Quick answer: A professional small business website in the UK costs between £2,000 and £6,000 from a regional agency in 2026. DIY builders start from £100/year, freelancers charge £500-£3,000, and complex e-commerce or custom sites range from £5,000 to £30,000+. Monthly running costs sit between £50 and £300 depending on your site's complexity.
"How much does a website cost?" is one of the most common questions UK business owners ask, and one of the hardest to get a straight answer to. Most web design agencies give you the classic "it depends" and push you towards a sales call.
We get it. You need real numbers to plan your budget, not vague hand-waving.
This guide gives you honest, up-to-date UK pricing across every option: from free website builders to fully custom-built sites. We cover what you'll actually pay (not just the advertised prices), the ongoing monthly costs most people forget about, and how to work out what's right for your business. Whether you're a sole trader setting up your first site or an established SME planning a redesign, this is the honest pricing breakdown you need before committing to any provider.
Website costs at a glance
Here's what UK businesses are paying for websites in 2026, broken down by who builds it and what you get. These figures are based on current market rates from agencies, freelancers, and platform providers across the UK.
| Route | Upfront cost | Annual running cost | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| DIY website builder Wix, Squarespace, GoDaddy |
£0 - £300 | £100 - £400 | Sole traders, side projects, minimal budget |
| Freelance web designer | £500 - £3,000 | £150 - £600 | Small businesses wanting professional look |
| Small design studio | £3,000 - £10,000 | £500 - £1,200 | Growing businesses, e-commerce starters |
| Regional agency | £2,000 - £6,000 | £600 - £1,500 | Established SMEs, professional services |
| London / premium agency | £5,000 - £15,000+ | £1,000 - £3,000+ | Larger businesses, complex requirements |
| Custom web application | £10,000 - £50,000+ | £2,000 - £10,000+ | Unique functionality, SaaS products |
Cost by website type
What you're building matters more than who builds it. A five-page brochure site for a local plumber is a completely different job to a 500-product online shop. Here's what each type typically costs in the UK.
Single page or landing page: £300 - £900
A single scrolling page with all your key information. Suits freelancers, personal brands, or anyone who just needs to be findable online.
- Contact details, about section, services overview
- Mobile responsive design
- Basic SEO setup
Brochure website (5-10 pages): £2,000 - £5,000
The workhorse of UK small business websites. Typically includes a homepage, about page, services pages, contact page, and maybe a blog.
- Professional design tailored to your brand
- Content management system (usually WordPress)
- Contact forms and Google Maps integration
- On-page SEO and mobile optimisation
This is where most UK small businesses land. A regional agency typically charges £2,000-£5,000 for this kind of site. A freelancer can deliver something simpler for £500-£2,500.
Small business website (10-20 pages): £5,000 - £10,000
More pages, stronger branding, and features like blog functionality, lead generation tools, and possibly booking or enquiry systems.
- Custom design with brand integration
- Blog with content management
- Lead capture forms and email integration
- Comprehensive SEO strategy
E-commerce website: £2,500 - £30,000+
Online shops vary enormously in cost depending on product count, payment requirements, and custom features.
| Store size | Typical cost | What's included |
|---|---|---|
| Small (under 50 products) | £2,500 - £5,000 | Shopify or WooCommerce, basic theme, payment integration |
| Medium (50-500 products) | £5,000 - £15,000 | Custom design, advanced filtering, shipping integration |
| Large (500+ products) | £15,000 - £30,000+ | Custom features, ERP integration, advanced reporting |
Payment processing fees (UK): Stripe charges 1.5% + 20p per UK card transaction (2.9% + 20p online). PayPal charges 1.2% + 30p. WorldPay charges 2.75% + 20p. On £5,000 monthly sales, that's roughly £120-£150/month in processing fees alone.
Platform tip: BigCommerce charges no transaction fees at all, which can save £5,800+ per year compared to Shopify for a retailer turning over £200,000. It also has native Royal Mail and UK VAT support built in. If you sell to EU customers, budget £2,000-£5,000 for VAT compliance setup (IOSS registration), as all UK imports to EU are now subject to VAT.
