If you’re trying to work out how much a small business website should cost in the UK, you’ll quickly discover that there isn’t one sensible answer.
You can build something yourself for very little. You can pay a freelancer a few hundred pounds. You can spend several thousand pounds with an established web design company.
All of those options can be reasonable.
The question isn’t really “How much does a website cost?”
It’s:
“What does my business actually need, and what’s the simplest way to achieve it properly?”
For a lot of small UK businesses, the answer is considerably simpler than the web design industry sometimes makes it sound.
How much does a small business website cost in the UK?
As a rough guide, you’ll find websites being sold at every level from low-cost DIY services through to bespoke agency projects costing thousands of pounds.
The main options look something like this:
| Type of website | Best suited to | What to expect |
|---|---|---|
| DIY website builder | Very small or new businesses | You build and manage it yourself |
| Simple one-page website | Sole traders, side businesses and straightforward local services | Core information on one well-designed page |
| Small multi-page website | Established local businesses | Separate pages for services, about, contact and other key information |
| Larger custom website | Businesses with more complex requirements | Custom functionality, integrations or larger amounts of content |
| Ecommerce website | Businesses selling online | Products, payments, delivery and account functionality |
There’s nothing inherently wrong with any of these approaches.
The mistake is paying for more website than your business needs.
What actually affects the price of a website?
A five-page website isn’t automatically five times the work of a one-page website, and a £3,000 website isn’t automatically three times better than a £1,000 website.
Website pricing usually comes down to the amount of work involved.
That includes things such as:
- How many pages need designing and building
- Whether the design is custom or based on a template
- Whether the copy is supplied or needs writing
- How many services the business offers
- Whether online booking is required
- Ecommerce
- Membership areas
- Payment systems
- Bespoke forms
- Third-party integrations
- Photography and graphics
- Search engine optimisation
- Ongoing maintenance
A local window cleaner with three services and one area to cover has very different requirements from a company selling 500 products online.
Their websites shouldn’t cost the same.
Does a small business actually need a big website?
Often, no.
This is one area where I think small business owners are regularly sold more than they need.
A website has a fairly simple job.
It should quickly tell somebody:
- What you do
- Who you do it for
- Where you work
- Why they should trust you
- How to contact you
If you’re a plumber covering East London, for example, a potential customer arriving on your website probably doesn’t want to explore an elaborate twenty-page digital experience.
They want to know whether you cover their area, whether you do the job they need, whether you look trustworthy and how quickly they can contact you.
Keep it simple.
A well-built one-page website can often do that perfectly well.
When is a one-page website enough?
A one-page website makes sense when the business itself is straightforward.
For example:
- A new sole trader
- A local tradesperson
- A cleaner
- A gardener
- A decorator
- A photographer
- A consultant
- A mobile service business
- A side business
- A new business testing an idea
You can still have a proper domain, professional email address, good design, clear contact details and a website you own.
You don’t automatically need Home, About, Services, Our Process, Our Philosophy and six other pages simply because that’s what websites traditionally have.
If everything a customer needs can be explained clearly on one page, one page may be enough.
When should you pay for a larger website?
There comes a point where putting everything onto one page stops making sense.
A larger website is usually justified when you have:
- Several important services
- Different customer groups
- Multiple locations
- A large portfolio
- Detailed case studies
- Ecommerce
- Regular content
- Complex booking requirements
- A strong SEO strategy targeting many separate searches
For example, a heating company might eventually want separate pages for boiler installation, boiler servicing, emergency repairs, heat pumps and commercial heating.
Those pages can then answer each customer’s question properly and target each service individually in search.
That’s different from adding pages simply to make a website look bigger.
What should a small business website include?
Whatever you spend, I would expect a professional small business website to get the basics right.
A clear explanation of what you do
Don’t make people work it out.
Your main heading should make your service obvious.
“Welcome to ABC Solutions” tells me almost nothing.
“Boiler Installation and Heating Services in East London” does.
Clarity normally beats cleverness.
Your service area
This matters particularly for local businesses.
Tell people where you work.
If you cover Upminster, Romford, Hornchurch and the surrounding parts of East London and Essex, say so.
Someone shouldn’t have to contact you just to discover whether you’ll travel to them.
An easy way to contact you
Phone number.
Email.
Contact form.
WhatsApp if you use it for business.
Whatever is appropriate, make it obvious.
On mobile, I particularly like making the main contact action easy to reach without hunting through the site.
Proof
This could include:
- Customer reviews
- Before-and-after photos
- Previous work
- Qualifications
- Accreditations
- Years of experience
- Real photographs of you or your team
The aim isn’t to cover the website in badges.
