How much does a small business website cost in 2026?

"How much is a website?" is the first question almost every small business owner asks us, and the honest answer is that it depends on four or five decisions you can make before you ever speak to a developer. This post walks through those decisions so you can tell a fair quote from a padded one.

What are the main ways to get a small business website?

There are three realistic routes, and each one moves the cost in a different direction.

Do it yourself on a site builder. Squarespace, Wix and Shopify let you build a site from a template for a monthly subscription. The money cost is low. The time cost is not: most owners spend several weekends on it, and the result often looks like the template rather than the business.

Hire a freelancer. A good freelancer can build a solid five-page site at a reasonable price. The risk is continuity. If they move on, nobody else knows how the site was put together, and small changes stall.

Work with a studio or agency. You pay more than a freelancer for the same number of pages, but you get a team, a written scope, and someone accountable after launch. At North Foundry, small business websites start from $1,500, and every project gets a fixed price after a free 15-minute call.

What actually makes a website cost more?

Page count matters less than people think. These are the things that really move the price:

• Booking, quoting or payments. A site that only shows information is simpler than one that takes appointments, calculates quotes or sells products.
• How much content you already have. If your text, photos and logo are ready, the build is faster. If they need to be written, shot or designed, that work has to be priced in.
• Integrations. Sending enquiries into a CRM, a calendar or an email tool takes setup and testing. It is worth it, but it is not free.
• Moving an existing site. A redesign has to keep the search rankings the old site earned. That means mapping every old URL before launch, which we cover in how to redesign a website without losing your SEO rankings.
• Custom design versus an adapted template. A fully custom design takes longer. For most small businesses, a well-adapted theme with your brand applied properly is the better value.

What are the running costs after launch?

The build is a one-off. These costs keep going, and a good quote should tell you about all of them:

• Domain name, renewed every year.
• Hosting, monthly or yearly depending on the platform.
• Business email on your own domain, usually per person per month.
• Site builder or CMS subscription, if the site runs on one.
• Paid apps or plugins, such as booking tools, forms or reviews.

None of these are large on their own, but they add up. Ask for them in writing before you sign, and make sure every account is registered in your name, not the developer's.

What should a small business website include?

At minimum, a site that brings in work needs:

1. A home page that says what you do, where you do it and how to contact you, in the first screen.
2. A page for each main service, so you can be found when someone searches for that service.
3. Click-to-call and a short contact or quote form on every page.
4. Your address, service area and opening hours, matching your Google Business Profile exactly.
5. Fast loading on a phone, because that is where most local searches happen.

If you are not sure your listing is set up properly, read how to set up a Google Business Profile that shows up on Maps. It is free and it often brings in more calls than the website does.

How do you avoid overpaying?

Ask three questions of any quote:

• What exactly is included, page by page? A scope you can check is worth more than a low number.
• Who owns the domain, the hosting and the code? It should be you, from day one.
• What happens when I need a change in six months? You want to be able to edit text and photos yourself, and know the cost of anything bigger.

A website is worth what it brings in. A $1,500 site that turns visitors into calls is cheaper than a $500 site nobody contacts you through. If you want an outside opinion on the site you have now, our free website teardown tells you the three changes we would make first, with no sales pitch attached.