Custom web application: £10,000 - £50,000+
Customer portals, booking systems, membership sites, or any website with bespoke functionality that goes beyond standard templates. See our bespoke software cost guide for detailed pricing on custom development, or learn more about our bespoke software development services.
Cost by industry
What you'll pay also depends on your industry. Different sectors have different requirements, from regulatory compliance to booking system integration.
| Industry | Typical cost | What drives the price |
|---|---|---|
| Trades (plumber, electrician, builder) | £1,000 - £3,000 | Simple presence; Google Business Profile often more important than the website itself |
| Construction | £2,000 - £5,000 | Portfolio photography, project case studies, service area coverage |
| Restaurants and cafes | £2,000 - £5,000 | Booking system integration, menu display, photography |
| Hotels and B&Bs | £4,000 - £10,000 | Room inventory, dynamic pricing, channel management (Booking.com, Airbnb) |
| Professional services (accountant, solicitor) | £4,000 - £10,000 | Authority building, content marketing, CRM integration, ongoing SEO |
| Healthcare (dentist, clinic) | £4,000 - £8,000 | Patient data security, regulatory compliance (GDPR, CQC), booking portals |
| Retail (small e-commerce) | £3,000 - £8,000 | Product photography, payment processing, shipping integration |
These are typical ranges for professional builds. London agencies charge 30-50% more. A local plumber might get a perfectly good site for £1,500, while a solicitors' practice generating £5M revenue would invest £10,000+ to match client expectations.
What affects the price of a website
Two websites can look similar on the surface but cost wildly different amounts. Here's what actually drives the price up or down.
Design complexity
A template-based design costs far less than a fully custom design. Custom illustrations, animations, and interactive elements all add cost. For most small businesses, a well-customised template delivers better value than starting from scratch.
Content creation
Professional copywriting costs £200-£500 per page. Photography, video, and graphics add further. Many businesses underestimate this cost, but quality content is what actually makes a website work.
Features and functionality
Each feature adds development time: booking systems (£500-£2,000), payment processing (£300-£1,500), user accounts (£1,000-£5,000), search functionality (£500-£2,000). Be clear about what you actually need versus what's nice to have.
Integrations
Connecting your website to CRM systems, accounting software, email marketing tools, or stock management adds complexity. Each integration typically costs £300-£2,000 depending on the systems involved.
SEO requirements
Basic on-page SEO should be included in any professional build. Ongoing SEO services cost £500-£1,500 per month. If organic search traffic matters to your business, factor this into your budget from day one.
Location of your designer
London agencies charge 30-50% more than regional alternatives. A £5,000 project from a London agency might cost £3,000-£4,000 from an equally capable agency in Manchester, Leeds, or Bristol.
DIY vs freelancer vs agency: Which is right for you?
There's no universally "best" option here. The right choice depends on your budget, technical confidence, and how important your website is to your business growth.
DIY website builder
Cost: £100-£400/year
Good for: Sole traders, side projects, testing business ideas
- Quick to set up
- No technical skills needed
- Limited design flexibility
- Weaker SEO performance
- You'll spend 4+ hours/week maintaining it
Consider this if your website is a digital business card rather than a growth tool.
Freelance designer
Cost: £500-£5,000
Good for: Small businesses wanting professional quality on a budget
- More affordable than agencies
- Direct communication
- Often one-person operation (single point of failure)
- Variable quality and reliability
- May lack ongoing support
Check their portfolio carefully and ask for references.
Web design agency
Cost: £2,000-£15,000+
Good for: Businesses where website quality directly affects revenue
- Full team: designers, developers, project managers
- Structured process with clear milestones
- Ongoing support and maintenance
- Business continuity if someone leaves
- Strategic advice alongside design
The best value if your website needs to generate leads or sales.
The real question to ask
Don't ask "what's the cheapest option?" Ask "what will this website need to do for my business, and what's the most cost-effective way to get there?" A £200 website that doesn't convert visitors is more expensive than a £5,000 site that pays for itself in three months.
Platform comparison: which approach is right for your business?
