When most people think about the cost of a practice website, they think about the build. Someone designs it, someone develops it, you pay the invoice, and it's done. That's the sticker price. But it's not the full picture.
A website is more like a lease than a purchase. There's a monthly cost to keeping it online, maintained, and -- most importantly -- useful. Here's a breakdown of what actually goes into the total investment over time.
The Components
Every practice website has a few recurring cost layers, whether you're on WordPress, Squarespace, Wix, or a custom build:
Initial design and build. This is the upfront cost everyone thinks about. It ranges widely depending on who does the work and how much custom design is involved.
Hosting and platform fees. WordPress sites need separate hosting. Squarespace and Wix bundle hosting into a monthly subscription. Either way, you're paying for it.
Domain renewal. Usually $10-20/year. SSL certificates used to be a separate line item, but most platforms include them now.
Plugin and theme licenses. WordPress sites often rely on premium plugins for forms, SEO, security, and backups. These renew annually. Managed platforms don't have this cost, but they have their own subscription tiers.
Content updates. Adding new services, updating provider bios, posting educational content -- someone has to do this. If it's you, the cost is your time. If it's an agency or freelancer, it's billable hours.
Technical maintenance. Software updates, security patches, broken links, compatibility fixes. WordPress sites need this more often than managed platforms, but no site is maintenance-free.
SEO. The work of making sure patients can actually find your site when they search for what you do. This isn't a one-time task. It's ongoing.
Typical Ranges
These aren't precise quotes -- they're ballpark ranges based on what practices commonly spend across different approaches:
DIY template (Squarespace, Wix): $200-500/year in platform fees. Your time for setup and updates. Often the lowest out-of-pocket, but highest in personal time investment.
Freelance build (WordPress or custom): $2,000-8,000 upfront, plus $50-200/month for hosting and maintenance. Content updates are usually billed separately.
Agency: $5,000-25,000+ upfront, plus $300-1,000/month for ongoing retainer. More hands on deck, but also more overhead in the price.
Managed service: A flat monthly fee that covers the build, hosting, updates, and sometimes SEO. Costs vary, but the model shifts the website from a capital expense to an operating cost.
None of these approaches is inherently wrong. They're tradeoffs between money, time, and control. The right fit depends on what your practice can sustain.
The Cost Nobody Tracks
Here's where it gets interesting. The biggest cost isn't in any of those line items. It's what happens when nothing happens.
A site that hasn't been updated in two years still works. Pages load. The phone number is correct. But from a discovery standpoint, it's quietly losing ground.
Search engines and AI systems both favor content that's current. A NaProTechnology practice with a site that was last touched in 2023 won't outrank a competitor who's publishing quarterly updates about their approach to endometriosis or PCOS. It's not that the old site is penalized -- it's that freshness is a signal, and silence isn't neutral.
For RRM and FABM practitioners especially, this matters. The field is growing. New research comes out regularly. Patients are searching for answers about restorative reproductive medicine, and the practices that show up are the ones whose sites reflect that momentum.
The Better Question
"How much does a website cost?" is a reasonable starting point. But it's not where the conversation should end.
The more useful question is: what is this website doing for patient discovery each month?
Is it bringing in new patients who wouldn't have found you otherwise? Is it answering questions that Creighton or FertilityCare clients are already searching for? Is it showing AI systems -- which are increasingly where patients start their research -- that your practice is active and authoritative?
If the answer is "I'm not sure," that's not a failure. It's just a gap worth closing. And closing it doesn't always mean spending more. Sometimes it means spending differently.
Frequently asked questions
What does a medical practice website typically cost per year?
Total annual costs vary by approach. A DIY template on Squarespace or Wix runs $200-500/year in platform fees plus your time. A freelance WordPress build might cost $600-2,400/year in hosting and maintenance after the initial build. Agency retainers can run $3,600-12,000/year. The right fit depends on your practice's capacity and goals.
Why does a website need ongoing maintenance if it already works?
Software updates, security patches, and content freshness all affect how search engines and AI systems evaluate your site. A site that loads correctly but hasn't been updated in two years sends a signal of inactivity -- and that signal matters more each year as AI-driven search becomes a primary discovery channel for patients.
Is it worth paying for SEO separately from the website build?
SEO isn't a one-time add-on. It's an ongoing process of making sure your site appears when patients search for what you do. Some website providers include basic SEO. Others don't. Either way, the work of optimizing content, tracking rankings, and responding to algorithm changes is continuous.
How do I know if my current website is underperforming?
Check whether your site appears when you search for your specialty plus your city. Look at how often your content has been updated. Review whether your services, provider bios, and educational content reflect what you currently offer. If the site looks the same as it did two years ago, it's likely losing ground in both traditional and AI-powered search.