Is it time you bought a website for your business? You might have asked web designers, friends or colleagues this questions: how much should a website cost for a small business? Perhaps you were met with unhelpful answers (like “how long is a piece of string”).
I have been thinking about this question a lot. It’s time you had an answer that lifts the fog and provides your business with some context when you go website shopping.
Let’s start with the different kinds of web designer.
Web designer business models
Some web designs are keen to get you paying a monthly hosting fee that they have marked up (this is normal, but the benefit for them is that they get a passive revenue stream that can last years). Some of these designers will offer the website for free to get your business. The snag is, the design is likely to be AI generated. It’s not worth their time spending hours on a site they wont get paid for. Expect to see offers of 1 – 5 page websites. After the deal is done, you’ll likely not hear from them again unless you have a problem, like down-time or when you want to make changes. Some people find this is where their web designer ghosts them, and they have no control over the most valuable digital asset in their business. You get what you pay for.
Others will be offer a “starting fee” + maintenance. This is where you get a better design, and functionality. These sites typically have organic SEO built in as standard and the monthly maintenance should ensure you keep getting regular traffic and enquiries.
How qualified is your web designer?
| 1 page template, hosting, d | Typical UK Cost | Usually Includes |
|---|---|---|
| DIY Wix/Squarespace | £25–£200/month | 1 page template, hosting, domain |
| Freelancer basic site | £800–£1,500 | 3–5 pages, contact form, organic SEO, first draft revisions |
| Professional small business site | £2,000–£5,000 | 10-20 pages. Custom design, paid keyword SEO setup, copy guidance, branding, |
| Marketing agency site | £5,000–£15,000+ | Strategy, branding, advanced integrations, paid keyword SEO setup, customer profiling |
| E-commerce | £1,500–£20,000+ | Products, payments, shipping, automation |
If your web designer has been to university and completed a computer science or coding degree they will charge top dollar. These professionals tend to be the kinds of people in large marketing companies making £20,000+ websites. They are custom built from code and can require a lot of TLC. Code pros are typically personally on had if there is any downtime (pressure + code skills = thousands).
For small businesses though, you’re likely to swing on a pendulum between people who can build a website with AI versus web developers with experience.
AI/template generated sites are usually under £500 or free + a monthly fee around £25 – £200 p/m
Experienced web developers have a formula and the experience to know what will appease search engines. They keep up with SEO training and analytics. Expect to pay anywhere between £800-£10,000 for them. This is where most small businesses should be placing their investment.
Buyer beware – cheap websites usually come with a catch (like you don’t legally own your own domain name, or if you want to change providers they delete the design/ghost and you have to start again).
Why does SEO add more to the cost?
SEo stands for search engine optimisation. It’s a rat race between web designers to ensur websites get the most clicks possible through search engines. To do that, the website must rank in the top 5 results on the first page, or people tend to ignore them.
Websites with no SEO tend to float around in the ether not being seen. SEO is instrumental in making it work as a marketing tool and not just an online business card.
Website features
The features you want on your website drastically change the project pricing in terms of the skill required, and the time it will take to finish. Here are some examples:
- How many pages you want
- If you want an online shop
- Taking one-ff online payments
- Directories
- SEO
- Online appointments
- Blogs and editing
- Image sourcing
- Google business listing improvements
Number of revisions
After your first draft, it’s normal to want to make a few changes. Some web designers will give you an assigned number of hours in which changes these additional changes can be made. After that it is a an hourly fee to carry out anything more. These are typically the £800 – £4000 websites.
A mail-order shop will need more time (especially for SEO) and revisions compared to a 5 page site. These are the £4000 and up websites.
It’s important that you invest trust in your designer. Some of your photo or colour choices will feel good in theory, but look terrible in practice. A good designer will steer you in the right direction.
Remember, websites are a marketing tool, so the colours you choose say a lot about who you are as a business. Your designer will already bear this in mind. Trust them to do their job.
There have been times where one of my own clients has said, “I don’t like X photo, please change it.”
I’ll suggest they find a picture they like better. They nearly always revert back to the original design element. Sometimes what is new to the eye feels strange until you have another item to compare it to.
Communication
All time spent in any business has to be priced up and invoiced. It costs your web developer time and money to communicate back and forth for changes, improvements and “quick catch ups” outside of he allowed amendment timeframe. Expect the job to cost more than planned if you decide entire pages need to start again, or you want an hour-long video chat mid-way through the job.
Can’t I just build my own website?
Yes, you can. As long as you’re aware that it won’t be as good as a professional job. Be aware that learning an entire design system takes a lot longer than most people plan for, which is why hiring a web developer actually works out cheaper in the long run. You can instead spend those hours on your business and earning.
There are lots of CMS platforms that are “beginner friendly”. I’d recommend Wix or WordPress. (I’m not paid to say that, they just work better and they don’t cost the earth to fix if you’ve had a boo-boo). The beauty of starting out on your own, is you can bring in a web developer down the line.
Another benefit of going it alone is you will pay for your own domain nam, email address and hosting – and noone can take those from you down the line.
Of course, if you can afford to get the job done professionally, do that. It is far more sustainable that way.
Marketing company red flags
Here are a list of red flags that should help you avoid marketing scams, fake web designers and being ghosted.
Their online presence is sketchy
- All AI copy and pictures on their website. This is commonly used by companies abroad looking to take on UK clients by undercutting the market.
- Their social media has zero activity/>200 followers. If they can’t market themselves, how will they market you?
- There are no pictures of people behind the business. Again, this is likely to be a company abroad masquerading as a UK outfit.
- Their website is all stock photos. This suggests they are a scam. They don’t want you to know who they are and need camouflage.
- They’re a jack of all trades. SEO, drone photography, flyer printing,
Contracts & website changes
- Very cheap. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
- The company offered you a free SEO audit. This is an AI generated list, you could ask ChatGPT to do it. (Spoiler alert, it won’t be accurate).
- Insisting on you paying for paid ads, keywords and social media sponsored posts. This suggests they don’t know how to use these platforms properly. It’s a common up-sell.
- They’re selling websites that do not have organic SEO as standard. I’ve known people to pay £20,000 for a website that didn’t get a single visitor. Always ask whats included and get it in writing.
- They want to own your domain and email address. Always read the terms and conditions before commencing works.
- Keyword stuffing. Their previous projects have so many keywords stuffed into them, that the copy doesn’t make sense. Example “Hi I am John your trusted 24/7 Nottingham local mobile car mechanic.”
Communication is strained/problematic
- They are “building their portfolio”. This is a scam.
- The web company contacted you via cold email or WhatsApp claiming your site is not working properly. The message did not include your first name.
- It takes weeks or months to get simple changes made to your website.
- You always end up talking to a new person and never have consistent contact with one designer. Thats because they have a high turnover of sub-contracted web developers abroad.
- You have a funny feeling in your tummy that there is something wrong but you don’t know why.
I hope this blog helps you find someone who will treat you right and make a website that makes people say WOW.
Any questions? Get in touch with me.
About the Author
Catherine Jarvis Clothier is a digital marketer and online presence specialist living and working in Kent, UK. She has worked in unusual UK businesses for over 10 years across the South of England, particularly in automotive and therapy-based enterprises. Catherine specialises in social media, SEO and web design. She can be contacted here for online business consultations.
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