How Much Does it Cost to Start a Blog (in 2024)?

Are you curious about the price of starting a blog?

It varies, is the simple response.

This post discusses the necessary and optional costs associated with blogging, their significance, and money-management advice.

How much does it cost to start a blog?

Starting a blog can be done for free using services like WordPress.com or Blogger, or it can cost between $100 and $200 a year (including domain registration and hosting) for a self-hosted WordPress website. The investment could go up if you need to pay more for premium themes, plugins, or unique design work.

Why Do You Need To Know?

You intend to pursue blogging as a career?

Is blogging a viable full-time business venture?

I posed the same queries thirteen years ago when I first began blogging. I experimented with the backend of the school’s website, learning how it operated on my own, and eventually making blogging my full-time endeavor.

Above all, you need to figure out how to make sure you’re making more money than you’re spending.

The price of web hosting, WordPress themes, content creation tools, and premium plugins can rise up quickly.

You may better manage and allocate your funds by keeping track of your blogging expenses. This will assist you in creating a good income flow and turning your blog into a successful company.

What are the essential expenses of starting a blog?

The worst part is that all it takes to launch a website is about $10 in your bank account.

We are discussing the essential services and resources that you require, such as site hosting and domain registration. You may start a blog with these two items and a free content management system (CMS) such as WordPress.

Domain Registration ($0.99 to $10+)

Creating a working blog starts with registering your own domain.

A website’s domain name, often known as its unique identifier, is its name.

Consider it to be your website’s address just.

The Top-Level Domain (TLD), such as “.com,” “.org,” or “.net,” appears next to a domain name.

The domain service provider you select will determine the cost of your domain. The cost of your domain is also significantly influenced by the TLD you select.

For instance, domains may be purchased for as little as $0.99 on Hostinger—but only for TLDs like “.online” and “.shop.” On the other hand, the cost of well-known “.com” and “.net” domains can reach approximately $10.

Web Hosting ($1.99 to $280+ per month)

Getting your domain hosted comes next after registering it.

A web hosting plan’s price is determined by the functionality and hardware resources you require.

Look for a cost-effective “shared hosting” package that enables you to share server resources with other websites if you want to build a simple website.

A shared hosting plan on Hostinger starts at as $1.99 per month (for 48 months). You could choose the monthly plan, which costs $9.99 per month, for a lower overhead.

I understand your thought process—Hostinger’s rates are quite low.

It’s going to get crazyer soon.

A domain is free when you enroll in a “Premium Web Hosting” package. Make an informed choice because this bonus is limited to $9.99 (in domain value).

Other factors that affect the price of your Web Hosting service: 

• Number of websites: Your hosting package will cost more the more websites you wish to host.
• Additional tools: Professional email tools and website builders are examples of add-ons that could have additional costs.
• Security features: If you want extra security features like SSL certificates and daily backups, you will also need to pay more money.
• Dedicated IP address: For a price, some web hosts provide dedicated IP addresses, which improve stability and offer a little performance boost.

Free platforms for starting a blog

What could be less expensive than inexpensive hosting and domain registration?

Simple Solution: Free Blogging Software.

WordPress.com is a well-known example (which should not be confused with WordPress.org, which is a complete content management system).

Everything you need to start a basic blog is available on WordPress.com. Without spending a dime, you may utilize free themes, publish an infinite number of posts, defend your website against brute-force attacks, and much more.

Pros of a free blogging platform

• Spend your money elsewhere: Start your blog with the money you save, and use that money to get additional content marketing tools. Examples include graphic design tools, social media schedulers, and writing aids like Grammarly.
• Just focus on writing: You may start writing entries right away because everything you need to launch a blog is already available. It only takes a few minutes. This is a big benefit, particularly if you don’t have any prior website creation knowledge.
• Beginner-friendly: The user experience of all-in-one blogging platforms is optimized for optimal performance. Apart from their easily navigable layout, the majority of blogging platforms provide an abundance of educational resources, ranging from instructional videos to “how-to” guides.

Cons of a free blogging platform

• You only get a subdomain: A subdomain is merely a portion of an already-existing domain. You can buy and use your own domain name on blogging services, but that will remove the benefit of launching a “free blog.”
• Less flexibility: Compared to free blogs, self-hosted websites offer far more customization options. You have complete control over your backend, including the CMS and server-side control panel, when you have a self-hosted website (dedicated hosting plan with custom domain).

