One-time costs and recurring costs
First separate what you pay once from what repeats, because that difference decides the total you spend:
- Build (one-time): design, CMS setup, mandatory media pages such as the Editorial Team and Cyber Media Guidelines, and basic SEO setup.
- Moving old articles (one-time): if you are switching from a previous website or CMS, usually priced by the number of articles.
- Domain (yearly): the website address, renewed every year at the registrar’s price.
- Server and hosting (yearly or monthly): where the website runs; its capacity decides how many visitors it can serve.
- Upkeep and support (recurring): security updates, backups and help when something goes wrong.
- Extra features (as needed): e-paper, a mobile app, ad slot management.
What decides the price the most
Two quotes that look the same can differ widely because of the following:
- Traffic capacity: a media site with large traffic needs a stronger server, and that is a recurring cost.
- Level of design customization: a look tailored to your media identity costs more than a standard template.
- The number of articles moved and how clean the old data is.
- Special features such as per-edition e-paper or a mobile app.
- Who handles the technical side: you yourself, or a provider that is responsible for the server and security.
Count the second-year cost, not just the first
Many cheap quotes cover only the first year. The following year brings renewal costs for the server, domain and support that were not mentioned at the start. Ask for the second-year costs in writing, then compare the two-year total, not the price on the front page.
Also ask what happens when the initial support ends: whether help is still available, at what rate, and whether that rate is agreed before you need it.
Visitor capacity: cheap hosting can be overwhelmed
A news website’s traffic is not even. One story that gets shared widely can bring several times the usual visitors within hours, exactly when the most readers arrive. A server with limited capacity makes the website slow or unreachable at that moment.
Before paying, ask how many visitors per month the package serves and what happens when the limit is exceeded. Use the Google Analytics or Search Console data of your own media as a guide rather than a guess. Oversized images also weigh on the server, so compress images before uploading.
Questions to ask before you pay
This short list helps you compare providers fairly:
- What is included, and what is not?
- What is the cost in the second year and after?
- What is the visitor limit, and what happens if it is exceeded?
- Who owns your domain and content? Can articles be exported at any time?
- Who replies when there is a problem, through which channel, and at what hours?
- How are old articles moved, and are old addresses redirected so rankings are not lost?
Two cost models at Tipamedia
For media websites we offer two models. Pay once: we build your website, and the server and initial support are included for a set period, followed by a light yearly renewal. Monthly subscription: we manage the server, security and backups on an ongoing basis, with capacity that adjusts to your media’s traffic.
What each package includes, its visitor limit and its price are shown openly on the media website service page, so you can work out the numbers yourself before contacting us.