Most articles compare website builders against each other and stop there. But there's a fifth option that's often overlooked: a custom-built website designed specifically for your business. Here's how all five approaches compare on monthly running costs and SEO capability.
| Platform | Monthly running cost | Best for | SEO |
|---|---|---|---|
| Custom-built (professional agency) | £50-£300 | Businesses wanting maximum performance, SEO, and growth | |
| WordPress (self-hosted, 61.7% global CMS market share) | £10-£40 | Most businesses wanting flexibility | |
| Shopify | £19-£259 | E-commerce focused businesses | |
| Squarespace | £12-£79 | Creatives, portfolios, visual brands | |
| Wix | £9-£119 | Simple sites, quick setup |
Monthly running costs cover hosting, maintenance, and platform fees. Initial design and build costs are covered in the pricing section above. Custom-built monthly costs include professional hosting and ongoing maintenance from your agency.
Why custom-built is the only five-star SEO option
WordPress gets close with the right plugins, but you're still bolting on SEO tools after the fact. Yoast or RankMath, a caching plugin, an image optimiser, a schema plugin - each one adds page weight, potential conflicts, and update risk. With a custom-built site, SEO is baked into the architecture from day one: clean code, fast page loads, structured data built into templates, and zero plugin bloat slowing things down.
The real advantage comes when the same team handles your web design, SEO, digital marketing, and content creation. Instead of a developer building a site and a separate SEO consultant retrofitting it, everything works together from the start. Your site structure, content strategy, technical performance, and search visibility are all part of one coherent plan.
The catch with website builders
Website builders look cheap on paper, but the advertised prices rarely tell the full story:
- Domain renewal shock: That "free first year" domain can jump 500-1,000% at renewal. A .co.uk domain advertised at 99p can cost £20-£40 to renew once add-ons like WHOIS privacy and domain protection are factored in.
- App and plugin costs: Need a booking system, advanced contact forms, or email marketing? That'll be £10-£50 per month per feature, and it adds up quickly.
- Professional email: Wix doesn't include business email. You'll need Google Workspace (£5.90/month per user) or similar.
- SEO limitations: Squarespace restricts metadata editing beyond the homepage. Wix doesn't let you modify robots.txt. WordPress gives you full control, but only with additional plugins that add complexity and cost.
- Migration pain: If you outgrow a builder, moving to a custom solution costs £500-£5,000 for professional migration, plus 3-6 months of reduced search traffic while Google re-indexes your site.
Our take: If you're serious about using your website to grow your business, a custom-built site from a specialist agency gives you the best long-term return. You get purpose-built performance, proper SEO from day one, and no platform lock-in. If you'd rather manage things yourself, WordPress with quality hosting is the strongest self-managed option. For a quick, simple presence without much technical involvement, Squarespace is the most polished builder.
How much does a website cost per month?
One of the most searched questions about website costs is the monthly running expense. Here's what to budget based on your site type.
| Expense | Basic site | Business site | E-commerce site |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hosting | £10-£20 | £20-£50 | £30-£100+ |
| Domain | ~£1 | ~£1 | ~£2 |
| SSL | Included | Included | £0-£20 |
| Maintenance | £0-£50 | £50-£150 | £100-£300 |
| Email hosting | £5-£10 | £10-£30 | £10-£30 |
| Security/backups | Included | £10-£30 | £20-£50 |
| Transaction fees | N/A | N/A | 2.5-2.9% + 30p/sale |
| Monthly total | £16-£82 | £91-£261 | £160-£502+ |
These figures don't include optional but common expenses like SEO services (£500-£1,500/month), pay-per-click advertising, or content creation. For most small businesses, £100-£300 per month covers everything needed to keep a professional website running well.
How to budget for your website
Not sure where to start? Industry benchmarks suggest UK businesses should put 5-10% of annual revenue towards marketing overall, with your website taking up 10-30% of that. For a broader view of technology spending, see our 2026 tech budget planning guide. Here's a practical framework based on what we see working.
Budget by business stage
Just starting out
Budget: £500-£2,000
A simple, professional site from a freelancer or customised template. Focus on getting a clean, mobile-friendly site live with your core information. You can upgrade later.
