How Much Does a Website Cost?

There are really only three routes

Every guide on this topic eventually covers the same three options. Rather than bury it, let's get it straight up front:

1. DIY builders (Wix, Squarespace, WordPress.com) - you build it yourself using templates
2. Freelancer or independent developer - someone builds it for you, typically custom
3. Agency - a team builds it, with account managers, designers, developers and a larger bill

Each route has a fundamentally different cost structure, a different time requirement, and a different result. The one that's right for you depends on your situation - not on which has the lowest upfront number.

What each route actually costs in 2026

The Lighthouse scores in that table aren't a dig at any particular route - they're a measurable consequence of architecture. Page builders like Wix and Elementor load a large JavaScript framework regardless of whether a page actually needs it. Hand-coded sites load only what the page requires. That difference shows up directly in your Google ranking.

The hidden costs most quotes leave out

When you get a quote for a website, the number you see is usually the build-only cost. The following are almost always separate - sometimes by oversight, sometimes by design:

The true cost of going cheap

This is the part most guides skip. The upfront cost of a website is not the expensive part. The expensive part is the ongoing cost of a site that doesn't rank, doesn't load fast enough to keep visitors, and needs rebuilding in two years.

The time cost of DIY

If you're a tradesperson charging £50-£100/hour and you spend 40 hours building a Wix site, you've effectively spent £2,000-£4,000 in time - the same cost as having a freelancer do it properly. Except the freelancer's version will load in under a second and score 95+ on Lighthouse. The Wix version will score 40.

Even after launch, self-managed platforms require time: updating content, fighting with templates that don't do what you want, troubleshooting plugins. That time has a cost.

The rebuild problem

A £500 website built on a proprietary platform or with no ongoing maintenance often needs full replacement within 18-36 months. The client pays twice - and loses the SEO history built on the old URL structure if the rebuild isn't handled correctly. A properly built £499-£899 site with a £45/month care plan will still be performing well in five years.

The ranking cost

Google uses Core Web Vitals as a ranking factor. A slow site ranks lower than a fast one, all else being equal. If your competitor's site loads in 1.2 seconds and yours loads in 4.5 seconds, they will rank above you over time, even if your service is better. Every month your enquiry count is lower because of a slow site is a real cost - it just doesn't appear on an invoice.

When does a website actually pay for itself?

This depends on your average job value and how many enquiries the site generates. Let's work through a realistic example:

These aren't projections - they're the floor. A well-built local site with proper SEO setup typically generates its first enquiry within 4-8 weeks. Most trade businesses that I build for see 3-8 enquiries per month within 3 months of launch. At any average job value, that arithmetic works clearly in your favour.

What different business types actually need

One of the most common mistakes in buying a website is paying for things you don't need - or not paying for things you do. Here's a quick guide by business type:

7 questions to ask before you pay a deposit

Most people buying a website for the first time don't know what to ask. These seven questions will tell you a lot about whether a quote is good value:

1. What Lighthouse score will the site achieve?
   If they can't answer this with a specific number, the answer is "we don't know." A credible developer has a measurable standard.
2. Who will actually build the site?
   At agencies, senior staff scope the project and juniors build it. If performance matters to you, find out whose hands it will be in.
3. What's included and what's excluded?
   Copywriting? Photography? Domain registration? Hosting? Google Analytics setup? Get the list in writing.
4. Who owns the code and the domain when it's done?
   You should own both. If a developer registers your domain in their name or uses proprietary tools that can't be transferred, you have no leverage if the relationship breaks down.
5. What happens if I need changes after launch?
   What's the hourly rate? Is there a notice period? Can I get a care plan that includes small changes?
6. What is your hosting setup and what's the uptime guarantee?
   Where is the site hosted? On shared hosting? Dedicated VPS? What happens if it goes down at the weekend?
7. Can I see examples of sites you've built with their actual Lighthouse scores?
   Any developer worth hiring can show you live examples. You can test any of them yourself at pagespeed.web.dev in 30 seconds.

What I charge - and why

I build hand-coded websites for small businesses in Surrey, Sussex, and across the UK. I'm not an agency. Every site is built by me, and I maintain it after launch. The prices below are fixed - no hourly billing, no scope creep, no surprises.

After launch, all sites are supported on a £45/month care plan - hosting, maintenance, security updates, backups, uptime monitoring, and a couple of small content changes per month included. Nothing extra to worry about.

See the full pricing breakdown →

Frequently asked questions