A small business website in 2026 can cost anything from £850 to £20,000 or more. That’s not a helpful answer on its own, so this article explains what sits behind those numbers.
Ask ten web designers what a website costs and you’ll get ten different answers. Most of them will start with “it depends”, which is true but frustrating when you’re trying to set a budget.
We’ve been building websites since the mid-1990s, for councils, publishers, cinemas, charities and hundreds of small businesses. Over 30 years, one thing hasn’t changed: the right price depends on what you want the website to achieve. By the end of this article, you’ll know what to expect at each level, what drives the cost up or down, and how to spot a quote that looks cheap but isn’t.
What a website costs: start with the outcome
Our websites range from £850 for a simple one-page site to around £20,000 for a full e-commerce build. Where you land depends on the outcome you want, not the number of pages.
Our prices fall into three ranges, each matched to what you need the site to do:
Lower range
£850 to £1,800
Size: 1 to 5 pages
Looking professional, being found and making it easy to get in touch.
Mid range
£2,000 to £4,999
Size: 6 pages up to a smaller e-commerce site
Explaining your services in depth, winning enquiries, taking bookings or selling a modest range online.
High end
£5,000 to £20,000
Size: Large e-commerce site
Selling lots of products online, with stock, orders and payments managed through the site.
A one-page site suits a new business, a sole trader or anyone who mainly needs to be found and look credible. A larger site makes sense when the website itself has to win work: ranking on Google, building trust and handling enquiries while you’re busy on the job.
The honest answer to “how much?” is another question: what would a good website be worth to your business? If it brings in two or three extra jobs a month, a bigger investment can pay for itself quickly.
What drives the cost up or down
Five things decide most of the price. Knowing them helps you compare quotes fairly.
- Size and content. More pages means more design, more writing and more time. Having your text ready saves money; asking us to write it adds to the cost but usually gives a stronger result.
- Template or custom design. A well-chosen template gets you online quickly and affordably. A custom design is built around your brand and your customers, and stands out from competitors using the same themes.
- Features. Booking systems, online payments, client logins, quote forms and integrations with your existing software all take extra build and testing time.
- Photography and visuals. Stock photos are cheap but generic. Professional photos of your team, premises and products build trust faster, which is why we offer headshots, product and event photography alongside our web work.
- Search engine optimisation (SEO). A site nobody finds can’t bring in work. Setting it up properly for Google from day one costs a little more than skipping it, and far less than fixing it later.
The ongoing costs people forget
The build is a one-off cost, but every website has running costs too. Budget for these from the start so there are no surprises.
- Domain name. Your web address, renewed every year.
- Hosting. Where your website lives. Cheap hosting is often slow, and a slow site loses visitors and Google rankings.
- Maintenance and security. Software updates, backups and security checks keep your site safe and working. Skip them and a site can be hacked or simply break.
- Content updates. New services, prices, photos and blog posts keep your site fresh and help it rank.
- Licences. Some features rely on paid plugins or software subscriptions.
A good web designer will explain all of these upfront and tell you which ones they can look after for you.
How AI is changing what a website can do
In 2026, a website can do far more than sit there looking good. AI tools are changing both how sites are built and what they can do for your business.
On the build side, AI speeds up parts of the process, from drafting content to producing layouts. That can help keep costs down, especially for smaller sites.
The bigger change is what happens after launch. An AI agent connected to your website can:
- Answer customer enquiries at any hour, including evenings and weekends
- Book appointments and jobs straight into your calendar
- Qualify leads so you only spend time on serious enquiries
- Help market your business with regular, relevant content
For a busy tradesperson or small business owner, that means fewer missed calls and fewer lost jobs. It also changes how you judge the price of a website: the question becomes how much work it brings in, not how nice it looks.
Cheap versus good value: red flags to watch for
A low quote isn’t always a bargain. These are the warning signs we see most often when businesses come to us to fix a website that went wrong.
- Hidden extras. A low headline price that grows once you add the features you actually need.
- You don’t own it. The designer registers your domain in their name or locks the site to their own platform, making it hard to leave.
- No mobile version. Most visitors arrive on a phone. A site that doesn’t work well on mobile loses them.
- No SEO basics. Missing page titles, descriptions and speed checks mean Google struggles to find you.
- No support after launch. If nobody will update or fix the site, you’re on your own the first time something breaks.
Good value means a site that works, that you own, and that keeps bringing in business for years.
Questions to ask any web designer before you hire them
Take this checklist into any conversation about a new website, whoever you choose to work with.
- What exactly is included in the price, and what costs extra?
- Will I own my domain name and website outright?
- Who writes the content, and who supplies the photos?
- Will the site work properly on phones and tablets?
- What SEO setup is included so Google can find me?
- What are the ongoing costs for hosting, maintenance and updates?
- Can I update the site myself, and will you show me how?
- What happens if something goes wrong after launch?
- Can you show me examples of your work and reviews from clients?
- How will this website help me get more customers?
So, how much should you spend?
Spend what the outcome is worth to your business, and budget for the upkeep as well as the build. A £850 one-page site can be exactly right for a new business, while a growing online shop may need a £20,000 investment to compete.
We’re a small business ourselves, so we understand the pressure of every pound you spend. With 30 years of experience behind us, we’ll give you a straight answer on what you need, and what you don’t.
Not sure where to start? Book a free consultation and we’ll talk through your goals, or try our free AI audit to see how AI tools could save you time and win you more work. No jargon, no pressure.