Established and growing
Budget: £3,000-£8,000
Professional agency design with proper SEO, lead generation features, and a platform that scales with you. This is the sweet spot where website investment starts paying for itself.
Ready to scale
Budget: £8,000-£25,000+
Custom development, e-commerce, integrations with your business systems, and a comprehensive digital strategy. Your website becomes a genuine revenue driver.
The phased approach: start small, grow smart
You don't have to build everything at once. A phased approach lets you spread cost, learn what actually works, and make decisions based on real data rather than guesswork.
Phase 1: Get live
~15% of budget
Essential pages only: home, about, services, contact. No bells and whistles. Just get found and look professional.
Phase 2: Expand
~25% of budget
Add blog, testimonials, booking, and SEO based on what analytics tell you customers actually want.
Phase 3: Optimise
~30% of budget
Professional copywriting, conversion rate improvements, and A/B testing. Budget tied to revenue impact.
Phase 4: Scale
~30% of budget
CRM integration, automation, multi-channel. Only invest here once earlier phases prove ROI.
Example: with a £10,000 three-year budget, allocate roughly £1,500 (Phase 1), £2,500 (Phase 2), £3,000 (Phase 3), £3,000 (Phase 4). This deliberately puts more money toward later phases where real data guides your decisions.
Payment structures to look for
- Fixed price: You agree a total cost upfront. The agency delivers the agreed scope for that price. Gives you budget certainty and is our recommended approach.
- Monthly payments: Some agencies offer "pay monthly" plans from £50-£200/month. Watch the contract terms, as you often end up paying more over 2-3 years than you would for a one-off build.
- Phased approach: Start with a core site, then add features over time. This spreads cost and lets you learn what works before investing more. We often recommend this.
Budget tip: Your website is a business investment, not a cost. For a business turning over £300,000, a £6,000 website is just 2% of revenue. If that website generates just three new customers at £2,400 each, it's paid for itself. Everything after that is profit. Compare that to a £3,000-£10,000 exhibition stand that gives you three days of exposure.
Website cost calculator
Get a realistic budget range for your UK website project, then calculate your return on investment with our dual calculator tool.
Questions to ask before hiring a web designer
Before you sign anything, make sure you're clear on these points. A good designer or agency will answer every one of these openly.
- What's included in the price? Get a detailed breakdown. Does it include hosting setup, content writing, SEO, training, or are these extras? How many revision rounds are included?
- Who owns what when it's finished? Under UK law, the designer retains copyright unless the contract explicitly transfers it. For CMS-based sites (WordPress, Squarespace, etc.), you should own the design, content, and domain outright. For custom-built solutions, the picture is more nuanced: agencies often use proprietary shared components (identity providers, integration layers, reusable frameworks) that reduce your costs because development is spread across multiple clients. The agency retains IP on those components, while you get a licence to use them. This is standard in professional software development. What matters is that you understand the IP split clearly, your contract spells out what you own and what you're licensing, and there are protections like code escrow in case the agency can't continue providing the agreed services.
- Who owns the domain name, and under whose account is it registered? Your domain should be registered in your name. If the agency registers it under their account, you could lose it if the relationship ends.
- What access will I have? For CMS-based sites, you should have full admin access to your content management system and be able to manage content yourself. For custom-built solutions hosted by the agency, production infrastructure access isn't typical or appropriate as these are professionally managed environments built in code (not a drag-and-drop CMS). What you should expect is the ability to manage your own content, clear SLAs around uptime and support, and contractual protections (such as code escrow or transfer-of-ownership triggers) that protect you if the relationship ends.
- What are the ongoing costs? Hosting, maintenance, plugin licences, support. Get these in writing before you commit. Budget 10-15% of the build cost annually for maintenance.
- What happens if I want changes during the project? How are scope changes handled? Is there a revision limit? What do additional revisions cost?
- Can you show me similar projects with measurable results? Not just "our sites look nice" but actual business impact: more leads, higher conversions, revenue growth. Ask to speak to previous clients.
- What platform will you build on, and why? Make sure the recommendation suits your needs, not just the agency's preferences. Can you move the site elsewhere if you need to?
