What a small business website should cost

By Levi Brown · October 25, 2026 · 6 min read

Websites get quoted anywhere from "free" to more than a used truck, and it's hard to tell what you're actually buying. Here's how I think about it, in plain terms.

What you're paying for

• Design and build: the look, the layout and the code that makes it work well on a phone.
• Words and photos: clear copy about what you do, and pictures that look like your place, not someone else's.
• Hosting and your domain: the yearly cost of keeping the site online at your own address.
• Upkeep: changing hours, adding a service, fixing what breaks, long after launch.
• Someone to call: a real person who answers when something goes wrong.

Questions to ask any web designer

• Do I own my domain and my content if we part ways?
• What does hosting cost after the first year, and who pays it?
• How many rounds of changes are included?
• Who do I call when something breaks, and how fast do they answer?
• Is there a long contract, or can I leave?

How I price mine

I keep it simple. Starter is $500 for a clean one-page site that looks right on every phone, with tap-to-call and your hours. Pro is $800 and adds a video header, a photo gallery, your real Google reviews and a quote form with instant text alerts. Premium is $1,100 for a fully custom design with a booking or quote system built in. If you want real 3D animation and a cinematic scroll, 3D and scroll sites are $1,500 to $2,500.

You see a free preview of your own business first. You pay half to start and half when you love it. An optional care plan is $50 to $75 a month and covers hosting, updates and changes. Other monthly add-ons are missed-call text-back ($75 to $150), a review system ($50 to $100), estimate follow-up ($100) and an AI receptionist ($300 and up).

A fair way to judge a quote

If it's very cheap, ask what's missing. If it's very expensive, ask what it includes that you'll actually use. A good designer can explain every line in a sentence.