"How much is a website?" is the first question most small business owners ask, and the honest answer has two parts: what it costs to build (usually once) and what it costs to keep running (every month or year). Most surprises come from the second part.
Part 1: the cost to build it
This is the work of designing the pages, writing or editing the text, adding your photos, and setting everything up. Typical options:
| Option | Typical price | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Do it yourself on a website builder | Your time (often 10–30 hours) | People who enjoy tinkering and have time |
| Freelancer or small studio, fixed price | A few hundred dollars for a simple site | Most small businesses that need 1–6 pages |
| Agency | Often several thousand dollars and up | Larger businesses, custom features, ongoing marketing |
Prices vary a lot, so the most useful thing you can do is compare what's included, not just the number: how many pages, how many rounds of changes, whether they write any text, and who owns the site afterwards.
Part 2: the cost to keep it running
Whoever builds your site, these are usually paid by you, directly to the provider:
- Domain name (yourbusiness.com): commonly around $10–$20 a year for a .com. Watch for cheap first-year deals that renew at a higher price.
- Hosting or a website-builder plan: the "rent" for your website. Builder plans often run roughly $15–$40 a month depending on the plan and whether you pay yearly.
- Business email (you@yourbusiness.com): free forwarding to an inbox you already have is often possible; full mailboxes usually cost a few dollars per person per month.
- Optional extras: paid apps, booking tools, premium themes or stock photos.
Always check current prices on the provider's own pricing page before you sign up. Plans and promotions change often.
A realistic first-year budget
For a simple 3-page small business website, a realistic first year looks like this:
- Build: a one-time fee (or your own time)
- Domain: one yearly renewal
- Hosting/builder plan: 12 months
- Email: free forwarding, or a small monthly mailbox fee
Year two onwards is usually just the running costs, unless you want changes made.
How to avoid overpaying
- Ask for a fixed price in writing, with the number of pages and revision rounds.
- Make sure accounts are in your name (domain, hosting, social pages), so you're never locked in.
- Ask what isn't included. A good quote lists exclusions as clearly as inclusions.
- Be wary of guarantees like "page 1 of Google". Nobody can honestly promise rankings.
Where we fit
We build simple small-business websites for a fixed, one-time fee you see before you pay, and we list the running costs up front. You can compare our prices and exactly what's included, or click through our demo projects to see the kind of site you'd get.