Guide for businesses
How much does it cost to maintain a website each year?
By Alex MG Studio · · 5 min read
Quick answer
Keeping a small business website up to date costs, as a rough guide, between €250 and €600 a year including the domain, hosting and a basic maintenance plan, and more for an online shop or a WordPress site with lots of plugins. The domain and hosting should always be in your business’s name.
A website is not something you build and forget. Opening hours change, prices go up, there are new photos and Google rewards well-kept websites. These are the usual costs.
The costs of a website, one by one
| Item | Guide cost | Necessary? |
|---|---|---|
| Domain (.es or .com) | €10–20 a year | Yes |
| Hosting | Depends on the provider and the type of website | Yes |
| SSL certificate (the https padlock) | Included with most hosting | Yes |
| Professional email ([email protected]) | €1–6 a month per mailbox | Highly recommended |
| Maintenance plan | €15–80 a month | Highly recommended |
The domain: in your name and always renewed
It’s the name of your website. It is renewed every year and, if you forget, the website and email stop working and someone else could register it. That’s why you should:
- Register it in your business’s name, never in the designer’s.
- Turn on automatic renewal.
- If you have maintenance, your designer should warn you before it expires.
Hosting: also in your name
Hosting is the server where your website lives. As with the domain, ideally the account should belong to your business and the designer should publish the website in it. That way the website is 100% yours and you don’t depend on anyone to stay online.
The cost depends on the provider and the type of website: a light, well-optimised website needs much less than a WordPress site with an online shop.
Why a maintenance plan is worth it
An out-of-date website gives a bad impression: old opening hours, prices that no longer apply, photos from years ago. A maintenance plan takes that problem off your hands:
- Changes without waiting: opening hours, prices, photos or text, just by sending a message.
- Regular checks: that the buttons, the form and the mobile version work.
- Peace of mind: domain renewal reminders and backups.
- Continuous improvement: small SEO tweaks to keep climbing on Google.
Without maintenance, each change is quoted separately and, in practice, the website ends up out of date.
Example: what a local business website costs per year
- .es domain: around €12–15 a year.
- Hosting: depending on the provider you choose.
- Maintenance at Alex MG Studio: €19 + VAT a month (€228 + VAT a year).
- Total: around €250 a year plus hosting, less than €1 a day to keep your website always up to date.
And at Alex MG Studio? I work with three fixed-price plans for businesses all over Spain:
- Basic Plan, €149 + VAT: a one-page, mobile-friendly website with WhatsApp and call buttons, published on your domain.
- Business Plan, €290 + VAT: all of the above plus persuasive copy, local SEO and set-up in Google Search Console.
- Pro Plan, €490 + VAT: everything above with several pages, bookings or a calendar and custom animations.
- Optional maintenance, €19 + VAT a month: monthly changes, checks and backups, with no minimum term.
Payment: 25% when we start and 75% before delivery. The domain and hosting are registered in your business’s name, so the website is 100% yours.
See what each plan includes or request a no-obligation quote.