How much does a small business website cost in the UK?

"How much does a website cost?" is nearly always the first question, and the build price is nearly always the number people compare. It is the wrong number to decide on, because it is the smaller part of what you will pay.

A small business website has two costs. There is the build, which you pay once. Then there is everything it takes to keep the site running, secure and improving, which you pay for as long as the site exists. A cheap build with nobody looking after it can end up costing more over three years than a better one that keeps bringing in work.

So here is the honest version: what actually moves the price, what it costs to run, how the three usual routes compare, and what we charge.

What you are paying for in the build

Most of the difference between two quotes comes from five things.

Pages and structure. A five-page site is less work than a twenty-page one, but the bigger cost is deciding what goes on each page and how a visitor moves from arriving to getting in touch. That thinking is where a website either earns or does not.

Words and photos. Somebody has to write the copy and supply the images. If you write it yourself, the build is cheaper and your time is the cost. If the supplier writes it, ask who, and whether they will interview you first or work from a template.

Connections. A website on its own is a brochure. Connecting it to the tools your business already uses (a booking system, payments, reviews, your customer records, your email) is what stops you copying details from one place to another by hand. Each connection is real work, and it is often the part of a quote that varies most.

Anything built to order. A booking flow that works the way your business works, a customer portal, an internal tool, an AI feature. These are custom development, and they are priced on their own.

Search set-up. Page titles, descriptions, speed, and a structure search engines can read. It is far easier to get right at the start than to fix later, so check whether a quote includes it or quietly leaves it out.

What it costs after launch

This is the part most quotes leave until last, and the part that decides whether the site lasts.

• The domain. Your web address renews every year. It should be registered in your business's name, not your supplier's.
• Hosting, security and backups. Somewhere has to serve the site, keep it patched and keep a copy you can restore.
• Fixing faults. Things break, especially where your site connects to somebody else's service and that service changes.
• Changes. New prices, new photos, a new service, a new page. Ask who makes them, how quickly, and what each one costs.
• Improvement. A website that nobody touches slowly drifts out of date and down the search results. If you want it to grow the business rather than just exist, somebody has to keep working on it.

Three ways to get a website, and who each suits

Do it yourself with a website builder. You pay a monthly subscription and give your own time. It suits a business that needs a few pages quickly, is comfortable doing the work, and does not need the site to connect to anything. Watch for the subscription rising over the years, templates that look like everyone else's, and how hard it is to move away.

A freelancer. You pay for a build and usually for changes as you need them. It suits a straightforward site where you know one person you trust. Watch for what happens when that person is ill, busy or moves on, and who holds the logins.

An agency or studio. You pay for a build and usually a monthly agreement. It suits a business that wants the site connected to the rest of how it works, and someone accountable for it after launch. Watch for long contracts with no clear exit, and prices that grow with every small request.

None of these is wrong. The right one depends on how much the website needs to do for the business, and how much of your own time you want to give it.

What you should own at the end

Whichever route you take, ask these before you sign.

• Is the domain registered in my business's name?
• Do I own the words, photos and design, or am I licensing them?
• Can I have the logins for everything the site runs on?
• If I leave, what do I get, and how?
• What does the agreement say about notice and ending it?

If the answers are vague, treat that as the answer.

What we charge

We publish our prices because comparing quotes is hard enough without guessing. Every price is plus VAT.

Builds

• Presence, from £1,500. A fast, professional website that turns visitors into enquiries. From £1,200 with a Grow or Accelerate plan.
• Connected, from £3,000. A website connected to the tools your business already uses: booking, reviews, customer records and email. From £2,400 with a Grow or Accelerate plan.
• Bespoke, from £6,000. Custom development: booking and enquiry flows, connected systems and AI. From £4,800 with a Grow or Accelerate plan.

Every build starts with a written quote, valid for 30 days, setting out exactly what you get.

After launch

• Care, £60 a month on a 12-month agreement. Hosting, security, backups and monitoring, one domain registered in your business's name, and fixing any fault in our work. Changes are charged at £62.50 an hour.
• Growth plans, from £350 a month on a 12-month agreement. Care is included, and each month we improve how your website is found in search and how many of those visitors become customers.

The full list, with what each plan includes, is on our pricing page.

How to compare quotes properly

Put every quote side by side and check the same things in each.

1. Who writes the words, and who supplies the photos?
2. What does the site connect to, and what happens when one of those services changes?
3. Is search set-up included, and what does it cover?
4. What are the monthly costs after launch, and for how long are you committed?
5. What do you own, and what do you get if you leave?

A quote that answers all five in writing is worth more than a cheaper one that answers two.

Why the cheapest website is rarely the cheapest

A website exists to bring you customers. If it does not, the build price was money spent on something that sits there, however little it cost.

Our own venue, The Anchor, was our first proof. Its old website looked fine and described the business in the business's own words, while people nearby were searching in completely different ones. Rebuilding the site around what people actually search for, page by page, grew its Google Search visibility by 828%. The Anchor is a pub, but the problems it had are the ones every small business has: being found, turning interest into a firm booking or sale, and keeping more of what you sell. None of that came from the site looking better. It came from the site answering what customers were already asking.

That is the question to ask of any quote, including ours: what will this site do for the business in its second year, not just on launch day?

The short version

Compare quotes on the same scope, on the monthly cost after launch, and on what you own at the end. Pay for the build that matches what the site needs to do, and make sure somebody is responsible for it once it is live.

If you would like a written quote to compare against the others, let's chat. It sets out exactly what you would get, so you can hold it up against the five questions above.