Ask five people what a small business website costs and you'll get five answers. Some will say "free, use a builder". Some will say "a few hundred". An agency will quote thousands. The honest answer to the small business website cost question is that it depends on how you pay, and that is the bit most people miss.
The three ways people pay for a website
Do it yourself on a builder. The headline price is often nothing, until you want your own web address, no adverts and a site that looks right on a phone. Then it becomes a monthly subscription. The real cost is your evenings.
Pay monthly to a company. This is the most common offer small businesses get through the door. A low setup fee, then a monthly charge for as long as the site exists. It looks cheap in month one. Add it up over three years and it rarely is. And in many of these deals the website is never actually yours.
Pay once. You pay a single price for the finished site. The only ongoing cost is your web address, which is yours and costs around £10 to £15 a year to renew. This is how I work.
Why monthly fees add up
A monthly plan is easy to say yes to because the number is small. The problem is that it never stops. If you close the account, the site goes with it.
Before you sign anything monthly, ask three questions. What does this cost over three years? Who owns the website and the web address? What happens if I stop paying? If the answers are vague, walk away.
What a small business website cost should include
Whatever you pay, a proper website for a local business needs:
- up to five pages: home, about, services or menu, reviews and contact
- a design built for phones first, because that is where people will find you
- set-up for Google and AI search, so the tools people use can read what you do and where you are
- a link to your Google Business Profile, so your reviews and your website work together
- a web address registered in your name, not the designer's
If a quote leaves any of those out, it is not comparing like with like.
What I charge, and why it's one number
My price is a one-off £595. That covers everything in the list above. No monthly fees, no contract, nothing hidden. Extras like extra pages or setting up online booking are priced up front, before you say yes, so there are no surprises later.
The full list is on the pricing page. There is also a little calculator there that works the price out in your own customers. For most businesses it is a handful of extra appointments, tables or jobs, and then the site is earning.
See it before you decide
The bit that makes this different is the order things happen in. I build the website first, for free, and text you the link within a week. You judge the real thing on your phone. Only if you love it do you pay the £595.
If you don't, you delete the message and that is the end of it. Here's how the free demo works, or get yours started now.
