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What a small business website really costs
A small business website is priced by its line items, not by a single figure. Some recur every year, some are set by regulators, and a few choices about content, pages and ownership move the quote more than the design does. Here they are, one by one.
What does a small business website cost, line by line?
It costs the sum of nine items, and only some of them are the design. Comparing two quotes means comparing the same nine items, because a quote that leaves three of them out is cheaper for a reason.
We give no price range here. Plenty of studios publish one, they go stale within a year, and a range tells you nothing about your own project. What can be said honestly is where the money goes and what makes each line grow.
| Line item | One-off or recurring | What moves it |
|---|---|---|
| Planning: pages, structure, what each page must do | One-off | Number of audiences, number of page types |
| Design | One-off | Number of distinct page layouts, rounds of revision |
| Build | One-off | Booking, payments, member areas, any custom feature |
| Writing | One-off | Who writes it, how many words, how many languages |
| Photography and media | One-off | Your own shoot, or stock, or none |
| Domain name | Recurring | The extension, and whose name it is registered in |
| Hosting | Recurring | Traffic, and how much of the site must be editable |
| Legal set-up: privacy notice, cookies, company details | One-off, then on change | What data the site collects and which tools it loads |
| Maintenance and changes | Recurring | How often you edit, and who does it |
The first five are the ones people mean when they say "the price of a website". The last four turn up later, on invoices nobody planned for.
Which costs are fixed by a regulator rather than by the studio?
Three, in the United Kingdom, and they apply to most business sites. A studio can build them into the quote or leave you to discover them.
The data protection fee comes first. Organisations that process personal data and are not exempt pay a yearly fee to the Information Commissioner's Office. Per the ICO guide to the data protection fee, the lowest tier, for organisations with a turnover of up to £632,000 or no more than 10 staff, is £52, and paying by direct debit takes £5 off. Whether you must pay depends on your exemptions, not on your website. The site makes the question hard to ignore, because a contact form collects personal data.
Company details come second. The GOV.UK guidance on incorporation and names says a company must display its name on its websites, under the Company, Limited Liability Partnership and Business (Names and Trading Disclosures) Regulations 2015. It costs nothing in money and a line in the footer, and it is missing from a surprising number of small sites.
Cookies come third. The ICO guidance on cookies and similar technologies says consent must be actively and clearly given before non-essential cookies are set, and that continuing to use the site is not enough. Cookies that are strictly necessary for a service the visitor asked for are exempt. In practice, the studio has to list what the site loads, decide what needs a consent banner, and make the banner work. A site with no analytics and no embedded third-party content can skip most of that work, which is a saving to weigh against the data you would forgo.
What moves the price of the design and build most?
The number of different page layouts, far more than the number of pages. Ten pages built from two layouts usually cost less than six pages built from six, because each layout is designed, built, tested on a phone and revised.
Four other levers matter, in rough order.
- Content that is ready. A studio that waits three weeks for your text is holding a slot it cannot sell to someone else, and a quote assuming you will deliver on time is not the same as one that includes writing.
- Features that need code: an appointment system, online payment, a client login. Each is a small project of its own.
- Languages. A second language needs its own text, written by someone fluent, and layouts that absorb longer words.
- Revision rounds. A fixed number, agreed in advance, is the usual arrangement. An open-ended count is a cost the studio will price in, or charge for later.
The design itself, the look of the thing, usually moves the total less than any of these. It is also the line people argue about most.
Why can two quotes for the same site differ so much?
Because they rarely cover the same nine lines. One includes writing and consent set-up, the other assumes you bring both. One leaves the domain in your name, the other in the studio's. The gap between a low and a high quote is mostly the gap between what each assumes you will do yourself. We went through the same effect for branding in why quotes for the same brief vary so much, and the method carries over to websites: ask for the line items.
Ownership belongs in the quote
Hosting and domain are recurring costs, and also the two places where a client can end up locked in. Ask whose name the domain is registered in, and whether you receive the files at the end. The position in law is covered in who owns the logo, files and domain when a project ends. A cheap site that you cannot take elsewhere is priced for the first year only.
Questions to put to every quote
- Which of the nine lines are included, and which are left to me?
- Who writes the text, and for how many pages?
- How many layouts are designed, and how many revision rounds?
- What do domain, hosting and maintenance cost each year after launch?
- Whose name is on the domain and the hosting account?
- What does the site load that needs a consent banner?
These overlap with the five questions in what to ask before signing with a studio, which apply whatever the size of the project. If you want to see how Orbe scopes a site, the services overview on the home page lists what we build, and how the two-person studio works explains who does what.
Common questions
Is a cheap website a false economy?
Not by itself. It becomes one when the low price comes from leaving out lines you will have to pay for later, such as writing, consent set-up or maintenance. Count all nine lines, then compare totals over three years rather than the launch invoice.
Do I have to pay the ICO data protection fee for my website?
It depends on your organisation, not on the site. Many controllers are exempt, and the ICO publishes the exemptions. For those who pay, the lowest tier is £52 a year according to the ICO, with £5 off by direct debit. Check the ICO guide before assuming either way.
What is the difference between a domain name and hosting?
The domain is the address, such as yourcompany.co.uk, registered with a registrar. Hosting is the server that holds the site's files. They are separate purchases, can be with different companies, and should both be in your name.
Does a small business website need a cookie banner?
Only if it sets cookies or loads tools that are not strictly necessary for a service the visitor asked for. The ICO says consent must be actively and clearly given for those. A site that loads nothing of the kind has nothing to ask about.
How much should I budget for maintenance each year?
Ask the studio to state it as a line in the quote. It depends on how often you change content and on whether the site runs on a system that needs updates. A mostly static site costs little to keep, and a site with bookings or payments costs more.
Louis Denis, Orbe Studio
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