The Honest Answer (Without the Sales Pitch)
You've Googled this question because you're trying to figure out what you should actually be paying for a website. And you've probably already found that the answers range from "free with Wix" to "£15,000 from a London agency" — which is about as helpful as asking "how long is a piece of string?"
Let me cut through the noise and give you a straight answer based on what's actually out there, what you're getting for your money, and why most of the options are either overpriced or come with strings attached.
The Market Right Now — What You'll Actually Find
DIY Website Builders (£0–£30/month)
Wix, Squarespace, WordPress.com — the do-it-yourself route. The templates are free or cheap, but you're doing all the work yourself. If you've got the time and the patience to learn a drag-and-drop builder, choose fonts, write content, set up SEO, and troubleshoot when something breaks at 11pm on a Sunday — these can work. But "can work" and "actually works well" are different things. Most tradespeople build one, realise it looks amateur, and give up after a week.
Freelance Web Designers (£500–£2,000)
A freelancer will build you something custom-ish. Quality varies massively — from a talented designer charging fair rates to someone running a template factory from their spare room. The big risk? Ongoing support. Freelancers disappear, move on to other projects, or start charging hourly for every little tweak. You might get a great site, but six months later when you need something changed, good luck getting a reply.
Web Design Agencies (£2,000–£10,000+)
The agency route gets you a polished site, a project manager, and a nice proposal document. But you're also paying for their office, their staff, and their overhead. A five-page brochure site does not cost £5,000 to build — but agencies have bills to pay, so that's what they charge. On top of the build cost, expect £50–£150/month for hosting and "maintenance" — which usually means updating plugins once a quarter.
Subscription Web Designers (£99–£199/month)
A newer model where you pay monthly instead of upfront. Sounds fair — but read the small print. Most lock you into 12-month contracts, which means you're committed to paying £1,200–£2,400 whether the site delivers results or not. Miss a payment? Some will pull your site down. Want to leave early? You owe the remaining months. The monthly price is reasonable. The contract isn't.
How I Do It Differently
I'm not an agency. I'm not a template factory. I build professional websites for small businesses and tradespeople — properly, individually, with local SEO built in — on a monthly subscription that doesn't trap you.
Two plans. Simple pricing. No catches.
Lite — everything you need to get online with a professional, mobile-friendly, SEO-optimised website.
Pro — everything in Lite plus more pages, more features, and more room to grow.
No upfront build costs. No deposits. No 12-month lock-in. I build your website first, you see it and approve it, and your monthly subscription only starts once you're happy with it. Cancel anytime with 30 days' notice. T&Cs apply.
The way I see it: if my work is good enough, you'll stay. If it's not, you shouldn't be trapped. That's how honest business works.
What Actually Affects Website Cost
Not all websites are the same, so here's what genuinely changes the price — wherever you go:
Number of pages — a five-page brochure site costs less than a twenty-page site with service pages, area pages, and a blog. More content means more work.
Custom design vs templates — a bespoke design costs more than tweaking a pre-made template. Both can look professional, but custom work fits your brand better and stands out.
SEO — a website without SEO is like a shop with no sign. Building local SEO in from the start costs more than slapping a site together, but it's the difference between a website that gets found and one that just exists.
Ongoing updates — if you want someone to maintain, update, and improve your site over time, that has a cost. With my subscription model, that's included. With agencies, it's usually a separate retainer.
See what a properly built website looks like
So What Should You Actually Pay?
If you're a small business or tradesperson, you shouldn't be spending thousands upfront for a brochure website. You also shouldn't be locked into a 12-month contract for something you haven't tested.
What you should expect is a professionally built, mobile-friendly, SEO-optimised website for a fair monthly price — built before you pay, with the freedom to leave if it's not working for you.
That's what I offer. Nothing more, nothing less.
If my work is good enough, you'll stay. If it's not, you shouldn't be trapped. That's how honest business works.
View Pricing Plans → Transparent pricing. No lock-ins. Lite or Pro.
