How Much Does a Small Business Website Cost?
The honest answer is that it depends on who builds it and what is included. A small business website can cost anything from a monthly builder subscription to several thousand dollars up front. What matters is the total you pay over the first year, and what you still have to do yourself.
By the ideas2pixels team
6 min read
01
The three ways to get a website
Almost every small business ends up choosing between three routes, and each has a different cost shape.
- Do it yourself with a website builder such as Wix or Squarespace. Plans typically start at roughly $16 to $25 a month, but you build, write and maintain everything yourself, and design and SEO mistakes are yours to fix.
- Hire a freelancer or agency. Quality can be excellent, and projects often start around $2,000 and go much higher. Hosting, domain renewals and later changes are commonly billed separately.
- Use a done-for-you package. You pay a one-time setup fee for the design and build, then a monthly or yearly plan that covers hosting, your domain and support. Our packages start at $399 setup plus $39 a month.
02
The costs people forget
The price of building the site is only part of the bill. A website also needs to stay online, secure and up to date, and those costs repeat every year.
- Domain name: registered and renewed every year, so it is a recurring cost.
- Hosting: fast, secure hosting with an SSL certificate so browsers do not warn visitors away.
- Business email: a branded address such as you@yourbusiness.com instead of a free webmail account.
- Changes: updated prices, new photos and opening hours. With some providers each change is a separate charge.
- Your time: with a DIY builder, the hours you spend building and fixing the site are a real cost.
03
What a done-for-you package costs
With ideas2pixels, the setup fee pays for a designer to build and launch your site, and the ongoing plan keeps it running. Starter is $399 setup plus $39 a month (or $390 a year) for up to 5 pages. Business is $699 plus $59 a month for up to 10 pages and branded email. Growth is $999 plus $79 a month for up to 15 pages plus a blog.
Extra pages are $29 each. A yearly plan works out about two months cheaper than paying monthly.
04
How to compare quotes fairly
Ask every provider the same five questions before you decide.
- What is the total cost in the first 12 months, including hosting and the domain?
- Who owns the domain name? It should be registered in your name.
- What happens if I want to leave? You should be able to take your site files and move your domain.
- How many edits are included each month, and what do extra changes cost?
- Is there a long contract, or can I cancel the ongoing plan?
Common questions
How much does a basic small business website cost?
A basic five-page site from a done-for-you provider such as ideas2pixels is $399 setup plus $39 a month for hosting, domain, support and edits. A DIY builder starts at roughly $16 to $25 a month plus your own time, and agency projects often start around $2,000.
Is a monthly fee normal for a website?
Yes. A website needs hosting, a domain renewal, security updates and backups, which are ongoing costs. The question is what the monthly fee covers, so check that it includes hosting, the domain, support and edits.
Want us to build it for you?
One setup fee, then a simple monthly plan with your domain, hosting, support and edits included.