
You should start an email list the second you start your blog. It’s the one thing you own that nobody can take from you.
I use Mailerlite and love it. It’s free for your first 1,000 subscribers. Once you exceed that number, it’s $10/month.
The reasons for building an email list are that you can bring people back to your site, promote affiliate offers to them, and sell products and courses.
Optional Expenses
You can start a blog just fine with the things mentioned above. If you want to have more of an edge, then I would suggest these optional expenses as well.
They are marketing courses and a subscription to Canva Pro. Courses have expanded my knowledge and helped me be more successful.
I highly suggest taking a Pinterest course and an SEO course. My favorite Pinterest course is Pinteresting Strategies ($97) and my favorite SEO course is SEO Jumpstart ($197).
Taking both of those courses will help you get started on the right foot! If you plan to use a lot of images, it would be smart to pick up Canva Pro ($9.99/month).
I use Canva Pro for all the images on my site and in all the images that I pin to Pinterest.
Cost Breakdown
| Expense | Cost |
|---|---|
| Hosting | $35.40 |
| Domain Privacy + Protection | $11.88 |
| WordPress Theme | $75 |
| Email Marketing Platform | Free for first 500 subscribers, then $10/month |
| WordPress Plugins (optional) | $49.90 |
| Pinteresting Strategies course (optional) | $97 |
| SEO Jumpstart course (optional) | $197 |
| Canva Pro (optional) | $119.99 |
| Total | $586.17 |
Ready to get started building your blog?
Yay! I’m excited for you. Blogging has changed my life and I believe it can change yours as well.
Starting a blog is pretty easy. I’ve broken down the process into 5 easy steps. Read the site setup guide here.
Conclusion
Now that you’ve read this post you should know exactly what it costs to start a blog. You’ll be spending money on hosting, domain privacy and protection, and a WordPress theme.
When all of these costs have been added up, it equals $122.28. This assumes that you buy the $75 theme I use on my sites.
These expenses aren’t bad when you compare these costs to other businesses out there that you could start. If you’re just starting out, I would start small by just buying hosting, domain privacy and protection, and a WordPress theme.
If you opt to go with a free theme instead of a premium theme, then the cost to start a blog drops down to $47.28.
As your blog grows and it’s something you want to turn into a full-time business, pick up WP Rocket, WP Imagify, Canva Pro, and enroll in the two courses I recommended.
Doing this will add up to $586.17. If there’s something that you aren’t sure whether you should buy or not, let me know and I’ll give you my opinion!
