How Much Does a Small Business Website Cost?
The honest answer is a range. Here is what sits behind each level of website pricing, what you pay after launch, and how to compare quotes.
Ask five web designers what a website costs and you will get five answers that differ by a factor of ten. None of them are lying. They are quoting different amounts of work. This guide explains what the work is, so you can tell which quote you are looking at.
The figures below are broad ranges commonly quoted in the US market. They are not Astel prices and not a promise of what anyone will charge you.
The four ways to get a website
| Route | Typical upfront cost | Typical ongoing cost | What you are paying for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Do it yourself on a builder | Your time | Tens of dollars a month | Software. You supply design, words and upkeep |
| Freelancer using a template | Hundreds to a few thousand dollars | Hosting, plus hourly changes | Setup and light customization |
| Custom design and build | Several thousand dollars and up | Hosting and maintenance | Strategy, copy, design, build |
| Monthly plan | Little or nothing upfront | A fixed monthly fee | The build spread over time, with upkeep included |
No route is wrong. A builder is a sensible choice for a business that is testing an idea. A custom build makes sense once the website is a real source of customers.
What moves the price
Who writes the content. This is the most underestimated cost. A site with finished copy and good photos is quick to build. One where the designer must interview you, write every page and source images takes far longer.
How custom the design is. Adapting a template is fast. Designing around your business is slower and usually performs better, because the layout follows what your customers need to know.
What the site has to do. Pages of text are cheap. A checkout, a booking system, a customer login or a connection to your CRM is software, and software takes testing.
How many people are involved. An agency with a project manager, designer and developer costs more than one person doing all three. You are paying for coordination as well as output.
Costs after launch
A website is not a one-time purchase. Budget for:
- Domain name. Usually a small annual fee.
- Hosting. From a few dollars a month for simple sites to much more for busy stores.
- Maintenance. Software updates, security patches, backups and fixing what breaks.
- Changes. New pages, new prices, new photos. Either you learn to do these or you pay someone.
- Third-party services. Booking tools, email marketing, payment processing fees.
When a quote looks cheap, check which of these it leaves out. When a monthly plan looks expensive, add up what it replaces.
How to compare quotes
Line up each quote against the same questions:
- What exactly is included? Number of pages, copywriting, photography, revisions.
- What happens after launch, and what does it cost?
- Who owns the site, the domain and the content?
- What would count as extra?
- Can you show me live sites you built for businesses like mine?
A quote that answers these clearly is worth more than a lower number that does not.
A sensible way to decide
Work backwards from what a customer is worth. If one new customer is worth $500 and a better site would plausibly bring two more a month, then a site costing a few thousand dollars pays for itself within months. If your customers come entirely by referral and only glance at your site to check you are real, a simpler site is the right call.
If you want to know where your own project sits before you ask anyone for a price, the estimator below takes about a minute.
