It’s the first thing everyone wants to know, and the thing most web designers get cagey about. So here’s a straight answer from someone who sells websites for a living. Mine start at £3,000. I’ll explain why, and I’ll also tell you when you’d be better off spending less.
The short version
Prices vary a lot, but most quotes fall into rough bands:
- Do it yourself with Wix, Squarespace or similar: a monthly subscription plus a lot of your own evenings.
- Templates and budget freelancers: anywhere from a few hundred pounds to around £1,500. Usually a ready-made theme with your logo dropped in and the words you supply.
- Independent designers: roughly £2,000 to £6,000. This is where the site starts being built around your business rather than squeezed into a template.
- Agencies: often £8,000 and up. You’re paying for a team, account managers and an office as well as the website.
These are rough bands, not rules. But if a quote sits miles outside them, it’s worth asking why.
What actually changes the price
It’s rarely the number of pages. Five pages or fifteen doesn’t change much. These are the things that do.
Who writes the words
Most quotes quietly assume you’ll write the copy yourself. That’s the hardest part of any website, and it’s the part that decides whether people get in touch. I write every word on every site I build, and it’s included in the price, because a good-looking site that says nothing doesn’t bring in work.
Designed or templated
A template gets you something that looks fine. A designed site is planned around what your customers need to see and in what order. The difference shows up in enquiries, not in how it looks in a screenshot.
Photography
Stock photos are cheap and tell people nothing about you. Real photos cost more and do a lot of the selling. I spent sixteen years as a photographer, so if you’re local I can shoot yours as part of the project. More on that in why stock photos cost you enquiries.
The invisible bits
Tracking, page speed and the basics that help Google understand your site. You’ll never see them, but they decide whether the site gets found and whether you can tell it’s working. Every site I build goes live with these set up from day one.
What it costs after launch
Hosting, your domain, updates and help when something breaks. Ask about these up front so there are no surprises a year later.
So what should you spend?
Work it backwards. What is one new customer worth to you? If a typical job is worth £800 and a better website brings in two extra jobs a month, a £3,000 site pays for itself in a couple of months. A £500 site that brings in nothing is the expensive one.
And here’s the honest bit. If you’re just starting out and still working out who your customers are, a DIY site is absolutely fine. Get some customers first, learn what they ask you, then come back when the website is the thing holding you back. I wrote about the signs you’ve reached that point if you’re not sure.
What £3,000 gets you with me
- A strategy session first, so we know who the site is for and what it needs to do
- Every word written by me
- A custom design, built mobile-first
- Search foundations, page speed and privacy-friendly analytics
- An enquiry form that filters out time-wasters
- A training video and 30 days of aftercare
- You own it. No lock-in.
You can pay in full or spread it interest-free over 3 or 6 months, and most sites go live 3 to 4 weeks after the words are signed off. You’ll know the full price before anything starts.
If you’d like to see what that looks like in practice, here’s my recent work, or see everything that’s included.
