A website in the UK can cost anything from a couple of hundred pounds to tens of thousands. The right figure depends on what the site has to do for your business. Here is what you get at each level, what to check before you pay, and what we charge.
How much does a website designer cost?
We publish our prices, so here they are. A single landing page starts from £450. A five page website starts from £900, with extra pages at £120 each up to 15 pages. An online store starts from £2,500 for up to 20 products. No VAT is added.
Elsewhere you will find quotes well below and far above those. Neither end is wrong in itself. What matters is whether the price matches the job.
What does my website actually need to do?
Decide this before you compare prices. If you only need a brochure, somewhere to put your details and a few photos, a simple site is fine and there is no reason to overspend.
If the website has to bring in enquiries, sell products or do anything technical, it pays to spend a little more. Treat it as an investment in growing the business, and choose someone who can advise you as well as build.
Are cheap websites worth it?
Be careful with cheap, quick websites. They are often built from a template with little real design work, and they can come with complications later. When we looked at the first page of Google for web design in a nearby town, the first two results both led with websites for £25 a month. That is what most people see first, so it is worth knowing what sits behind it.
Ask what platform the site is built on. Websites generated entirely by AI are appearing more and more, and they often bring security problems and are hard to update without a developer.
Are DIY website builders cheaper in the long run?
Not always. Builders are designed to be quick and easy, and for that they are good. They add little for SEO or extra features, and they do not scale well as a business grows. If you later ask someone to manage the site for you, they will often recommend rebuilding it on a proper platform first.
You are also paying for as long as the site exists. At £25 a month, three years comes to £900. That is the price of a professionally designed five page website from us, which you would own outright.
Who owns the website?
Check this before you sign anything. Some companies rent your website to you, and when you stop paying the monthly fee the site is taken down. You should own your website, be able to move it to another provider and do what you like with it.
What makes a website cost more?
Scope. Custom features, a large number of pages, ecommerce and custom coded sections all add time, so a site with those will cost a good deal more than a basic five page one. On our own builds the optional extras are priced individually, for example £75 per page for copywriting or £400 for a custom booking system, so you can see what each choice adds.
What costs come after launch?
Three are worth planning for, so there are no surprises:
- Hosting and maintenance. Someone has to keep the site hosted, secure and updated. Our ongoing support is £200 a month and includes up to two hours of minor edits: see website hosting and maintenance.
- SEO. A new website does not rank on its own. Ongoing SEO is a separate service, with plans from £600 a month: see how much SEO costs.
- Changes. New pages or larger rebuilds are priced separately from routine upkeep.
You can also choose to manage the site yourself after launch, in which case hosting and updates become your responsibility.
Why do you publish your prices?
Transparency. We want you to know roughly what a website costs before you speak to us. If we are outside your budget, you can find that out without sitting through a call. It also lets you see exactly what you will get, so you can make an informed decision without being pressured into something you do not want or need.
How do I get an exact price?
Use our instant quote tool. Choose the type of site, the number of pages and any extras, and it gives you a price in about a minute. For more on how we work, see our web design service.
