Ask five web designers what a website costs and you will get five answers, most of them “it depends”. Annoying, but true. So here is what it depends on, and what you get at each level.
Do it yourself
Website builders let you put a site together for the price of a monthly subscription. If you have the time, a good eye and a simple business, it can work. The catch is the hours it takes, and the fact that most DIY sites end up looking a lot like each other.
Template sites
A designer takes a ready-made template, adds your logo, colours and words, and launches it. Often sold for a few hundred pounds, or a low monthly fee. Quick and affordable, and it will look fine. It will not look like you, and it will not be built around how your customers actually buy.
Custom websites
Designed around your business from a blank page: your customers, your services, your brand. This is where the price climbs into the thousands, because someone is doing the thinking, the writing, the design and the build properly. Sites with online shops, bookings or member areas cost more again.
What pushes the price up
- Number of pages. Five pages is a different job from fifty.
- Copywriting. Writing the words well takes time, and it matters more than most people expect.
- Photography. Real photos of your business beat stock, but someone has to take them.
- Features. Online payments, bookings, and connections to systems you already use.
- Ongoing care. Hosting, updates, security and changes after launch.
How to work out what you need
Start with the job the website has to do. If it only needs to prove you exist and give out a phone number, you do not need to spend much. If it needs to bring in enquiries every week, fill tables or sell products, it is worth paying for something built for that job. The cheap version costs you in the customers it never brings in.
You can spread the cost
A custom website does not have to mean a big bill up front. Plenty of agencies, us included, let you pay monthly instead. Ours start from £50 a month with hosting and updates included, on a two-year minimum term. Just read what to check before you sign.
Want a straight answer for your business? Tell us what you do and we will tell you what it would take.
