How much does a website cost for a small business?

Why no one can quote a website price without asking questions

Two businesses can both ask for "a ten-page site" and need completely different work. One has finished texts, its own photos and a single language. The other needs its services researched and written, a photographer, a price calculator and a Swedish version. A quote given without questions is one of two things: a template with a margin on top, or a guess that grows once the work starts.

So before you compare prices, compare what each price includes. The rest of this guide lists what to look for.

How much does a website cost? The seven things that decide it

Seven things set most of the price. The first three are about content, the next three about the build, and the last one about launch.

Content: pages, texts and photos

• The number of real pages. A site that wins local searches has a page for each service and each area, and each page needs its own text, photos and questions. That is more work than a brochure site, and it is where the enquiries come from. Copies of one page with the town name swapped are not a shortcut: Google treats them as doorway abuse (Google, 2026).
• Who writes the texts. If you supply finished texts, the price drops. If the agency studies your buyers and competitors and writes every page, that research and writing is often the largest single share of the work, and the part that decides whether the site sells.
• Photos and video. Your own photos of real work cost nothing but time and make the biggest difference to trust. Stock photos are cheap and look like everyone else's site. A photographer or a video day is a separate cost that usually pays back.

Build: tools, design and code

• Sales tools. A price calculator, a configurator, a booking tool, a smart form or an AI assistant is a small piece of software built on your real rules. Each one adds to the price and each one answers a buyer's question before they call.
• Design: template or your own look. A template is quick and looks like a template. A look built from your logo, colours, people and photos takes design time, and it is what makes the site recognisably yours.
• How the site is built. A page builder or WordPress with plugins is fast to set up and slow to run, and every plugin is a monthly cost or a security update waiting to happen. Hand-written code takes more skill up front and gives a faster site with nothing to license. In our study of 85 SME websites, hand-coded sites scored a median of 91.5 on mobile PageSpeed against 68.5 for template and WordPress sites.

Launch: languages, migration and measurement

• Languages, migration and launch. Every language version needs the full content, not a summary page. Moving from an old site means a redirect for every old address so you keep your Google rankings. A proper launch includes testing on real phones, a speed report and search console checks in the first weeks.

Where the money goes in a website project

A website project has seven phases, and a quote should let you see all of them: research into your buyers, competitors and search terms; design; texts; the build; tools; testing and launch; and measurement afterwards. Research and texts are the phases a template price leaves out, which is why two quotes for "the same site" can be far apart. Ask where each phase is in the quote. If one is missing, you will either do it yourself or pay for it later.

See how we build it, step by step

What does it cost to maintain a website?

The build is a one-time cost. Keeping the site running is not, and this is where the differences between build methods show up.

On top of that come the domain name and hosting, which every site needs. With a hand-coded site the ongoing cost is hosting, the domain and the changes you ask for, and small changes are quick because there is no layer of plugins to work around.

What our hosting includes

Fixed price or hourly billing?

A fixed price means you know the whole sum before you commit, and the risk of underestimating the work sits with the agency. It only works when the scope is clear, which is why we build a working first version of your site before we name a price: by then both sides know what the site needs. Hourly billing is flexible but open-ended, and the final sum depends on how many rounds the project takes. Many agencies mix the two: a fixed price for the build and an hourly rate for changes afterwards. Whichever model a quote uses, ask what happens when something turns out to be bigger than expected.

Website builder, freelancer or agency: how the price changes

A website builder is the cheapest way to start and the most expensive way to stay, because the monthly fee never ends and the site cannot leave the platform. A freelancer is often good value for a simple site, as long as someone is there next year for changes. An agency costs more per hour and should give you the research, the texts, the tools and the launch in one place. We have written a fair comparison of the options, including when a builder is the better choice.

Compare website builders, agencies and us

How to compare website quotes

Put the quotes side by side and check each of these. If a quote does not say, ask; the answer tells you more than the price.

• The pages, by name. Not "up to ten pages" but which ones, and whether each gets its own text and photos.
• Texts and research. Who writes them, and from what: your notes, or a study of your buyers and competitors.
• Photos. Yours, stock, or a shoot, and who edits them.
• Sales tools. Which ones, built on your real prices and rules, or a generic plugin.
• Speed, in writing. A mobile PageSpeed target in the contract, and how it is measured at handover.
• Search basics. Titles, structured data, a sitemap and a page per service and area, or "SEO" as an extra line.
• Old addresses. A redirect for every old page, tested before the switch.
• Ownership. Code and domain in your name, and what happens if you leave.
• Hosting and maintenance. What it includes, what it costs per month, and who does updates.
• Launch and measurement. Testing on phones, a dated speed report, and what is checked in the first weeks.

What we build into every website

Questions about website cost

Sources

1. Google Search Central, "Spam Policies for Google Web Search", August 2026 developers.google.com/search/docs/essentials/spam-policies
2. Visuco, "SME website speed study 2026", October 2026 /research/website-speed-study-2026