Why website prices vary so much
A website is not one product — it is a range of products that happen to share a name. A single-page site with a phone number and opening hours is a different job from a twelve-page site with online booking, and both are different again from a bespoke online shop. Most of the price difference comes down to three things: how much of the design is custom rather than templated, how much content needs writing or gathering, and how much functionality — booking, payments, multiple languages — the site needs to run.
The three price bands
Budget: roughly £90–£450
This covers DIY builders (Wix, Squarespace, and similar) where the software costs little but you do the building yourself, and cheap template shops where someone else assembles a pre-made design around your content. Both are reasonable choices if the goal is simply to exist online. The trade-off is usually a generic look and little or no proper search engine setup — the site exists, but nothing helps it get found.
Mid-range: roughly £350–£2,000
This is where a custom-designed site, built around your actual brand, sits — with the search and structural basics done properly from the start. A starter site at this level typically covers three to five pages; a fuller business site covers more pages, a blog, and a proper Google Business Profile setup alongside it. This band is usually the most sensible for a small business that wants to be found, not just to exist.
Premium: quote-only, often £3,000 and upward
Full-service agencies with account managers, bespoke functionality, and ongoing marketing retainers operate here. The work can be excellent, and the price reflects the team behind it rather than the website alone. It makes sense for businesses with a marketing budget to match; it rarely makes sense for a sole trader or a small local shop.
What should be included at any price
- Mobile-first design — most visitors will arrive on a phone.
- Click-to-call and a clear way to get in touch — the whole point of the site.
- Basic on-page SEO — page titles, descriptions and clean structure, not left for later.
- A domain you own — never a subdomain you cannot take with you.
If a quote is missing any of these, ask why — they cost very little to include properly from the start.
How to get an accurate quote
Describe the site in plain terms: how many pages, what it needs to do, and any content you already have (photos, text, logo). A provider who can turn that into a fixed number quickly usually has a clear process. One who cannot, or who talks only in ranges without ever landing on a figure, is worth being cautious about.