How much does a small-business website cost? Compare quotes

Start with what the website must do

List the pages and what a customer should do on each one. “A homepage, two service pages and a contact page” is a clearer brief than “a modern website”. List booking, payments or customer accounts separately.

One page with a custom booking system can take more work than several information pages. Ask whether a feature is a link to another service, a tool built into the page or a custom connection. These are different jobs.

Who provides the texts and photos?

Ask who interviews you, writes the texts, picks the photos, checks you’re allowed to use them and puts everything on the site. “Content included” can mean anything from pasting in your text to researching and writing every page.

For each language, name who writes or translates it and who approves it. Menus, forms, error messages, page titles and the phone layout need checking too. Only go live with the languages you can support and check.

Ask every provider the same questions

Send every provider the same brief and compare their answers. If a task isn’t mentioned, don’t assume it’s included. Ask what they’ve assumed and what they’ve left out before you choose on price.

• Which pages and features are included?
• Who writes and approves the texts?
• How many rounds of changes are included?
• What do accessibility and search setup cover?
• Who owns the domain, accounts, files and content?
• What costs extra if the brief changes?

Split the one-off bill from running costs

Ask about hosting, domain renewal, paid tools, maintenance and later changes. Check how often you’re billed and what happens if you switch provider. A starter price is hard to compare without the renewal price.

For the first year, add up: one-off build + texts and translation + twelve months of agreed running costs + extras quoted separately. The actual quote should show tax clearly on its own line. This is a way to compare quotes, not an estimate of market prices.

Start smaller without losing what matters

Imagine a small consultancy that needs one main offer, a team introduction and a way to get in touch. It could leave a large resource library and a second language for later, but keep the service explanation and contact route complete.

Ask for a smaller first stage that is useful on its own. Dropping a feature only saves money if customers aren’t pushed into an awkward workaround. Write down what you’ve postponed so it doesn’t quietly creep back into the project.