- What's the timeline? A typical 5-10 page business site takes 4-8 weeks. More complex sites with e-commerce or custom features take 12-20 weeks. Be wary of promises to deliver in days.
- What support do you offer after launch? Most agencies provide 2-4 weeks of post-launch support. Find out what happens after that: retainer options, hourly rates, and whether you can manage the site yourself.
Red flags to watch for
- Guaranteed search rankings - Google themselves say "no legitimate SEO company should guarantee rankings." Anyone promising this is either dishonest or doesn't understand how search engines work.
- They own your domain - Your domain should always be registered in your name. If the agency registers it under their account, you could lose your web address if the relationship ends. Agency-managed hosting is normal for custom-built solutions, but your domain is yours.
- No content management access - For CMS-based sites (WordPress, Squarespace, etc.), you should be able to log in and manage your own content. For custom-built solutions, direct infrastructure access isn't expected, but you should have a clear way to request content changes and contractual protections around continuity.
- No contract or unclear IP terms - Under UK law, the designer keeps the copyright unless the contract says otherwise. For custom-built solutions, a split is normal: you own your content and bespoke business logic, while the agency retains IP on shared proprietary components you're licensed to use. The red flag isn't shared IP itself; it's when terms are vague, unwritten, or there are no protections (like code escrow) if the agency can't continue.
- Suspiciously low prices - If someone offers a "professional website" for £200, you'll get what you pay for. Or less.
- No portfolio or measurable results - "Our sites look great" isn't enough. Ask for evidence of business impact: more leads, higher sales, improved conversions.
- They control your ad accounts - If the agency owns your Google Ads or social media accounts rather than yours, you lose all your advertising history and audience data if you switch providers.
- Locked-in contracts with no exit protections - Watch for agencies that charge monthly fees, own everything, and offer no way out. A fair contract includes clear exit terms, data portability, and protections like code escrow or transfer-of-ownership triggers so you're not left stranded if you need to move on.
Website design costs by UK region
Where your designer or agency is based can affect pricing by 30-50%. Here's how costs compare across the UK.
| Region | Brochure site (5-10 pages) | E-commerce site | Typical hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| London | £4,500 - £10,000+ | £8,000 - £25,000+ | £100 - £150+ |
| Manchester, Leeds, Bristol | £2,000 - £5,000 | £5,000 - £15,000 | £50 - £80 |
| Scotland, Wales, NI | £1,500 - £4,000 | £4,000 - £12,000 | £40 - £70 |
| Remote / distributed agencies | £2,000 - £6,000 | £5,000 - £15,000 | £50 - £90 |
Geography matters less than it used to. Remote working has made it practical to work with agencies anywhere in the UK, so you're not limited to your local area. Focus on portfolio quality and client reviews rather than postcode.
Is professional web design worth the investment?
The short answer: for most businesses generating real revenue, yes. And the data backs this up strongly.
Research shows that 75% of consumers judge a business's credibility based on its website design alone, and visitors form that opinion within just 50 milliseconds of landing on a page. That's faster than a blink. If your website looks outdated or amateur, most people have already decided you're not worth their time before reading a single word.
The cost of getting it wrong
- 48% of UK shoppers abandon purchases due to poor website UX (Storyblok, 2024)
- Poor websites cost UK e-commerce £1.41 billion annually in lost sales
- 46% of UK businesses say their website has recently embarrassed them
- 79% of visitors abandon sites with poor usability or confusing navigation
- 52% never return after encountering design or layout problems
- 40% of visitors leave if a page takes more than 3 seconds to load
- Every extra second of load time reduces conversions by 7%
- UK SMEs with 11-50 employees lose a median £7,500/year to website downtime
The return on good design
- Professional UX can boost conversions by up to 400%
- Focused landing pages improve conversions by up to 47%
- Every £1 spent on SEO returns £19.90 vs £4.40 for paid ads
- Users with positive browsing experiences are 88% more likely to return
- 84% of consumers view businesses with websites as more credible than social-media-only
- Businesses combining SEO and PPC achieve 35-40% higher ROI than single-channel
- Custom sites with proper SEO compound their value over time
Real UK businesses, real results
These are named businesses with published, verifiable results you can check for yourself. Each source is linked so you can read the full case study.
