What does a website cost, and where does the money go?

Website pricing is confusing because "website" covers everything from a shop sign to a whole shop.

One-off and recurring costs#

Let's separate these first. Quotes often list one and leave out the other.

One-off#

Design and development. Most of the money goes here.

Every year#

• Domain, a modest yearly sum

• Hosting, which depends on whether you go for shared hosting or a VPS

• SSL certificate, now free in most places

• Maintenance and updates, optional in theory but a real need if you run WordPress

Platforms like Shopify also charge a monthly fee and a commission on each sale. Factor those in when you look at a quote.

What does each price band buy?#

The bottom band#

A ready-made theme, installed. Someone buys a theme and drops in your logo and text. It's quick and cheap.

You get a working site. You don't get a structure built around your business, any speed work, or a look that sets you apart from your competitors.

It can make sense for a small brochure site. Do ask whose name the theme licence is in.

The middle band#

Custom design, a page structure built around what you need, basic SEO and speed work, and training on the admin panel.

This is the right range for most small and medium businesses, and it's where the packages on this site sit.

The top band#

A system written from scratch, custom integrations, several languages, heavier infrastructure. It's for work that off-the-shelf tools can't handle.

At this level complexity sets the price: how many user roles there are, which systems the site has to talk to and how many edge cases need handling.

Why is the spread so wide?#

Four things set the price.

<strong>Page count, and whether each page is designed separately.</strong> Twenty pages built from five templates is far less work than twenty pages designed one by one.

<strong>Functionality.</strong> Each step up, from a brochure site to one with forms and then to one that takes payments or bookings, adds real work.

<strong>Content.</strong> Are you supplying the text and photos, or is the designer producing them? That line alone can be a third of the budget.

<strong>Timeline.</strong> Urgent work costs more because it has to jump the queue.

How to compare quotes#

Put the scope lists side by side, not just the totals, and ask each supplier these three questions:

• How many pages are included, and what does an extra one cost?

• Who is responsible for the text and photography?

• How many rounds of revisions do I get after delivery, and how long does support last?

The cheap quote usually turns expensive on that last point. If every small change after launch is billed separately, the price gap you started with closes within six months.

Don't forget to ask#

"When the site is finished, do the code, the domain and the content stay with me?" If the answer isn't a clear yes, think again about what you're paying for.