How Much Does a Website Cost? Domain, Hosting, Design and SEO
How much does a website cost? For a small business, it's one build fee plus a few smaller costs that repeat every year or every month. With us, the build is $697 to $2,997, and the rest depends on your domain, your hosting and whether you want SEO.
Most price quotes only show the build, which is why so many owners face unexpected costs later. This guide breaks the total into four parts, so you can price the whole thing before you pay anything.
What are the four costs of a website?
Every small business website has the same four costs. Some are one-time, and some repeat.
- Domain name: your web address, paid every year to a registrar.
- Hosting: the service that keeps your site online, paid monthly or yearly to a provider.
- Design and build: the work of creating the site, usually a one-time fee.
- SEO: the work that helps people find your site on Google, usually a monthly fee.
You can postpone SEO at first, but you can't avoid the other three.
How much does a domain name cost?
You'll pay for your domain every year. It's a small cost, but it's the one you should protect most carefully. The price depends on the extension you pick, such as .com or .co.uk, and on the registrar you buy it from.
Check two things before you buy. First, look at the renewal price, not just the first-year price, because some registrars charge more after year one. Second, make sure the domain is registered in your name. If an agency holds it for you, leaving that agency can mean losing your web address.
When we build a site, your domain stays with your registrar, in your name.
How much does website hosting cost?
Hosting costs depend on the platform. A Next.js site, which is what we build, usually runs on one of two kinds of hosting.
- Vercel: a hosting platform designed for Next.js. Vercel's pricing depends on your traffic and usage tier. We help you pick the right plan.
- A VPS: a virtual server you rent for a fixed monthly fee, priced by the size of server you choose.
A VPS costs more as the server gets bigger.
With us, hosting is optional. You can take the code and host it yourself. If you want help, we set up Vercel or a Debian/Ubuntu VPS in your name for $197. Then we manage it for $49 a month.
You pay the hosting provider directly, so you always own the account.
Be careful with packages that bundle hosting into one monthly fee. They can look affordable, but it's often difficult to tell what you're paying for or how to leave.
How much does website design cost?
Design and development make up the biggest part of the bill, and this part varies the most. Across the market, prices run from free DIY builders to agency builds in the tens of thousands. Most of that gap comes from hourly billing, layers of account managers, and custom features you may not need.
The things that really change the price are:
- How many pages you need
- Whether each service needs its own page to rank
- Custom features like quote calculators or member logins
- Whether you sell products online
- Who writes the words on the pages
Our four website tiers have fixed prices:
| Tier | Price | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Ready-to-Launch | $697 | Our Next.js master template, customized for your brand |
| Business | $1,497 | Adds a separate page for each service, a blog and booking links |
| Custom Next.js | $2,497 | A bespoke React and Next.js build with custom features |
| Ecommerce | $2,997 | A full store with products, cart and checkout |
Every tier is built mobile-first and includes on-page SEO. One-time projects are billed 50% at kickoff and 50% at launch.
How much does SEO cost?
SEO is optional at launch, but it's what brings in steady leads over time. Most SEO is billed monthly, because the work keeps going after the site is live.
Our plans are $797 a month for Local Starter, $1,497 for Growth, and $1,997 for Ecommerce SEO. If you want a clear plan first, our one-time SEO Audit is $397. Every plan is month to month, with 14 days' notice to cancel. For a deeper look at how agencies charge, read our SEO pricing guide.
What does a website cost in the first year?
Here's a simple example using our own prices. It assumes a Ready-to-Launch site with our optional hosting setup and management.
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Ready-to-Launch build | $697 one-time |
| Hosting setup | $197 one-time |
| Hosting management | $49 a month, or $588 a year |
| Total from us in year one | $1,482 |
Your domain and your hosting provider's bill come on top of that, paid directly to them. If you add Local Starter SEO, that's another $797 a month, or $9,564 over a full year.
How do you avoid hidden website costs?
Ask these questions before you sign anything:
- Is the price fixed and written down, or billed by the hour?
- Is the domain registered in my name?
- Is the hosting account in my name?
- Do I get the code, or am I renting the site?
- What does it cost to make changes after launch?
- Is there a contract, and how do I cancel?
A reliable agency will answer all six questions in writing. If an answer is vague, treat that as a warning sign.
What else do people ask?
Is a DIY website builder cheaper?
At the start, usually yes. But you pay with your own time, and builder sites can be slow and difficult to rank. If your website needs to bring in calls, compare the builder's monthly fee and your hours against a fixed build price.
Do I have to pay every month for a website?
You'll always pay something for your domain and hosting. Design is usually a one-time fee. SEO and hosting management are monthly, but both are optional with us.
Can I host the website myself?
Yes. We hand over the code, and you can host it wherever you like. If you'd rather not manage a server, our optional hosting setup puts it on Vercel or a VPS in your name.
Want a fixed price for your site?
Every price is on our pricing page, and our website design page shows how we build. If you'd like to talk it through, book a free 30-minute call.