Ask ten web designers what a website costs and you’ll get ten answers, most of them “it depends.” That’s true, but it isn’t much help when you’re trying to budget. So here’s what you’re actually paying for, what pushes the price up or down, and the questions worth asking before you hand anyone money.
The five things you pay for
Almost every small business website comes down to the same five costs. Some are one-off, some come every year or every month, and they’re often bundled together in ways that make quotes hard to compare.
- The build. Designing the site, writing or polishing the words, setting up forms and making it work on phones. This is usually the biggest one-off cost.
- The domain. Your address, like yourbusiness.com. It’s renewed every year, and it’s a small cost on its own.
- Hosting. The computer that serves your site to visitors. It’s a monthly or yearly fee to a hosting company.
- Email. An address like you@yourbusiness.com, set up so your messages land in inboxes instead of spam folders.
- Upkeep. Updates, backups, security, fixing what breaks and making small changes, like new hours or a new service.
When two quotes look wildly different, check which of these each one includes. A cheap build with hosting at a big markup can cost more over two years than a fair build where you pay the hosting company directly.
Your options, roughly
| Route | What it’s like | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Do it yourself on a site builder | Low cost up front and a monthly subscription. You do the design, writing and setup. | Your time, templates that look like everyone else’s, and sites that are hard to move if you leave. |
| A freelancer | Prices vary a lot. A good one can be excellent value. | What happens when they get busy or move on, and who holds the logins. |
| A small studio with fixed packages | A published price for a defined amount of work. | Make sure the package actually covers what you need, and what extra pages or changes cost. |
| A larger agency | Custom quotes, more people involved, more process. | Paying for strategy meetings and features a small business doesn’t need. |
What makes a website cost more
The price moves with the amount of work, and the work mostly comes from a few places:
- Number of pages. A single long page that covers what you do, where you work and how to reach you is the quickest to build. Every extra page needs its own design and words.
- Who writes the words. If you send the text, it gets polished. If the designer writes it from scratch, that’s extra time, and it’s often worth it.
- Selling online. A store needs products, photos, checkout, shipping, tax and order emails. That’s a different job from a brochure site.
- Things you edit yourself. A blog or a site you can update without calling anyone takes more setup.
- Hooking into other tools. Booking systems, CRMs, payment plans and custom forms all add work.
- Speed. Needing it next week instead of next month usually costs extra.
What we charge, as an example
We publish our prices so you can compare. Ours are fixed packages:
- One-page website, $350. One scroll-through page with a quote or contact form, basic SEO and Site Stats analytics. Live in about two weeks.
- Starter website, $850. Up to five pages, click-to-call, a map and your Google Business Profile linked up. About three weeks.
- Business website, $1,600. Up to ten pages plus a blog you can edit yourself, with domain, hosting and email setup included. About four to five weeks.
- Online store, $2,500. A store that takes card, Apple Pay and Google Pay, with your first 25 products loaded. About six weeks.
The domain and hosting are paid to the provider at their price, in your name, so you always own them. If you want help setting those up properly, domain, hosting and email setup is $100 once, and it’s free with the Business website and Online store. Upkeep is optional: the website care plan is $49/mo.
Not sure what you need? Most local service businesses start with a one-page or five-page site. You can always add pages later. Buying more site than you need on day one is one of the most common ways to overspend.
Costs people forget
- Renewals. Some domains and hosting plans have a cheap first year and a much higher renewal price. Check the renewal price, not just the sign-up price.
- Email. Business email is often a separate monthly charge per person.
- Photos. Real photos of your work and your team beat stock photos, but someone has to take them.
- Changes after launch. Ask what a small edit costs once the site is live. “Just change our hours” shouldn’t turn into an invoice every time.
- Leaving. If you ever switch designers, can you take your site with you? Some builders and agencies make that very hard.
Five questions to ask before you pay anyone
- Who owns the domain, the hosting account and the site when it’s done? The answer should be you, in your name.
- What exactly is included? Pages, rounds of changes, writing, forms, SEO basics, analytics.
- What does it cost after launch? Hosting, renewals, care plans, and the price of small edits.
- How long will it take, and what do you need from me? Most delays come from waiting on photos and text, so ask early.
- Can I see sites you’ve built for businesses like mine? Real ones you can visit, not just screenshots.
The short version
A good small business website doesn’t have to be expensive, but it should be clear about what you’re paying for and leave you owning everything. Compare quotes line by line across the five costs above, check the renewal prices, and buy the size of site you need now rather than the one you might need in three years.
If you want a quick read on whether your current site is worth fixing or replacing, run the free website checkup. It reads your home page and tells you what’s working and what isn’t, in plain English.