A self-hosted website’s other elements are likewise easier to access and modify. On a self-hosted website, for instance, you have unlimited access to all of the theme’s files via the control panel once you install it.

Other WordPress.com Alternatives

• Weebly
• Blogger.com
• Tumblr (microblogging)

Maintaining Your Blog: Recurring expenses you should know about

Typically, the expenses incurred for blogging maintenance are identical to those for initial setup. But first, there are two things you should be aware of.

First off, yearly fees are associated with domain registration. You must pay the yearly renewal charge if you wish to keep using your domain name.

Second, in order to attract new clients, the majority of web hosting platforms provide promotional rates.

For instance, your plan will renew at $3.99 a month after your initial 48-month subscription to Hostinger’s Single Web Hosting plan.

You should budget about $10 a month for your hosting service if you chose monthly pricing. That is an additional $120 each year on top of the domain renewal cost.

Optional Blogging Expenses

It’s a fact that investing in extra tools to enhance your blog’s appearance and usefulness will cost money.

You need to give the following some serious thought if you want to fully enjoy blogging:

Professional email (Around $3 per month)

Using your domain name in your email address is the best feature of a business email service.

Your business email address may be “spicy@awesomesauce.com” if your domain name is “AwesomeSauce.com.”

Expert email subscriptions begin at about $3 per month, which is a fair price given that they raise the authority of your site.

Writing Assistants (Free or Around $10 per month)

Despite having built-in spell checkers, word processing programs such as Google Docs and Microsoft Word are infamous for occasionally overlooking mistakes. In my experience, if you write in a conversational tone, they also frequently produce false alarms.

Perhaps the greatest substitute for these built-in tools is Grammarly. It is an AI-powered writing helper that can precisely identify mistakes, offer ideas for corrections, and modify its methodology to meet your particular writing objectives.

Grammarly has a free plan, but the premium version requires a $30 monthly minimum initial purchase (or $12 monthly if you choose annual billing). Check out QuillBot as an affordable option that has an integrated AI rewriter instead.

Premium Themes ($100+ per year)

WordPress and other CMS premium themes do more for your website than merely update its appearance. The majority of premium themes are also made especially for plugins, which are frequently included in bundles.

For instance, Kadence Themes offers premium typefaces, an in-house page builder, starter templates, and a WooCommerce add-on. The Essential Bundle, which starts at $129 per year, includes all of this.

Other, more straightforward themes just need a one-time payment to be used permanently. ThemeForest and other marketplaces often charge up to $60 for one-time purchases.

Premium Plugins

Finally, if you want to add special and practical features to your site without writing a single line of code, you could choose to purchase premium plugins. Here are a few instances:

• Reservation Platforms
• Kinds of opt-in
• Social media analytics and buttons
• Calculators
• Forums
• Internet-based stores

Premium plugins come in a wide range of prices. While some only need a one-time payment, others call for a monthly or annual subscription.

To give you an idea, the annual cost of Social Snap, a premium social sharing plugin, is $39 only. In exchange, you receive access to tools like Twitter cards, link shortening, advanced statistics, and share counters.

Costs of Promoting a Blog

Building an attractive blog with excellent content is only one aspect of the process.

You’ll need the appropriate resources if you want to expand your blog’s popularity.

Here, you have two choices:

Going DIY

You have total control over your blog promotion budget when you handle everything yourself. For instance, you may use free content distribution platforms and take a zero-cost strategy.

You can use the following free blog promotion strategies right now:

• Posts should be shared on social media.
• Publish links to your material in social media groups that you join.
• Engage in Q&A forums and provide answers from your posts.
• Participate in online forums like Reddit to discuss your subjects.
• Send guest posts to websites that are relevant.
• Post your articles again on content syndication platforms such as Medium.

As an alternative, you might set aside money to promote your site more quickly.

Semrush is an excellent one-stop shop for internet advertising needs. You can use it for everything, such as competitor analysis, social media scheduling, link development, and content research.

Semrush is a tool that requires payment; a monthly subscription costs $119.95.