Kooks Headers and Exhaust
Automotive parts manufacturer (60+ year family business)
- 22% increase in conversion rate
- 38% reduction in total cost of ownership
- Unified B2B and B2C sales into one platform
Pacitti Jones
Glasgow estate agents
- 165% organic traffic uplift
- 193% increase in page views
- 3,641 conversions generated
UK India Business Council
B2B membership organisation, London
- Web traffic and sales leads up within 2 weeks of launch
- WordPress site with Salesforce CRM integration
- "Our new website has exceeded our expectations on every front" — Adam Pollard, UKIBC
Ultimate Gaming Paradise
UK boutique gaming retailer (founded 2013)
- 3,451% increase in gross sales
- 658% increase in search impressions
- 283% more keywords ranking in the top 3
Quick ROI calculation
Say you invest £5,000 in a professional website that generates just 5 extra enquiries per month:
- Monthly enquiries: 5 extra leads
- Conversion rate: 20% (1 in 5 becomes a customer)
- Average customer value: £2,000
- Monthly revenue from website: £2,000
- Annual revenue: £24,000
- Payback period: under 3 months
Even with more conservative numbers, most professional websites pay for themselves within the first year. A bespoke approach tailored to your business typically delivers the strongest returns.
How website investment compares to other marketing
Your marketing budget is finite. Here's how website investment stacks up against the alternatives:
| Channel | Return per £1 spent | Average cost per lead | Residual value |
|---|---|---|---|
| SEO (organic search) | £19.90 | £126 | |
| Email marketing | £36-£40 | Low (owned list) | |
| Google Ads (PPC) | £2-£4 | £70 | |
| Social media ads | £2.80 | £28 | |
| Trade show / exhibition | Varies | £100-£500+ |
Residual value = does this investment keep working after you stop paying? SEO and email marketing build owned assets. Paid ads stop the moment you stop paying. A £3,000 exhibition stand gives you 3 days of exposure. A £3,000 website works for you 24/7, 365 days a year.
Accessibility and legal requirements
This is something most website cost guides skip, but it matters. UK businesses have legal obligations around website accessibility that affect both cost and risk. Around 16% of the global population live with disabilities that affect how they use websites, so this isn't a niche concern.
- Equality Act 2010: UK law requires businesses to make "reasonable adjustments" so disabled people can access services, including websites. Crucially, you must be proactive about this (anticipate needs), not reactive (wait for complaints). Non-compliance can lead to legal claims through the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
- WCAG 2.2 Level AA: The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines are the practical standard for demonstrating compliance. There are 63 testable criteria covering things like alt text on images, colour contrast ratios (4.5:1 minimum), keyboard navigation, and screen reader compatibility.
- European Accessibility Act: Enforcement began in June 2025. If your business sells into EU markets, you must meet WCAG 2.2 Level AA. Penalties are described as "effective, proportionate, and dissuasive".
- Consumer Rights Act 2015: Your website counts as "digital content" under UK law. It must be of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose, and as described. These rights can't be excluded by contract terms.
- GDPR: Your website must handle personal data correctly, including cookie consent, privacy policies, and secure form handling.
What does accessibility testing actually cost?
Automated testing tools (around £288/year) only catch 30-40% of real accessibility issues. The remaining 60-70% need manual testing by specialists using screen readers and assistive technology. A professional accessibility audit from a specialist like AbilityNet costs around £5,000. Building accessibility in from the start during design is far cheaper than retrofitting it afterwards.
How Red Eagle Tech can help
At Red Eagle Tech, we offer professional web design services built around giving UK businesses websites that actually deliver results. Whether you need a clean brochure site or a complex e-commerce platform, our UK-based team handles the lot.
Fixed-price quotes
Know exactly what you'll pay before we start. If we underestimate the work, that's our problem, not yours.
100% UK team
Every person working on your project is a permanent, UK-based team member. No offshore subcontracting.
SEO built in
Every site we build includes technical SEO, page speed optimisation, and mobile-first design as standard. We also offer dedicated SEO services.
