How Much to Pay for a WordPress eCommerce Site?

Is it really cheap to build an eCommerce website using WordPress? And what about that real cost, quality, and customer support?

In today’s world, there are many options and services for website hosting, however, when it comes to WordPress WooCommerce, there are many differences in pricing and features. So, in this guide, we’ll show you the real cost of starting your online store using WordPress.

If you want to start professionally from the beginning, then, you need to focus on a few hosting providers for your online store.

In fact, the average cost of creating a website for selling products online depends on many factors like disk storage, payment fees, SSL, CDN, and more, however, let’s say that WordPress Woocommerce price per month ranges between $30 to $40 or more for VPS and managed web hosting plans.

On the other hand, if you just started and you have a small online store, then, start with $5 a month, and save the other money for marketing, it will be better. You can upgrade any time.

What does every online store need with WordPress?

Unlike regular shared website hosting, optimized Woocommerce hosting for WordPress comes with exclusive features and extra levels of security and support. It doesn’t matter if you want to host a small size of the website or a high-traffic store online.

Everything needs a minimum level of protection, server speed, and optimization. So, here is what you need to look for in a good hosting plan.

SSL for encryption

You don’t need to pay for a separate SSL certificate if you choose a web host like HostGator, they offer a private SSL for free.

Also, you can choose the HostGator business plan for hosting your WooCommerce store. There is dedicated IP, premium SSL for free, professional email hosting, shopping cart integration with PayPal, etc…

However, if you want to host with other companies, make sure you have a professional SSL and not the free one by Let’s Encrypt. It won’t work for small business websites with online transactions.

There are many web hosts that offer enterprise-level SSL certificates with domain validation, business verification, and a green SSL bar that will be shown in the user’s browser.

That’s what big trusted online businesses use and you should also use for your site to have the highest levels of encryption and server protection. There are many differences in WordPress eCommerce pricing, so you have to compare and choose the best one, or use our recommended web hosts and save your time, we tried them for years.

Email hosting

There is no way to show your customers that you own a trusted business and secure website without a professional email that uses your site domain name. If you want to go with a managed WordPress hosting like Nexcess which is the fastest provider, you’ll need to buy the email from another service like Godaddy.

The average cost of professional email hosting is $1.99 per month per user. So, it’s not expensive compared to what your site gets in return in benefits.

The customer support

Don’t neglect the quality of the customer support, please. There are many providers and options with the cheapest prices in the world, but what if you can not help?

The customer support should be available to contact through phone at least, and if you can find live chat and email, that’s great. When you find their phone number busy, there is always another way to reach the customer support department and get help using live chat.

Server speed

This is not an option, but one of the things that can change your way of choosing a web hosting company. WordPress needs lots of PHP and MySQL resources, and if you add CSS, JavaScript, and the server’s response time, problems can happen in no time.

For that reason, there is a need for customized WordPress hosting optimization with accelerated PHP, server caching, CDN, and more. In addition, remember that SSD server storage is faster than HDD and that costs more for the web hosting provider to add to their infrastructure.

So it’s recommended to host your online store on speed-optimized servers with the latest technologies and the best configurations. That’s what can help your site load faster than your competitors and get a small boost in Google ranking.

WooCommerce optimizations

Some web hosting services like Liquid Web offer a fully optimized infrastructure for WordPress WooCommece, so, there is a server-level cache for the plugin static assets, and of course, the PHP will work faster with their configurations.

You don’t need to worry about HTML and CSS minification with that hosting, as everything was built to make your site work faster.

WooCommerce plugin cost

WooCommerce is free and open-source software, exactly like WordPress, so you have to pay nothing for it. However, for customizations, you can hire a web developer to do the job.

Or buy any of their official premium addons that you want to extend the default features of the plugin. But also, remember, that you can find alternative free plugins to Woocommerce premium tools, just search on the WordPress plugins directory and you’ll find a lot of code.

Web design cost

Web design is so expensive these days, but you don’t need to pay for that if you start with one of the best themes that web hosts offer. WP Engine lets you use any of the 35 premium StudioPress themes that are optimized for speed, search engines, and conversion rates.

But if you choose to build a custom theme, then, that will cost $500 at least for a good design.

Other things to look for

The list goes longer, however, if we want to make it clear and short, then, your eCommerce site needs themes from the best companies.

WP Engine, for example, offers dozens of themes from the famous StudioPress company. So, you don’t need a theme with that web host, they give you the best themes for WordPress WooCommerce sites.

In addition, there is a free CDN included and also SSL. In other words, you’ll save a lot of money buying a web hosting plan for your eCommerce site.

If you want to build your email list of subscribers, then you’ll need to add opt-in plugins and luckily, InMotion Hosting offers lots of premium quality plugins and themes. Also, there is a free domain name, free Jetpack premium subscription, and much more.

Conclusion

So, if we conclude, you’ll be charged $40/month for a premium quality eCommerce hosting like Nexcess without any extra level of optimization. Just focus on your site content and product list and descriptions.

On the other side, if you like cheap hosting, then, choose the HostGator business hosting plan that costs $5.95/month.

The company offers lots of themes and designs for WordPress with free domain, SSL, and more options. Later, when your store becomes popular and receives lots of traffic, you can just upgrade to VPS, dedicated servers, or even cloud, there is no problem with resources with such a powerful business web host.