Costs and When is Either the Right Solution?
In Part 1 of this series we discussed having a website on a web builder platform (SaaS or Software as a Service) is like renting a home and using the WorpPress platform is comparable to owning a home (so…renting vs owning you website).
In Part 2 we compared the various limitations and maintenance of each service.
So, overall SaaS can do a lot of things, but as a business grows it will hit walls with what is possible and if you don’t like the service you are with, or if they go out of business then you are stuck rebuilding your website somewhere else, instead of being able to migrate it in tact to another host.
Cost
SaaS
Website builders (SaaS) services are typically very lost cost at first. The average cost is around $25 a month. However, when you start adding on features like SEO, design and e-commerce the price goes up. Many essential features are charged at an additional monthly rate. Sometimes it’s hard to estimate the final cost of a website until it is actually built.
There are no additional hosting and maintenance costs for SaaS platforms because they are built into the monthly costs for renting the website.
WordPress
While WordPress is free, there are other things, with associated costs, needed to build a WordPress website:
- Hosting
- Additional software
- Development
- Software maintenance
Hosting: Hosting can range from $ a month to $$$ per month depending on the service and what is included. Cheap hosting is usually insecure space (shared hosting) and the higher cost hosting is managed hosting (more secure, some maintenance services included).
Additional software: There are over 50,000 free plugins available to add functionality and features to WordPress. However premium software to make a WordPress website work the way a small business wants can also be an added cost. The average pro plugin or theme can range from $50 to $150 per year.
Development: If you aren’t tech savvy WordPress can be complicated to get right. Hiring someone to build, design and develop your website can be an added cost. This price varies greatly and depends on the person’s skills and experience level. A solid well built WordPress website can start at $3000 and go up from there.
Maintenance: Just like your phone and computer, WordPress’ software has to be updated and maintained. This can be as easy as clicking a few buttons until it doesn’t work as expected. Having someone who knows how to trouble shoot and keep a WordPress website working well pays for itself. Because when a website is down, or even slow loading, there is potential loss of sales and leads.
WordPress doesn’t have to cost more than SaaS. It is possible to build a simple small business website using just free software on a lower cost (but secure) host.
When is SaaS or WordPress the right solution?
Because of the low cost to entry SaaS can be the right solution for a new business who may not yet know their target market and are still working out their services.
However, eventually a successful business will outgrow a web builder service b/c it limits what they need to grow their business.
WordPress can grow and scale with a small business. Many of Fresh Eggs’ clients started out on SaaS platforms and moved on to WordPress when they couldn’t add the functionality needed in the way that they needed it.
Because of it’s unlimited customization and SEO power WordPress is better for businesses that want grow, compete in competitive markets and/or do content marketing.
