Costs
How much does a small business website cost?
A small business website can cost almost nothing or tens of thousands of dollars. The price depends on who builds it, who writes the words, and what you keep paying every month after it's live. Here are the usual price ranges, what each one gets you, and the costs that don't show up on the first quote.
The ranges below come from published website price guides. They vary a lot from source to source, so use them as a rough map and get real quotes for your business.
The short answer
| Who builds it | Typical up-front cost | Ongoing cost | Your time |
|---|---|---|---|
| You, with a website builder | Little or nothing | A monthly plan, often tens of dollars a month | The most: days to weeks |
| A freelancer | Often about $500 to $5,000 | Hosting, plus any update fees | Some: answers, photos, reviews |
| An agency | From about $1,500 to well over $10,000 | Often a monthly care plan | Some: meetings and reviews |
| A flat-fee package | One price, shown up front | Only your own domain, hosting and email | Little: one call and a few approvals |
Most small businesses with a handful of pages land in the low thousands when someone else builds the site.
Building it yourself
A website builder is the cheapest way to start. Plans usually run from a few dollars to over a hundred dollars a month, depending on features like online booking or selling. You pick a template, write every page, find photos and set up the details yourself.
The catch is time. Writing pages that make people call you is harder than it looks, and a site that looks fine on a computer can look broken on a phone. If you'd rather spend those weeks on paying work, the cheap option can end up costing more.
Hiring a freelancer
Freelancers are the most common choice for a first real website. Price guides commonly put a complete small business site somewhere between about $500 and $5,000. The spread is huge because freelancers include very different things. Some only design and build. Others also write the words, set up your Google profile and teach you how to make changes.
Before you hire one, get the full list in writing: how many pages, who writes them, whether you can edit the site yourself, and whose name the accounts are in.
Hiring an agency
Agencies bring a team: a strategist, a designer, a writer and a project manager. That costs more. Simpler agency sites can start around $1,500, and custom projects often run well past $10,000. Many agencies also charge a monthly fee for hosting, updates and support.
An agency makes sense for a large site, an online store with many products or a business that needs custom features. For a new local business with five or six pages, it's usually more than you need.
What you pay every year after it's live
| Cost | What it is | Typical price |
|---|---|---|
| Domain | Your web address, like yourbusiness.com | About $10 to $25 a year |
| Hosting or a builder plan | Where your website lives online | From a few dollars to $100 or more a month |
| Business email | An address like you@yourbusiness.com | A few dollars a month per person |
| Care or update plan (optional) | Someone else makes changes for you | Often $50 to several hundred dollars a month |
The first three are normal for every business. The last one is a choice. If your site is built so you can change the words, photos and prices yourself, you may never need it.
Costs that don't show up on the first quote
- Writing. Some quotes assume you supply every word. Writing five good pages can take longer than building them.
- Photos. Stock photos cost money and look generic. Real phone photos of you and your work usually do better.
- Changes after launch. Find out what a small change costs before you need one.
- Accounts in someone else's name. If the domain or hosting is in the builder's name, leaving them can mean starting over.
- A logo and brand. Many website quotes don't include one. See what a website and logo cost together.
What a good small business website includes
- A home page that says what you do, where, and how to reach you in the first screen
- A services page, with prices or starting prices if you can
- An about page with a real photo of you
- Photos of your actual work
- A contact or request form, plus your phone number on every page
- A site that works well on phones, where most people will find you
- Page titles, descriptions and a sitemap so Google can list it
For more on what to put online first, read what a new business needs online.
How to get the best value
- Ask for one price that lists exactly what's included.
- Make sure every account is set up in your name from day one.
- Ask whether you can edit the site yourself, without a monthly plan.
- Ask who writes the words, and how many rounds of changes you get.
- Ask how long it takes. A small site shouldn't take months.
Our flat-fee option
The Storyhand Studio business package is one flat price for a custom website plus your logo and brand kit, card and sign designs, a 90-day marketing plan and a step-by-step setup guide. We write the words from your answers, you approve everything, and every account is in your name. There are no monthly fees to us, and you can change the site yourself.