It isn’t inexpensive at all. But in the long run, it can save you a lot of money because it removes the need to buy different tools.

Advertising is another tactic you can try for blog promotion.

Once more, the kind and extent of exposure you hope to attain will determine how much you spend on advertisements.

For instance, you can select from a variety of campaign objectives on Meta Ads (previously Facebook Ads), such as sales, awareness, traffic, engagement, or leads. Additionally, you have the option of setting a fixed budget for the duration of your campaign or a daily recurring budget for advertisements.

The real costs of an advertising campaign might range from $5 per day to thousands of dollars; the choice is entirely yours.

Hiring an External Team to Manage Your Blog Promotions

Think about hiring someone else to handle your blog promotions if you don’t have the time.

Hiring a freelancer to assist with creating, implementing, and overseeing your marketing strategy is a wise decision.

Digital marketing freelancers charge ranging from $50 to more than $2,000 on platforms such as Fiverr.

Hiring a full-service digital marketing agency is an additional choice.

These businesses have teams that can handle multiple blog marketing aspects simultaneously, enabling you to meet marketing goals more quickly.

The disadvantage is that employing marketing firms may come with an expensive cost. Therefore, for inexperienced bloggers on a tight budget, working with agencies is not a wise choice.

Tips to Reduce Your Blogging Costs

In conclusion, it doesn’t have to be expensive to establish a blog.

Ten dollars a month will go a long way. However, you will require a sizable monthly expenditure for tools and services if you want quick, quantifiable outcomes.

You can find yourself shelling out hundreds of dollars a month to expand your site before you know it.

Calm down; there are a few ways to minimize the expenses associated with blogging.

Check them out:

• Take advantage of free trials and free versions: Many vital blogging resources, such as premium marketing platforms like Semrush, are available in free editions. Use them to expand your little blog, then when you start earning money, just switch to a premium one.
• Look for discounts: There’s a strong possibility someone has a promo code you can use if you can purchase it online.
• Focus on the essentials first: It’s not necessary to invest all of your resources in marketing during the first month. Start with the basics, concentrate on producing high-quality material, and grow your blog from the ground up.
• Consider annual plans: Annual plan subscriptions may have greater initial costs, but they can result in significant long-term savings. When investing in blogging software, think about adopting annual billing if you have the money.

Offsetting Blog Expenses: 5 Monetization Strategies you should try right away

Do you want to discover how to cut costs on your blogging expenses?

Make some cash so that your blog can support itself.

Here’s a tip:

1. Affiliate Marketing: You can earn a commission by promoting the items of another firm and making sales.
2. Sell your own information products: Create eBooks, premium material, and online courses that your readers will be willing to pay for.
3. Offer Professional Services: For a fee, market your professional abilities.
4. Become a Consultant for hire: Offer your extensive knowledge, skill, and experience to assist clients strategically.
5. Leverage your authority to grow on other channels: Once your site starts to receive some attention and authority, use simple monetization platforms like YouTube, Twitch, or Patreon to promote your other channels.

Does your niche affect your blogging expenses?

Yes, but not always. Your blogging expenses may be impacted by your niche.

It depends on the features your website needs and the cost of the resources you need to create content. You may be able to make anywhere from $50 to over $2,500 a month in some sectors.

For example, travel bloggers might invest more cash in creating content than other types of bloggers. Travel bloggers spend about $2,415 a trip, according to a survey.

To a lesser extent, bloggers in the following niches might be regarded to fit the same description:

• Food 
• Tech reviews
• Photography
• Construction/DIY home renovation
• Cars

It’s true that you can still start blogs in these categories without spending a fortune on content development. But, you’ll have a significant disadvantage over other bloggers that invest money and time in creating unique, insightful content.

The additional software you require may also vary depending on the blog niche you choose.

For example, recipe plugins can be purchased by food bloggers who write about cooking. That alone bumps up a blogger’s costs column by an additional $50 to $150.

Conclusion

These are the costs that you should anticipate while launching a blog.

Focus on necessities like domain registration, site hosting, and a dependable content marketing tool if you want to minimize the expense of your blogging. When your blog starts to take off, think about expanding with other services like professional email services, writing assistants, premium themes, and marketing staff.