Your website is live: what you pay annually for domain, hosting and maintenance

When someone has just received a website from an agency or freelancer, it's easy to think the work is done. It isn't. A live website involves at least two or three recurring costs each year, and if you don't understand what they are, you risk paying for the same thing twice or discovering your site is offline without knowing why. This guide explains the recurring charges in simple terms, without technical jargon.

What you pay each year

There are three charges that normally recur, though not always on the same invoice:

• The domain, which is the website name (for example companynamе.co.uk). You don't buy it once and for all: you register it for a period, usually one year, and it needs to be renewed.
• Hosting, which is the space on a server where your website actually lives. This is also paid for by period, often annually, sometimes monthly.
• The SSL certificate, the one that makes the padlock and https:// appear in your browser. Many hosting providers now include this free with their package; if it's not included, it's a separate line item to renew.

Domain and hosting can be purchased from the same provider or two different providers: in that case you receive two separate invoices with two different renewal dates, and it's easy to miss one.

What happens if you don't renew your domain in time

The domain has a specific expiry date, noted in the registration contract. If it isn't renewed, it doesn't disappear immediately, but follows a sequence of phases worth understanding, especially for .it domains, the most common in Italy:

Phase	What happens
First 15 days after expiry	The domain remains technically active, but the provider often suspends the website and email already
Next 30 days	The domain is suspended: it can still be recovered by the previous owner, usually with a small surcharge on top of the renewal fee
After approximately 45 days total	The domain becomes available and anyone can register it, including your competitors

During this entire period the website is unreachable and email accounts linked to the domain stop working: senders receive an error, and messages are neither delivered nor stored anywhere. This is why it's worth setting up automatic renewal if your provider offers it, or marking the expiry date on a calendar with a reminder a couple of weeks in advance.

Website maintenance and technical support: they're not the same thing

These are two different contracts, and it's worth not confusing them when reading a quote:

• Planned maintenance: this is an ongoing service, usually with a monthly or annual fee, that covers plugin and software updates, regular backups and security checks. It's about preventing problems.
• Pay-per-use technical support: you only pay when needed, by the hour or per incident, to fix a specific problem (a malfunction, a requested change, data recovery). There's no preventive work: if no one monitors the site between incidents, an outdated plugin can remain vulnerable for months.

Anyone with a website that has a contact form, an e-commerce site or a members' area should consider planned maintenance: an unpatched plugin is one of the most common causes of compromised websites. If you have a simple brochure site that rarely changes, you can reasonably choose pay-per-use support.

How to read a hosting invoice

A hosting invoice often lists items that seem obvious but aren't. Before paying, it's worth checking:

• Disk space and traffic included: if your site grows (more images, more visits), you might need a higher-tier package for an additional fee.
• Backups: not all hosting plans include automatic backups; sometimes it's an optional extra.
• SSL certificate: check whether it's included free or billed as a separate line item.
• Number of sites and email accounts: some hosting packages limit how many sites and email addresses are included in the base price; once you go over the limit, an additional charge applies.
• Duration of the billed period: a "promotional" price for the first year may increase at renewal; it's worth checking the renewal figure, not just the initial price.

If you're not sure what's included, you can always ask your provider for a detailed invoice itemised line by line, before authorising automatic payment.