how much should a website cost
A practical, no-fluff guide for small businesses — learn what drives price, realistic ranges, and how to budget for design, SEO and advertising.
Decide confidently. This guide converts confusing quotes into clear budgets you can act on today.
Why website costs vary so much
A website can be inexpensive or expensive depending on choices you make. Three core drivers determine the final price: scope (what the site must do), delivery model (DIY, subscription, agency), and ongoing services (SEO, content, ads, maintenance). Understand these and you can control cost without sacrificing results.
Scope
Number of pages, custom features (bookings, e‑commerce), integrations (payment gateways, CRM) and content needs.
Delivery model
DIY platforms (cheapest cash outlay, highest time cost), subscription services (predictable monthly fee), or custom agency builds (high upfront cost).
Timeline & support
Rush delivery, dedicated project management, and ongoing support hours all add to cost.
Detailed cost breakdown: what you're actually paying for
Design & UX
Design includes visual layout, branding alignment, and user experience decisions. Costs depend on whether you want a template tweak or a fully bespoke design.
- Template setup / tweak: $0–$500 (or included in subscriptions)
- Custom small business design (3–6 pages): $800–$3,000
- Full brand + website (custom, multi‑page): $3,000–$15,000+
Development & Functionality
Adds up quickly when you need booking systems, custom forms, membership areas, or e-commerce.
- Basic CMS-powered brochure site: $0–$800 (platform or subscription)
- Custom integrations & plugins: $500–$5,000 depending on complexity
- E-commerce stores: $1,500–$20,000 (catalog size, payments, shipping rules)
Content (copy, photos, video)
Good content converts. Expect to budget for professional copywriting and imagery unless you provide them.
- Stock photos: $0–$200 (per year for subscriptions)
- Professional copywriting: $200–$2,000+ depending on pages
- Video or custom photography: $500–$5,000
Hosting, domain & security
Ongoing essentials — don’t cheap out. A secure, backed-up host reduces downtime and repair costs later.
- Domain: $10–$30/year (often included for first year)
- Hosting: $5–$200+/month (shared vs dedicated, managed WP vs static)
- SSL: Free (Let's Encrypt) to $50+/year for premium certs
SEO, analytics & tracking
Basic SEO setup is a must. Ongoing SEO and content work drive organic traffic — and that costs time and money.
- Basic SEO setup (meta tags, sitemap, Google Business): $150–$800 one-off
- Monthly local SEO / content work: $300–$2,500+/month
- Analytics + reporting: Often included with subscriptions; standalone services $20–$200+/month
Maintenance & updates
Sites need care. Decide if you want unlimited updates or pay-as-you-go hourly support.
- Subscription with unlimited small updates: $30–$150/month
- Hourly support: $50–$200+/hour
- Security & backups: $10–$50+/month (often bundled)
Simple budgeting templates (pick one that fits your business)
Use these baseline templates to estimate first-year costs and monthly running costs.
Bare Minimum (DIY)
- Platform: $10–$30/mo
- Domain: $10/yr
- SSL: free
- Stock images: $0–$50
- Time: 40+ hours (your time)
Professional Subscription
- Subscription: $30–$49/mo
- Domain & hosting: included
- Basic SEO & analytics: included
- Unlimited small updates: included
Custom Agency Build
- Design & dev: $3,000–$12,000+
- Hosting: $20–$150/mo
- SEO & content: add $500+/month
How to budget for SEO and Ads
Designing a website is only the first step. To get traffic and enquiries, you need SEO and/or paid ads. Here’s a straightforward way to set monthly budgets and expectations.
Local SEO (recommended for most trades)
- Initial setup (one-off): $250–$900 (GMB, on-page SEO, local citations)
- Monthly ongoing: $300–$1,200 (content, links, technical fixes)
- Timeline to results: 3–6 months for local keywords
Paid Ads (Google / Meta)
- Ad spend (recommended minimum): $300–$1,500+/month
- Management fee: $150–$900+/month (or included in agency packages)
- Timeline to stable ROI: 4–12 weeks with active optimisation
Rule of thumb: Start small, measure, then scale. For most small businesses, a sensible starting budget is $500–$1,200/month combining modest ad spend and light SEO work. Reinvest profit from leads back into ads once tracking proves ROI.
How to prioritise features to control cost
Use this approach to focus spend on what drives enquiries and revenue.
- Lead capture first: prominent phone number, click-to-call, and a simple contact method.
- Mobile experience: if mobile UX is bad, you lose most traffic — don't skimp here.
- Clear service pages: 3–5 service pages targeted to your main offerings and local keywords.
- Fast load times: optimise images and hosting before adding features.
- Analytics & tracking: set up goals and conversions so you can measure ROI from day one.
Tip: Defer nice-to-have features (blogs, galleries, advanced booking) until the basics are converting leads.
Questions to ask before you buy
- What exactly is included in the price? (pages, images, revisions)
- Who owns the domain and content after launch?
- How are updates handled — unlimited or hourly?
- What performance guarantees or uptime SLAs exist?
- How long to see SEO or ads results and what KPIs will be tracked?
- Are there onboarding or cancellation fees?
Three real-world example budgets
Local trades (plumber/electrician)
- Website: $360–$588/yr (professional subscription)
- Local SEO: $300/mo (3–6 months)
- Ads: $300–$800/mo ad spend
- Expected leads/month: 10–50 depending on market
Service business (cleaners, salons)
- Website: $800–$2,500 (one-off) or $360/yr subscription
- SEO: $400–$1,000/mo
- Ads + booking engine: $500–$1,500/mo
- Goal: 20–60 booked jobs/month
Small e-commerce
- Website & payments: $2,500–$15,000+
- Hosting & security: $50–$300/mo
- Ads & marketplace: $1,000+/mo
- Inventory & fulfilment costs separate
A practical plan you can use today
- Decide your primary outcome (calls, bookings, sales).
- Choose the delivery model: DIY only if you have 40+ hours and enjoy it.
- Start with a professional subscription if you value time and want predictable costs — many start from $30–$49/month.
- Allocate a monthly marketing budget (SEO + Ads) and commit for at least 3 months to measure impact.
- Get a written scope and request examples of live work and reporting dashboards.
If you want a fast, all-inclusive option: Congero offers mobile-first, AI-driven site builds with domain, hosting, SSL, local SEO and unlimited updates for a predictable monthly fee. Start with a free demo and be live in under 60 seconds.
Frequently asked questions
What is a realistic minimum spend for a functioning small business site?
Should I prioritise SEO or ads first?
Are monthly subscriptions better than custom builds?
Ready to budget smarter for your website?
Use the budgets above as a starting point. If you want a predictable, all-inclusive option that handles hosting, domain, updates and local SEO, try a Congero demo.
See the demo — live in 60 secondsNo setup fee. No lock-in contracts. Simple monthly pricing from $49/month (2025).
