You viewed one of our SEO hosting plans, placed an order, and at the final step the invoice total did not match the price shown on the website. This is normal and expected. It happens because we use prorated invoicing, and it is easy to explain.
Why the first invoice is prorated
We set every account's next invoice due date to the 1st day of the month. To line your new order up with that date, the very first invoice only covers the days between your order date and the start of the next billing cycle, rather than a full standard term. Because of this, your first invoice is almost never exactly the same number as the price on the plan page. From the second invoice onward you pay the normal advertised rate on a clean, predictable monthly date.
The switch point is the 15th of the month. Whether your first invoice comes out lower or higher than the listed price depends on which side of the 15th you order.
1st 15th Next 1st Order 10th Before 15th charged remaining 20 days only first invoice is lower Order 20th After 15th remaining 10 days plus next month first invoice is higherIf you order before the 15th, the invoice is lower
Order on or before the 15th and the billing system charges only the remaining days of the current month. For example, if you order on the 10th, you are charged for the remaining 20 days of that month. Your invoice comes out below the listed monthly price, and your next full-price invoice falls due on the 1st.
If you order after the 15th, the invoice is higher
Order after the 15th and the billing system charges the remaining days of the current month plus the following month's fee. For example, if you order on the 20th, you are charged for the remaining 10 days of that month plus the next full month. Your invoice comes out above the listed monthly price, but it buys you the rest of this month and all of the next, so nothing extra is owed until the following cycle.
Why we bill this way
Aligning every renewal to the 1st keeps things simple, especially if you run more than one site with us. Instead of tracking a different due date for each order, all of your services renew together on a single day. For agencies and network operators managing many accounts, one predictable billing date is far easier to reconcile than a scattered set of anniversaries. You can see this across the range on our SEO web hosting plans, where each site still gets its own dedicated IP regardless of when in the month you sign up.
It is worth being clear on one point: the dedicated IP included with these plans is not a ranking boost in its own right. Its value is defensive, keeping your sites off shared addresses that may carry a poor reputation, and giving network operators control over their footprint. Google judges sites on content and behaviour, not on the timing of your invoice, and its spam policies set out what actually matters.
Still have a question about your invoice?
If the prorated figure still looks wrong, or you would like your services aligned to a specific date, open a ticket through our support system and we will check the exact calculation on your account. You can find more answers in the billing and account FAQ or reach us any time via the contact page.
