· Pricing, Small business
What a small business website really costs in the UK
An honest breakdown of what you're paying for — design, build, hosting and upkeep — and where you can save.
If you've asked three web designers for a quote, you've probably had three wildly different answers. Here's an honest look at where the money actually goes.
The one-off build
Most of the cost of a website is time: understanding your business, designing pages around it, and building them properly so they're fast and easy to find.
- Template sites are cheap to start, but often slow and hard to change later.
- Bespoke sites cost more upfront but are built around how your customers think.
The running costs
Every website needs somewhere to live. Hosting, a domain name, an SSL certificate and email are the basics — usually a modest monthly cost.
The bit people forget: upkeep
Websites aren't "done" at launch. Software needs updating, content goes stale, and things occasionally break. A care plan means someone is keeping an eye on it for you.
My advice
Spend on the things your customers will notice — speed, clarity and trust — and don't pay for features you won't use.
If you'd like a straight answer on what your site would cost, get in touch.
Written by Joe Sutherland, founder of Hopbine Design.