How much does a small business website cost in the UK?

It’s the first question almost every small business owner asks, and the honest answer is: anything from £10 a month to £10,000 and more. That range isn’t much help on its own, so here’s what you actually get at each price point, what you’ll pay every year after launch, and how to tell which option makes sense for you.

The short answer

For a typical small business, such as a trade, a salon, a café, a consultant or a local shop, a professionally built website of around three to ten pages usually costs between £500 and £3,000 from a freelancer, and £3,000 to £12,000 or more from an agency. Doing it yourself on a website builder costs less up front, but you pay monthly and you put in the time.

Website costs in the UK at a glance

Option	Typical cost	Best for
DIY website builder (Wix, Squarespace and similar)	Roughly £9–£30 a month	Very small budgets, if you have time and are confident with design and writing
Freelancer: small brochure site (3–5 pages)	£500–£1,500	Most sole traders and small local businesses
Freelancer: business site (5–10 pages)	£1,500–£3,000	Businesses with several services or locations
Agency: brochure site	£3,000–£12,000+ (more in London)	Larger businesses that need a team, strategy and custom design
Online shop (built for you)	£2,000–£10,000+	Businesses selling products online

Figures are based on 2026 UK pricing guides from ExpertSure and Kwiboo. Prices vary with location and experience, so treat them as a guide.

What actually changes the price?

Two websites with the same number of pages can be priced very differently. These are the things that make the biggest difference:

• Number of pages. More pages means more design, more writing and more checking.
• Who writes the words. Many cheap websites are cheap because you supply all the text. Good copy is often what turns a visitor into an enquiry, and writing it takes time.
• Template or custom design. A well-chosen template, adapted to your brand, is perfectly fine for most small businesses. Fully custom design costs more.
• Features. Online booking, payments, shops, members’ areas and integrations all add cost. Many can be handled by embedding a ready-made tool instead of building something from scratch.
• SEO setup. Page titles, descriptions, a sitemap, Google Search Console and a Google Business Profile are what help people find you. Check whether they’re included.

The costs after launch

The build is a one-off cost, but every website has running costs too. Budget for these:

• Domain name: around £10–£15 a year for a .co.uk
• Hosting: roughly £5–£30 a month for a small business WordPress site
• Email on your own domain: often included with hosting, or a few pounds a month per mailbox
• Maintenance: about £25–£150 a month if someone looks after updates, backups and security for you

Maintenance is easy to skip and expensive to ignore. An out-of-date WordPress site is the most common way small business websites get hacked or stop working, so either keep on top of updates yourself or pay someone a small monthly fee to do it.

Should you build it yourself?

Website builders have improved a lot, and for some businesses they’re the right choice. If you enjoy that kind of thing, have time, and mainly need a simple online presence, a builder can work well. I’ve compared the main options in WordPress vs Wix vs Squarespace.

Where DIY sites usually fall down isn’t the technology. It’s the words, the structure and the setup for Google. It’s easy to end up with a nice-looking site that nobody finds, or that doesn’t make it clear what you do. If your time is better spent running your business, paying a professional often works out cheaper in the long run.

Five questions to ask before you pay anyone

• Will I own the website, the domain and the hosting account?
• Who writes the text, and is that included in the price?
• What SEO setup is included?
• What happens after launch, and what does ongoing support cost?
• Can I update the site myself, and will you show me how?

If the answers are vague, be careful. A good web designer will give you a fixed quote and clear answers before any work starts.

What I charge

At Polder Digital, small business websites start at £395 for a simple three-page site, with the words written for you. The most popular package is £495 for up to six pages, and includes a free homepage mockup, Google Business Profile setup and three months of care. Care plans start at £29 a month. You own everything, there’s no contract, and you’ll know the price before anything starts. See the packages.