Frequently asked questions
A basic brochure website (5-10 pages) costs £500-£4,000 from a freelancer or £2,000-£5,000 from a regional agency in 2026. DIY website builders like Wix or Squarespace cost £100-£300 per year but come with significant limitations in design flexibility and SEO capability.
Monthly website running costs in the UK typically range from £50-£300 for a small business. This covers hosting (£10-£50), domain renewal (£1-£2/month), maintenance and updates (£30-£150), and security monitoring (£10-£50). E-commerce sites cost more due to payment processing fees and additional security requirements.
A small e-commerce website in the UK costs £2,500-£10,000 for professional development, while larger stores with hundreds of products and custom features cost £10,000-£30,000+. Ongoing costs include payment processing fees (2.5-2.9% plus 30p per transaction), platform subscriptions, and higher hosting requirements.
DIY builders cost £100-£300 per year, but advertised prices represent only 25-40% of actual costs once you add premium features, apps, and email hosting. Professional design costs more upfront (£1,500-£6,000) but typically delivers better ROI through improved conversions, SEO performance, and brand credibility.
75% of consumers judge business credibility by website design alone, and poor UX costs UK e-commerce £1.41 billion annually in lost sales. Named UK businesses have published verified results including 22% conversion increases, 165% organic traffic growth, and over 3,400% gross sales improvement from professional website investment. If your website needs to generate leads or sales, professional design almost always pays for itself.
The average cost sits between £3,000 and £6,000 when working with a regional agency. This typically includes professional design, mobile responsiveness, basic SEO setup, content management system, and 5-15 pages. London agencies charge 30-50% more, while freelancers can deliver simpler sites from £1,000-£3,000.
Budget £50-£150 per month for basic website maintenance including platform updates, security patches, backups, and minor content changes. More complex sites with e-commerce functionality should budget £100-£300 per month. Annual maintenance costs for small business websites typically run £400-£1,800.
Over three years, WordPress is cheapest at roughly £378, compared to Squarespace at £612 and Wix at £788 (including email). WordPress needs more technical know-how or professional setup. Wix and Squarespace include hosting and technical management in their subscriptions, making them simpler but less flexible and harder to optimise for search engines.
Yes. HMRC typically treats website design and development as capital expenditure, and ongoing costs like hosting, maintenance, domain renewal, and SEO services as allowable business expenses. Speak with your accountant for specific advice on how website costs should be categorised in your tax return.
London agencies typically charge 30-50% more than regional alternatives. A professional small business website costing £3,000-£4,000 from a Manchester or Birmingham agency might cost £5,000-£7,000 from a London agency. Many UK businesses get excellent results working with regional agencies or remote teams that deliver London-quality work at regional prices.
The most common hidden costs include:
- Domain renewal price jumps after promotional first year (often 500-1,000% more)
- Premium plugin and app subscriptions (£50-£200/month for full functionality)
- Professional email hosting (£50-£200/year per user)
- Payment processing transaction fees for e-commerce (2.5-3% of revenue)
- SEO services if you want to rank on Google (£500-£1,500/month)
- Platform migration costs if you outgrow a website builder (£500-£5,000)
Ask any potential web designer for a complete cost breakdown covering both build and ongoing costs before signing up.
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Final thoughts
Website costs vary because every business has different needs. But with the right information, you can make a confident decision about what to invest and what to expect in return.
Here's what to take away from this guide:
- Most UK small business websites cost £2,000-£6,000 for professional design
- Monthly running costs are typically £100-£300
- DIY builders look cheap but hidden costs add 60-75% to the advertised price
- WordPress offers the best long-term value for most businesses
- Named UK businesses have published results showing 22-3,451% improvements from professional web design
- SEO returns £19.90 per £1 spent compared to £2-£4 from paid ads
- Always get a complete cost breakdown including ongoing expenses before committing
Once your website is live, SEO helps customers find it. For a detailed breakdown of what UK businesses pay for search engine optimisation, see our guide to SEO costs in the UK.
Your website is one of the hardest-working assets your business can have. Investing wisely in it pays dividends for years to come. If you'd like to talk through your options and get a straight answer on what your website should cost, give us a shout.
