How Much Does A Blog Cost Anyway?

Fotolia 6651012 XS How Much Does A Blog Cost Anyway?

Over the past few months, I’ve had several conversation with folks asking how much a blog like mine costs on a monthly basis.

Here is a breakdown of my actual monthly costs:

  • Domain Name: $9.99 Per Year / $.83 Per Month
    • Most hosting companies offer domain registration as a service.
  • Hosting: $80 Per Year / $6.66  Per Month
    • I use Knownhost which gives me a huge amount of bandwidth for this price.
  • Headway Theme: $87 for Life
    • I can use the forum and the theme until I’m dead.
  • Email Marketing Service: $29 Per Month
    • I use Aweber for too many reasons to cover in this post.

Total monthly cost: $36.64

Note: The monthly cost for Headway ($.15) assumed that I’ll live another 50 years.

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  • http://www.atypical.ca jasoneano

    your discounting your physical time to produce content. and for the industry to sell the tool for an organization the labour associated with the production is a paramount cost.

    The tools of today are cheap, the skilled needed to make the tools work properly is the true cost.

  • http://www.corporatedollar.com johnscotthaydon

    @jasoneano – I totally agree. Most non-profits, however, are unaware of this low barrier for entry.

  • http://vikduggal.com Vik Duggal

    We go around talking like running a blog costs nothing. It’s the two cents, the time, our mind at work doing, etc.

    At $36.64 I think there’s something else that prevents people from running a blog… Do they really think that it costs a lot??

  • http://www.virtuallyyoursllc.com Sandi

    Interesting post. I actually don’t consider the cost of my Aweber service or my hosting when I think about the cost of my blog. Since my blog is a subdomain of my main site, those costs are calculated under expenses for my main site. My blog is simply an avenue to draw visitors to my site, and offer an opportunity to interact with my market. It’s a marketing strategy that costs nothing more than my time and knowledge. So, in my eyes, my blog is free in terms of actual monetary costs.

    @Vik,

    I don’t think it’s so much that people think a blog costs alot. I think they equate it one of two ways. A professional blog, to the novice, is just another website & websites cost money when you consider having it designed, hosted, maintained, etc. The other way many novices view blogs is a free, online, fluff-filled, personal diary. There are misconceptions about running a blog, just like there are misconceptions about most anything else. What you don’t know can be intimidating. When you’re intimidated by something, you’ll rationalize it anyway you can to justify avoiding it or putting it off.

  • http://www.thejimgaudet.com/blog Jim Gaudet

    You should change your hosting. Seriously, $6.66, that’s a bad sign. Or upgrade to get rid of that number…

  • http://www.corporatedollar.com johnscotthaydon

    @Vic – I think some non-profits think it costs a lot more. And yes, there are many other things they consider beyond the cost.

    Sandi – Excellent point. Again, this post is meant to clarify monthly costs – not blood and sweat costs. You said “websites cost money when you consider having it designed, hosted, maintained”. That is precisely why hosted blogs (like WordPress.Org) are good alternatives to traditional websites – they can do everything a website can do AND, generally speaking, are cheaper to maintain.

    Jim – Change my hosting company over $6.99? We’re talking US Dollars here…

  • http://www.thejimgaudet.com/blog Jim Gaudet

    Not the price, sorry you misunderstood me. I meant the number 666 is the Devil’s number…. A bad OMEN..

    solo un broma (only a joke). That’s a good price, just a bad number…

  • http://www.corporatedollar.com johnscotthaydon

    @Jim – D’Oh. Got it. LOL

  • http://chenpn.com pelf

    John, perhaps you could write another post that details the budget that one needs to start a non-profit blog/site?

    For example, for somebody who’s only considering a blog/site for their non-profit organization, the Aweber subscription may not be necessary (because you begin with little subscribers, and the fact that Aweber costs money). Plus, you could send a simple email to your subscribers in the first few months or even a year (and that email serves as a newsletter too).

  • http://chenpn.com pelf

    Yeah, I see the point. But other people (who are just starting a NPO website) may not know, so that was why I suggested that you write a post that details the budget that one needs to start a non-profit blog/site (because you have a HUMONGOUS following), LOL.

  • http://www.EMTAH.org David Caria

    John, thanks for all the info you put out. I am a silver surfer voluteer with a small nonprofit, EMTAH. The latest nonprofit project is just getting started and we do not yet have much money. Your info on social media is new to us and very helpful. Each of your postings is adding to our knowledge and is getting us closure to setting up for social networking. Thanks, Dave

  • http://www.willieplasencia.com willieplasencia

    John,

    Great article.

    Appreciate the info.

    • http://www.johnhaydon.com johnhaydon

      You're welcome!

  • itjobs1

    My blog is simply an avenue to draw visitors to my site, and offer an opportunity to interact with my market. It’s a marketing strategy that costs nothing more than my time and knowledge. So, in my eyes, my blog is free in terms of actual monetary costs.

  • sandyxxx

    It's good to know your stand towards this comment thing going on. I've visited some design sites before that I find have repetitive comments from visitors, might be one of those you were pertaining to.

    good deals–

  • http://www.vpswebserver.com Vps Hosting

    I wonder why should we use a Thesis theme? Is it bad if we just use free themes?

    Thanks for your advice..

    • http://www.johnhaydon.com John Haydon

      No – free themes are great. But they often need to be tweaked with code in
      order to get them to look the way you want. That said, Headway is way more
      than just a WordPress theme. It's more like a website development engine.

  • http://DCincome.com/blog TJ Corruthers

    well I think this will depend on the blogs content and reputation

  • http://www.extremehost.ba/web-hosting.html web hosting

    I would like to thank you for the efforts you have made in writing this article. I am hoping the same best work from you in the future as well. In fact your creative writing abilities has inspired me to start my own BlogEngine blog now. Really the blogging is spreading its wings rapidly. Your write up is a fine example of it.

  • http://www.extremehost.ba/web-hosting.html web hosting

    I would like to thank you for the efforts you have made in writing this article. I am hoping the same best work from you in the future as well. In fact your creative writing abilities has inspired me to start my own BlogEngine blog now. Really the blogging is spreading its wings rapidly. Your write up is a fine example of it.

  • http://www.edwardbeckett.com Florida SEO

    “It’s a marketing strategy that costs nothing more than my time and knowledge. So, in my eyes, my blog is free in terms of actual monetary costs. ”

    I guess you don’t value your time very much …

    TIME IS MONEY

    At least my time is …

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    Everybody should follow blog posting.

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  • http://www.corporatedollar.com johnscotthaydon

    @Pelf – Good point on the email. Actually feedburner and feedblitz are free. Both are good for starters. When a non-profit starts getting over 1,000 subscribers, they may way to start segmenting lists – that’s where Aweber can help.