How Much Does a Small Business Website Cost?

Ask five people how much a small business website costs and you will get five different answers, and all of them can be right. The price depends less on the website itself than on how you get it: who builds it, who looks after it and what happens when something needs to change. So how much does a small business website cost for you? This guide breaks the cost into its parts, compares the three common ways to pay for them and lists the questions that uncover costs nobody mentions up front. We run a website service ourselves, so at the end we explain our own prices too; you can check every number on our pricing page.

The parts every website has

Whatever route you choose, a working business website is made of the same pieces. Some cost money, some cost time, and some cost both:

A domain name, such as yourbusiness.com. You pay a registrar for it every year. Prices vary by registrar and by ending (.com, .net, .co and so on), and introductory prices are often lower than renewal prices.
Hosting, the computer that serves your website to visitors, plus the security certificate that gives you a secure https address.
Design and build, turning your business details, photos and services into pages that look good and work on phones.
Upkeep, the unglamorous work of keeping things running: software and security updates, fixing anything that breaks, renewing certificates.
Changes over time, new services, new photos, seasonal hours, updated prices.
Your own time, writing about your business, gathering photos, answering questions and checking the result.

When two quotes look very different, it is usually because one includes more of these parts than the other.

Option 1: build it yourself

Website builders let you assemble a site from templates for a monthly subscription. This route can cost the least money, especially if you enjoy the work. The real cost is time: choosing a template, writing every page, sizing photos, setting up the domain and learning where all the settings live. Then you are the upkeep department. When something looks wrong on a phone or a renewal email arrives, it is yours to handle.

Building it yourself makes sense when you have the time and interest, and when you are comfortable checking your own work on different screens.

Option 2: a one-time build

A freelancer or agency designs and builds the site for a one-time fee. You get a professional result, and the price reflects the hours involved. Before you agree, ask what happens after launch. Who hosts the site, and who pays for it? Who applies updates and fixes problems? Are changes billed by the hour? A one-time build often leaves upkeep and changes as separate, ongoing costs that are easy to forget when comparing quotes.

Option 3: a monthly website service

A monthly service designs, hosts and looks after the website for a fixed price each month. Instead of a large upfront bill, you pay a predictable amount that includes the upkeep. The trade-off is that you keep paying for as long as you use the service, so it is worth checking the terms closely: whether there is a setup fee, how long the contract runs, what cancelling involves and who owns the domain name.

What Sites by Digit costs

We are a monthly website service, and our prices are simple:

Instant is $29 a month: a one-page website from our professional templates, at a free yourbusiness.digit.software address.
Starter is $39 a month: a personalized one-page website in the design direction you choose, on your own domain.
Growth is $59 a month: up to six pages, changes each month and a monthly analytics report.

There is no setup fee, plans are month to month, and hosting and upkeep are included in every plan. Optional extras are priced separately, such as Domain Management at $5 a month. Your domain registration is your own cost, paid to your registrar in your name; it is never bundled into our price. Our pricing page compares the plans side by side, and our guide to what to include on your website helps you decide what you need.

Questions to ask any provider, including us

Whoever you talk to, these questions reveal the full cost:

Is there a setup fee or any other one-time charge?
How long is the contract, and what does cancelling involve?
Who owns the domain name, and is it registered in my name?
What is included each month, and what is billed extra?
How do I request a change, and how quickly is it made?
What happens to my website and domain if I leave?
Will I see the website and approve it before it goes live?

Clear answers to all seven are a good sign. Vague answers to any of them are worth a follow-up question before you sign.

Hidden costs to watch for

A few costs catch business owners out again and again:

A domain registered in someone else's name. If your web designer owns your domain, leaving them can mean losing your address. Make sure you are the registered owner.
Renewal prices. Low introductory prices for domains and software can rise at renewal. Check the renewal price, not just the first-year price.
Small changes billed by the hour. Updating your hours should not need a quote.
Separate hosting bills. Some builds include hosting for the first year only.
Your time. Hours spent fixing a website are hours not spent on paying work.

The bottom line

The cheapest website is not always the one with the lowest price tag, and the most expensive is not always the best. Count every part, including upkeep, changes and your own time, and compare the total over a year or two. If a predictable monthly price with everything looked after sounds right, see our plans and pricing, and our free guide to what to include on your website helps you plan the content.