What a small business website actually costs

Somewhere between nothing a month and ten thousand dollars up front, and the range is that wide because "a website" describes four very different purchases. A hosted platform runs $15–$50 a month with no setup fee. A freelancer typically charges $800–$3,000 once, plus whatever changes cost later. An agency starts around $3,000 and goes up without a ceiling. For most local service businesses — a garage, a salon, a cleaning company — the honest answer is that a hosted platform does the job, and the money saved is better spent on the photographs.

Four things, and only the first is usually quoted. Hosting, which is where the site lives. A domain name, renewed yearly. The software that makes it do anything beyond sit there — bookings, invoices, stock, reviews — which on most stacks is a separate subscription per feature. And maintenance: somebody has to change a price, add a service, or fix what an update broke. A one-off build price covers none of these, which is why a "cheap" site frequently costs more over three years than a monthly one.

On a hosted platform, no — both are normally part of the monthly price, and ours are. On a site a freelancer or agency builds for you, almost always yes: expect hosting somewhere around $10–$30 a month and a domain around $10–$20 a year, billed by companies you have to manage yourself. Ask explicitly, because it is the most common thing missing from a quote.

Because most of the cost is labour, and the amount of labour depends on how much is being built from scratch. A site assembled from a proven template with your content in it is a few hours of work. The same site designed from nothing, with custom illustration and a bespoke booking flow, is weeks. Both are described as "a website" in the quote. Ask what is being built new and what is being configured — the answer explains almost the whole difference in price.

In money, usually. In time, often not. The build is the easy half; the half people underestimate is writing the services out, taking photographs worth showing, and keeping opening hours and prices right for the next three years. If you would rather spend a Saturday learning a page builder than spend $20, do it yourself. If your Saturday is worth more than that to you, it is not the saving it looks like.

Very little, and anyone quoting four figures for a sole trader should be asked what the money buys. A single-person trade business needs to be findable by name and by service, needs to show finished work, needs correct contact details and hours, and needs somewhere for an enquiry to land. That is a solved problem, and it is a monthly-subscription-sized purchase rather than a project-sized one.