The true yearly cost of your website

Ask a business owner what their website cost and you get one number, usually the build. That figure is a fraction of the real total, and using it makes every calculation about whether the site pays for itself flattering and wrong.

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The yearly cost of a website is the build spread over the years you will keep it, plus hosting and domain, maintenance and fixes, content and photography, any advertising that feeds it, and the hours your own team spends on it. Staff time is real money even when nobody issues an invoice, and it is the item most often left out.

Why the build price misleads

A website is not a purchase, it is a running commitment. Treating the build as the cost is like judging a vehicle by its purchase price and ignoring fuel, insurance and servicing.

The practical consequence is that businesses compare a one-off number against several years of benefit and reach cheerful conclusions. Spreading the build across the years you actually expect to keep the site is the honest way to start.

The full list

Write these down for a single year. The total usually surprises people, and the surprise is the useful part, because it changes which decisions look sensible.

  • The build, divided by the number of years you expect to keep it.
  • Hosting, the domain, and any security or certificate costs.
  • Paid plugins, themes, form services, booking tools and chat widgets.
  • Maintenance: updates, fixes, and somebody being available when it breaks.
  • Content: writing, photography, video, and the time spent approving it.
  • Advertising that sends people to the site, because it exists to feed the site.
  • Your own time and your staff's time, valued honestly.

The item everybody forgets

Staff time is the largest hidden cost in most small businesses. The hours spent writing copy, finding photographs, attending meetings about the site, chasing a developer, and handling enquiries badly because the process is unclear.

None of it appears on an invoice, so none of it appears in anybody's calculation. Value it at what that person's time is worth to the business and it frequently exceeds the hosting and maintenance combined.

Cheap in one column, expensive in another

Some low-cost arrangements move the cost rather than removing it. A free template that nobody can edit safely becomes a developer call for every small change. A cheap host that is slow costs you visitors who leave during loading.

The question is not what a line item costs but what the arrangement costs in total, including the parts that appear in other columns or as lost enquiries.

What should be counted against the site, and what should not

Advertising that sends traffic to the website belongs in this total, because the two operate as one system, and separating them lets a poor site hide behind advertising results.

Things not primarily about the website, such as printed materials or vehicle signage, do not belong here, even though they influence how many people search for you. Keep the boundary consistent from year to year, which matters more than where exactly you draw it.

Once a year is enough

This is not a monthly exercise. Do it once a year, keep the sheet, and compare with last year's version. The trend tells you more than the absolute figure, and it takes twenty minutes when the previous version exists.

Keep it in the same place as your record of enquiries and work won, since the two halves are useless apart and quite powerful together.

How Licheo handles cost

We do not publish a figure for our own work, because the right scope depends on the business and a number on a page would anchor a conversation that has not happened yet. We give the exact figure on a short first call.

What we do offer is a clear picture of what is included, so the comparison you make is against a real total rather than against a headline that hides the rest.

Part of a larger guide

This page is one part of Website ROI. The other parts:

Questions people ask

What does a website cost per year to run?
It depends on the site, but the honest total includes the build spread over its expected life, hosting and domain, paid tools, maintenance, content, any advertising that feeds it, and the hours your own team spends. Staff time is usually the largest hidden item.
Should I count staff time as a website cost?
Yes. Writing copy, sourcing photographs, attending meetings and chasing changes are all real costs, valued at what that person's time is worth. Leaving them out is the most common reason website returns look better than they are.
Does advertising count as a website cost?
When it sends people to the site, yes, because the two work as one system. Separating them lets a poor site hide behind advertising results and lets advertising take the blame for pages that could not convert.
Is a cheap website actually cheaper?
Often it moves the cost rather than removing it: a site nobody can edit means paying for every small change, and a slow host loses visitors during loading. Compare total arrangements, not individual line items.
How often should I work out the total?
Once a year is plenty. Keep the sheet so next year takes twenty minutes, and store it beside your record of enquiries and work won, since neither half means much without the other.

Know what your website really costs

We give you a clear picture of scope and cost on a first call, so the comparison you make is against a real total rather than a headline.

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