Short answer: a website’s price isn’t a single number. The number of pages, who prepares the copy and photos, the domain and hosting, ongoing maintenance, and the work to be found on Google all set the price. When comparing, look at the total cost over a year, not just the first payment.
Six things that set the price
- Number of pages. A one-page brochure site and a site with a page for each service are not the same job. To appear for different searches on Google, each service needs its own page.
- Copy and photos. Do you write the text or does the provider? Real photos or stock images? Copywriting is often a separate line item, or missing altogether.
- Domain and hosting. The domain (example.com) and the server the site runs on renew every year. Ask whether they’re included and who pays after the first year.
- Maintenance. When your phone number, prices or opening hours change, who updates them and at what cost? Who handles security updates?
- Speed and technical quality. A slow site loses visitors. Does the quote include a measurable promise, such as a Google PageSpeed Insights score?
- Google and AI work. Building a site is not the same as being found on Google. Organising pages around how people search, registering with Search Console and tracking results is separate work.
One-off fee or monthly subscription?
| One-off fee | Monthly subscription | |
|---|---|---|
| First payment | High | Low |
| Domain and hosting | Usually extra, every year | Often included |
| Maintenance and changes | Usually charged per job | Maintenance included; a set number of changes per plan |
| Google work | Usually none or extra | Included depending on plan |
| Site when you leave | Usually stays with you | Depends on the contract; ask |
| Suits | Owners who’ll manage the site themselves | Owners who don’t want to deal with it |
Both are right in some cases. If you’ll update the site yourself and don’t need Google work, a one-off fee can make sense. If you want to hand maintenance and visibility to someone on a regular basis, a subscription is more predictable.
What do changes cost later on?
After launch, change requests drive most of the cost of a website. A quote should say which changes are free, how many per month, what extra ones cost and whether you get the price before work starts. A quote that says “maintenance included” may not cover a new text or photo.
Questions to ask when getting a quote
- Whose name are the domain and hosting registered in, and what do renewals cost?
- Who writes the copy, and for how many pages?
- When I ask for a change, how fast is it done and at what cost?
- How does the site perform on a phone; is there a measurable speed promise?
- Will it be added to Google Search Console, and will I see the results?
- What happens to the site and the domain if I leave?
- Is a “number one on Google” guarantee offered? If so, be careful: nobody can honestly guarantee a specific position.
Our prices
We work on a monthly subscription: Starter $40 / month, Visibility $50 / month, Growth $65 / month (prices exclude VAT and sales tax). Domain and hosting are included in every plan and there is no commitment.
Change requests: phone, address and opening hours updates are always free. Each month Starter includes 1, Visibility 2 and Growth 4 small changes. Beyond the small changes included in your plan, a small change (about 30 minutes) is $8 and a medium change (about 2 hours) is $25; larger work is quoted in advance at $20 per hour. What each plan includes, the guarantees and what happens when you leave are set out on the Pricing page. For the full service description, see Web design.