How much doesa website cost?

The short answer

A small business website in the UK can cost anything from a monthly website-builder subscription to several thousand pounds for a bespoke agency build. The difference comes down to who does the work, how much of it is designed for you rather than picked from a template, and what happens after launch.

• DIY website builders: a monthly subscription, plus your own time designing, writing and maintaining the site.
• Fixed-price packages from a small studio or freelancer: usually a few hundred pounds for a professionally built site with clear inclusions.
• Bespoke agency projects: commonly quoted in the thousands, especially with custom functionality, large sites or extensive strategy work.

For context, our own packages are £197 for a one-page website, £397 for up to five pages and from £499 for larger sites, with hosting and management at £24.99 a month after a 14-day free trial. Every site is custom designed and coded rather than built on a template.

What you are actually paying for

Two quotes for “a five-page website” can be very different because the work behind them is different. These are the things that move the price most:

• Number of pages and unique layouts. A single scrolling page is quicker than a site with separate service, about and contact pages.
• Bespoke design or template. A template is faster to set up; a custom design is built around your customers and how they decide to get in touch.
• Content. Whether you supply the words and photos, or need help structuring and writing them.
• Functionality. Booking systems, online payments, quote calculators and integrations with other software all add time.
• Search foundations. Clean page structure, titles, descriptions and fast loading help Google understand and rank the site.
• What happens after launch. Hosting, security, backups and who makes changes when your business changes.

One-off costs and ongoing costs

The build price is only part of the picture. A website also has running costs, and it is worth knowing them before you choose:

• Domain name: usually a small yearly fee for a .co.uk or .com address.
• Hosting: where the website lives. Cheap hosting can be slow, which hurts both visitors and search rankings.
• Security certificate (SSL): the padlock in the browser. This should always be included.
• Updates and changes: new services, prices or photos. Ask whether changes are included, billed by the hour or quoted each time.
• Business email: often a separate monthly cost per mailbox.

Our hosting and management plan covers hosting, security and ongoing care, and small updates are handled for you, so you never need to learn a content system. Larger additions, such as new pages, are quoted clearly before any work begins.

Website builder or pay someone?

Website builders such as Wix or Squarespace suit people who enjoy doing it themselves and have time to learn. The trade-off is that the design, writing, speed and search set-up are all down to you, and many small business sites built this way end up looking similar to their competitors.

Paying a professional makes sense when your time is better spent running your business, when you want the site to bring in enquiries rather than simply exist, or when you have tried the DIY route and it is not producing results.

Questions to ask before you pay anyone

• Is the price fixed, and exactly what is included?
• Is the design bespoke or based on a template?
• Will it work properly on phones? Most visitors will be on one.
• What does hosting include, and what does it cost each month?
• How are changes handled after launch, and what do they cost?
• What search basics are included, such as page titles, descriptions and fast loading?
• Can I see websites you have built for businesses like mine?

Clear answers to these tell you far more than the headline price does.

Getting a website in Bath

BKA Digital is based in Bath, and we build websites for businesses across Bath and the surrounding area, as well as throughout the UK. Everything is handled by Max and Joe, the two people designing and building your site, with fixed prices published up front.