How Much Should a Small Business Website Cost?
The honest breakdown of what drives the price — and the ongoing costs most quotes leave out
A small business website typically costs anywhere from a few hundred dollars a year for a DIY builder subscription to several thousand for a custom-built site, plus ongoing costs of $100–500 annually for domain, hosting, email, and maintenance. The real answer depends on how many pages you need, whether your content already exists, whether you need custom design or a proven template will work, and who builds it.
Everyone hates "it depends," but website pricing genuinely does depend on specific variables. The good news is that once you understand what drives the cost, you can get an honest quote and spot the ones that will cost you more in the long run.
What Actually Drives the Price
Page count and content are the first cost driver. A five-page site with Home, About, Services, Contact, and a handful of service detail pages is straightforward. A site with twenty pages, custom landing pages for each service area, staff bios, and a resources section takes more time to build and organize. If your content — the actual words and images — already exists and just needs to be moved over, that is faster and cheaper than writing it from scratch. Many quotes break down when the builder realizes you do not have copy ready and they are now also a copywriter.
Design is the second driver. A proven template that has worked for hundreds of businesses costs less because the design decisions are already made. Custom design — where someone creates a unique layout, chooses fonts and colors specific to your brand, and designs each page from scratch — costs more because it requires a designer's time. For most small businesses, a clean template customized with your logo, colors, and photos is genuinely enough.
E-commerce and integrations add cost. If you need to sell products online, you need a shopping cart, payment processing, inventory management, and shipping logic. If you need to integrate with your scheduling software, CRM, or email platform, that is custom work. A brochure site with a contact form is simpler and cheaper than a site that has to talk to three other systems.
Who builds it determines the pricing model. A DIY website builder charges a monthly or annual subscription and you do the work. A freelancer or agency charges a project fee up front and sometimes a retainer for updates. A done-for-you service usually charges an annual fee that includes hosting, maintenance, and support.
The Three Real Pricing Tiers
DIY website builders like Wix, Squarespace, or WordPress.com charge a subscription, typically a few hundred dollars a year. You pick a template, add your content, and publish. This works if you have the time, enjoy this kind of work, and your site is straightforward. The cost is low, but your time is the hidden expense. If the site sits half-finished for six months because you are running your business, the cheap subscription is not saving you anything.
Freelancers and agencies charge a project fee to build the site, then either charge hourly for updates or offer a monthly retainer. Project fees vary widely based on the scope, the designer's experience, and your market. This model works if you have a clear spec, content ready to go, and the budget to pay up front. The risk is scope creep — the project drags on, costs more than quoted, or the freelancer moves on and you inherit a site you cannot update yourself.
Done-for-you services charge an annual fee that bundles the build, hosting, domain, SSL, email, and ongoing maintenance. WebsiteDelivered's Simple Site is $149/year for a straightforward business site, for example. This model works if you want the site handled and you do not want to chase down a developer every time you need a change. The tradeoff is less control over the underlying platform, but for most small businesses that is a feature, not a bug.
The Ongoing Costs Most Quotes Leave Out
A website is not a one-time expense. After the site is built, you still pay for:
- Domain registration, typically $10–20/year for a .com
- Hosting, anywhere from $5/month for basic shared hosting to $30+/month for managed hosting with better performance and support
- SSL certificate, often included with hosting now but sometimes a separate $50–100/year
- Email hosting, if you want yourname@yourbusiness.com instead of Gmail, usually $5–10/user/month
- Maintenance and updates, whether that is your time, a retainer, or included in a done-for-you plan
If you go the DIY or freelancer route, make sure you know who is paying for these and who is responsible for keeping everything running. A site that goes down because the SSL expired or the hosting was not renewed costs you more than the renewal fee.
What to Ask For in a Quote
When you are comparing quotes, ask:
- How many pages are included, and what does an additional page cost?
- Does the price include content writing, or do I need to provide finished copy?
- Is this a custom design or a customized template?
- What is included in the first year, and what are the ongoing annual costs after that?
- Who owns the domain, and can I move the site if I need to?
- What happens if I need a change or an update after launch?
A clear quote will break down the one-time build cost and the recurring annual cost separately. If the quote is vague or everything is lumped together, ask for the breakdown. You are not being difficult — you are making sure you can actually afford to keep the site running.
The Real Cost Is a Site That Never Ships
A cheap site that sits unfinished for a year costs more than a modest site that goes live in a month. Every week your business does not have a working website, you are losing credibility with customers who search for you and find nothing, or find an old site with the wrong phone number. If the DIY builder is not getting finished because you do not have the time, or the freelancer project has stalled because the scope was not clear, the dollar cost is not the problem — the opportunity cost is.
Pick the model that will actually get your site live and kept up to date. For some businesses, that is a DIY builder and a weekend. For others, it is hiring someone to handle it. Both are fine, as long as the site ships and stays current.
Common questions
What is the cheapest way to get a small business website?
A DIY website builder subscription is the lowest dollar cost, typically a few hundred dollars per year. But if the site never gets finished because you don't have time, it's not actually cheaper. The cheapest way that works is the one that gets your site live and kept up to date.
Do I need to pay for website hosting separately?
It depends on who builds your site. DIY builders like Wix or Squarespace include hosting in the subscription. If a freelancer builds a custom WordPress site, you usually pay for hosting separately, typically $5–30/month. Done-for-you services often bundle hosting into the annual fee.
How much does it cost to maintain a website after it's built?
Expect $100–500/year minimum for domain registration, hosting, SSL, and email. If you need someone to make updates, add another $50–150/month for a retainer or pay hourly as needed. Some done-for-you services include updates in the annual fee.
Should I use a template or pay for custom design?
For most small businesses, a proven template customized with your logo, colors, and photos is enough and costs less. Custom design makes sense if your brand requires a unique look or you have specific functionality a template can't handle. A clean template that ships beats a custom design that stalls.
Need a site that ships and stays current?
We build and host straightforward business sites for $149/year, including updates.