Hidden website costs: the real yearly budget in Cameroon

Many businesses discover the real cost of their website a year after it was built, when a message arrives: "your domain is expiring" or "your hosting has been suspended". This guide lists everything a website costs after launch, so you can budget for it from day one.

1. The domain name

It’s your site’s address (yourcompany.com or .cm). It’s rented yearly from a registrar. Expect a few thousand FCFA a year for a .cm and roughly 8,000 to 15,000 FCFA for a .com. The trap: a domain that isn’t renewed is deactivated, your site and email go down, and the name can be bought by someone else. Our guide .cm or .com domain: which to choose and how to register it explains how to choose and protect your domain.

2. Hosting

It’s the server that runs your site. For a typical business site, 20,000 to 120,000 FCFA a year is enough. A busy store or a heavy site needs more. Watch out for "from 1,000 FCFA a month" prices that only apply in year one with a three-year commitment. Details in Web hosting for a Cameroonian business: choosing well.

3. The SSL certificate (HTTPS)

It shows the padlock in the browser. It’s now free with most serious hosts. If you are charged a lot for it every year, ask why. Without it, browsers show "not secure" and visitors leave: see SSL certificate and HTTPS: why "not secure" drives visitors away.

4. Maintenance

A WordPress site, a store or a site with forms gets security updates every month. If nobody installs them, the site becomes vulnerable. Maintenance covers updates, backups, monitoring and small edits. Depending on the level, expect 10,000 FCFA a month for a simple site and 35,000 to 100,000 FCFA a month for full care with content and SEO.

5. Professional email

An address like contact@yourcompany.com is far more reassuring than a free address. Depending on the solution (your host, Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Zoho), it costs from nothing to a few thousand FCFA per user per month. See Creating a professional email address (@yourcompany).

6. Content and visibility

A site that never changes loses Google rankings. Articles, new photos, updated prices, client reviews: plan a small budget or a little time each month. Advertising (Facebook, Google Ads) is a separate line, steered by your results.

Sample yearly budget

Item	Simple showcase	Professional site	Online store
Domain	5,000 to 15,000	5,000 to 15,000	5,000 to 15,000
Hosting + SSL	20,000 to 40,000	40,000 to 90,000	60,000 to 200,000
Maintenance	0 to 120,000	420,000 and up	420,000 and up
Business email	0 to 30,000	30,000 to 150,000	30,000 to 150,000

These amounts are indicative, in FCFA per year.

What to demand from your provider

• The renewal price written in the quote.
• The domain in your name, with your logins.
• A renewal date and a reminder before it.
• The list of what maintenance covers, and what it doesn’t.

At NTG Studio Web, domain, hosting and SSL are included in the first year with every plan, and renewal is billed at cost or included in maintenance.