It’s to answer the perfectly reasonable question:
“Why should I trust this business?”
Good mobile design
For many local businesses, this is more important than the desktop version.
Think about how you use the internet yourself.
If your boiler stops working, you’re probably not going upstairs, opening a laptop and carefully researching heating engineers for forty minutes.
You pick up your phone.
The website needs to work properly there.
What ongoing costs should you ask about?
The build price isn’t the only number worth checking.
Before agreeing to a website, ask what happens afterwards.
You may need to pay for:
- Domain renewal
- Website hosting
- Email hosting
- Maintenance
- Software licences
- Content updates
- Security
- Backups
None of these things are automatically unreasonable.
You just need to know about them before you buy.
One question I would always ask is:
“If I stop working with you, what happens to my website?”
You should understand who owns the site, who controls the domain and whether moving elsewhere is possible.
Is a cheap website a bad website?
No.
A cheap website can be bad.
An expensive website can also be bad.
Price alone doesn’t tell you very much.
I’d look at whether the website:
- Looks professional
- Works well on a phone
- Loads quickly
- Explains the business clearly
- Makes contacting the company easy
- Belongs to the business
- Can grow when necessary
If a simple website does all of those things, making it larger doesn’t automatically make it better.
Should you build your website yourself?
You certainly can.
Services such as website builders have made it much easier to create something without knowing how to code.
For some business owners, that makes complete sense.
The trade-off is usually time.
You need to choose the layout, write the copy, find the images, set up the domain, make it work on mobile and decide what actually needs to go on the page.
If you enjoy doing that, great.
If you run a business all day and have no interest in becoming a part-time web designer in the evening, paying somebody else can be a better use of your time.
What should you ask a web designer before paying?
You don’t need to turn the conversation into an interrogation.
Just establish the basics.
Ask:
- What exactly is included?
- Is the design custom?
- Who writes the copy?
- Who owns the website?
- Who owns the domain?
- Is hosting included?
- Are there ongoing fees?
- What happens if I need a small change?
- Will it work properly on mobile?
- Can the website be expanded later?
- How long will it take?
You should be able to get straightforward answers.
If the pricing or ownership structure is difficult to understand before you’ve even started, I’d be cautious.
What does Ratiom offer?
I’ve deliberately started with a very simple offer for small UK businesses.
Ratiom can build a professional one-page website for £100.
It’s aimed at sole traders, side businesses, micro-businesses and small local companies that need to get online without spending thousands of pounds.
There’s no attempt to turn a £100 website into a complicated package once we’ve started.
If one page genuinely isn’t suitable for the business, I’ll say so.
Likewise, if one page is all you need, there’s little sense in selling you five.
You can see more about Ratiom’s website offer or contact me here.
How much should you spend?
Spend enough to solve the problem properly.
No more and no less.
If your business needs ecommerce, integrations and twenty carefully planned service pages, £100 isn’t realistic.
If you’re a self-employed decorator and simply need a professional website showing what you do, where you work, examples of your work and a way to request a quote, spending several thousand pounds may be equally unnecessary.
Start with what the customer needs.
Build from there.
Frequently asked questions
How much should a small business spend on a website?
There isn’t a fixed amount. A straightforward business may only need a simple one-page site, while businesses with multiple services, ecommerce or more complicated functionality will require a larger budget. Start with what the website needs to achieve rather than choosing a price first.
Can a £100 website actually be useful?
Yes, if the requirement is simple enough. A properly designed one-page website can explain what a business does, show evidence, cover the service area and make contacting the business easy. It won’t replace a large ecommerce or content-heavy website.
How many pages does a small business website need?
As many as are genuinely useful. Some businesses work perfectly well with one strong page. Others benefit from separate service, location, case study and information pages.
Do I need to pay monthly for a website?
Not necessarily. Hosting, domain names and some software have recurring costs, but that doesn’t mean every web designer needs to charge a large monthly fee. Ask exactly what ongoing charges apply before agreeing to anything.
Does a small business need WordPress?
Not automatically. WordPress is useful when a business needs to edit content regularly, publish frequently or manage a more complex site. If you rarely change anything, a simpler website may suit you better.
Can my website grow later?
It should be able to. Starting with a simple website doesn’t mean you’re stuck with it forever. A good setup should leave room to expand when the business actually needs it.
About the author: Gary O’Toole is the founder of Ratiom and has worked in web design, development and digital marketing for more than 20 years. Ratiom works with small businesses in East London and across the UK.