What it should cost
How much should a small business website cost?
Most small service business sites land between $500 and $5,000 to build, plus a few hundred dollars a year to run. Here is what moves the number.
Answer these before you ask for a price
- How many pages? Count the services you sell.
- Who writes the words? This is the biggest hidden cost.
- Do you have photos of your work?
- Does anything need to connect: booking, payments, a CRM?
Work out what you should spend
A website is priced like a job, and you decide most of its size before anyone quotes.
Start from what the site has to do
Making the phone ring for four services in three towns is a different job from proving you exist. Write one sentence about what a good visit looks like.
Count pages honestly
One per service, plus home, about, and contact. Most small businesses land between five and twelve.
Decide who writes
You writing makes it cheaper and the launch date yours. The builder writing takes real hours. Choosing neither is what stalls projects.
Know what a customer is worth
If one customer is worth a few hundred dollars, a modest site pays off fast. If one is worth ten thousand, spending more is simple math.
Compare scope, not totals
Line quotes up on pages, who writes, revisions, hosting, and who owns what at the end. The cheapest number is often the smallest job.
Four ways to get a website
Typical ranges around Northeast Ohio. A sanity check, not a price list.
Site builder, yourself
$15-40 a monthGood for: A one-page presence or testing an idea.
The catch: Your time, and you are renting. Moving later means rebuilding.
Freelancer, template
$500-2,500Good for: Most service businesses with five to twelve pages.
The catch: Quality varies a lot at the same price. The cheap end often means you write everything.
Experienced freelancer or studio
$2,500-8,000Good for: Businesses where the site is how people judge you.
The catch: You pay for hours. Ask what revisions and later changes cost.
Agency
$8,000 and upGood for: Large catalogs, multiple locations, compliance needs.
The catch: For a five-page trades site, the overhead buys nothing.
Red flags in a quote
- One number with no breakdown.
- No clear answer to who owns the domain and site files if you part ways.
- "SEO included" with nothing specified.
- A guaranteed number one ranking.
Questions
Why do quotes for the same website vary so much?
They are almost never for the same website. Different page counts, who writes, revisions, and hosting. Compare line by line.
What does a website cost to keep running?
A domain is about $15-25 a year. Hosting is monthly. SSL should be free. Maintenance is optional. The floor is a couple of hundred dollars a year.
Should I pay monthly instead of up front?
A monthly fee for a site you own is normal. A monthly fee where the site disappears when you stop paying is a lease. Know which you signed.
How long does a small business website take?
One to two weeks for a straightforward build once the content exists. Most delays are waiting on content.
Tell us what you sell. We will send a real number.
Answer a few questions and get a written quote with what is included spelled out.