Your website plays a crucial role in connecting with users, especially in the current age of digital advertising and global businesses. They serve as the face of your brand and often speak to your customers even before a real person does! Therefore, building a well-designed, user-friendly website is vital for businesses looking to stand out and create impact.
The investment required to build a website varies drastically, with costs ranging from £500 for basic sites to over £50,000 for more complex web applications. This variance in pricing is driven by location, desired features, developer expertise, and hosting platform fees.
If you're looking to create a small business site, you can look to spend anywhere between £500 and £3,500. A portfolio or personal site will cost you anywhere between £300 and £1,000, whereas the cost of e-commerce site in the UK is roughly around £2,000 to £10,000+.
A blog or content site may cost anywhere between £400 to £1,500. Web applications are slightly more complex, requiring custom programming and ongoing technical maintenance. You could invest between £5,000 and £50,000 to build a custom web application.
Why such a range in pricing?
It all comes down to what you need and who builds it. DIY website tools are affordable but limited, freelancers are more affordable but risky, and agencies are experts but expensive.
Many entrepreneurs focus on the initial development costs without accounting for the ongoing expenses that inevitably follow. Regular hosting fees, essential maintenance tasks, and critical security measures often represent hidden costs and hit you when you least expect them.
Therefore, it is crucial that you understand everything that goes into building a site so you can factor in costs without any rude surprises.
You may be launching a startup or finally taking your business online. Whatever the situation, you're not alone if you're asking how much this will cost me and whether it will generate the leads I need. This guide strips away the confusion, breaking down every cost factor for UK businesses so you know exactly where your budget should go.
Understanding website types
Small business site or brochure site (£500 - £3,500)
A simple site showcasing a company's services, almost like an online version of a printed business brochure. It is designed to showcase a company's products, services, or brand rather than facilitate online sales. It can cost you anywhere between £500 and £3,500.
It focuses on presenting information concisely and engagingly, encouraging visitors with simple calls to action like contacting the business or booking a service.
A portfolio or personal site (£250 - £1,500)
Almost as simple as a brochure site, the function of a portfolio site is to promote your personal brand. Unlike traditional business websites, its primary purpose isn't to sell products or services directly but rather to demonstrate the capabilities and style of an individual to potential clients or employers through curated case studies, project samples, and client testimonials. It is advantageous and built as a marketing tool for creatives or agencies. You could look to spend between £250 and £1,500 on building a portfolio site.
Blog or content site (£400 - £2,000)
A more dynamic site, a blog, is usually an online platform where content is regularly updated, typically in reverse chronological order, with new posts appearing at the top. It can be used for personal journaling, sharing opinions, providing information, or promoting a business. You could look to spend between £400 with freelancers up north and £2,000 around London.
An e-commerce site (£2,000 - £10,000+)
An e-commerce website is an online platform where businesses and individuals can buy and sell goods and services over the Internet. It functions as a digital store, allowing users to complete transactions securely on-site. Some e-commerce sites(B2C) focus on selling to a consumer, such as buying a T-shirt from your favourite online shop, whereas B2B sites facilitate business and transactions between two companies.
Custom web applications (£5,000–£50,000+)
While websites are primarily designed for sharing information, web applications are specifically built for user interaction and functionality. They enable users to interact with content and perform specific tasks. Web applications often include functionalities such as data processing, user authentication and real-time updates. Some examples include online banking systems, social media platforms and some e-commerce portals.
The cost of a website application in the UK can vary significantly, ranging from a few hundred pounds for a simple site to tens of thousands for a custom-built one. Factors like the complexity of the design, additional features, and developer fees all influence the final price.
Now that you know the type of website you'll need to build, you'll need a domain.
What is a domain name and how can you get one?
As discussed earlier your website acts as the online face to your company, and people can easily find you using a web address also known as your domain name.
A custom domain name makes your website easier to find and builds trust and credibility for your business.
Domain name prices in the UK vary widely, but for popular extensions like .com, .co.uk, and .uk, you can expect to pay between £1 and £15 per year for registration. For some niche or new top-level domains (TLDs), prices can be significantly higher, potentially exceeding £1,000. Some popular registrars in the UK are 123 Reg, GoDaddy, Hostinger, IONOS, and names.co.uk.
Many website builders, such as WordPress, Wix, Squarespace, etc. often bundle web hosting and domain registration fees into their pricing plans, so if you're choosing to build your site yourself, ensure you check offers from these DIY builders.
An important thing to consider while factoring in costs is whether you should buy a premium domain. Usually more expensive, premium domains have a .com extension, are short and catchy, and have a high search volume. These characteristics can boost your SEO and attract people to your online business, offsetting some marketing costs in the future.
How should you host your site?
The next thing to consider is how to host your site. It is essential to select a hosting provider that meets your needs. While making the choice, consider factors like pricing, storage space, bandwidth, and technical support.
Shared hosting
Shared hosting is a web hosting service in which multiple websites share the same physical server and its resources, such as storage, bandwidth, and processing power. This makes it a cost-effective option for individuals, small businesses, and bloggers who may not require high-traffic or specialised server configurations.
These servers are usually easy to use, with user-friendly control panels and often pre-installed tools like WordPress or Wix.
VPS (Virtual Private Server)
VPS hosting at a mid-level performance range, typically priced between £20 and £60 per month, offers a balance of performance and affordability for users with moderate to high website traffic needs. This tier suits businesses that require more resources than shared hosting but don't need a dedicated server-level performance.
Dedicated hosting
This is suitable for high-traffic business sites (>50,000 monthly visitors) or resource-intensive applications. Resource-intensive applications are essentially web applications that place high demands on memory, storage and CPU. Some examples include gaming websites, e-commerce platforms with more than 500 products, content streaming platforms or SaaS platforms.
The cost can vary and be anywhere between £80 and £400/month. Some of the best providers in the UK are: IONOS UK, Krystal Hosting, Fasthosts.
Cloud hosting (flexible pricing)
This option works best for business with scalable projects and fluctuating traffic. It is a flexible pricing option allowing a business to pay-as-you-go. AWS London, siteGround UK are some examples of cloud hosting platforms in the UK. Prices vary with various plans. SiteGround, for instance, offers a starter plan of £12 to £30/month for 10 to 50GB storage or a business plan of £50 to £120/month for 100+ GB.
How should you build your website?
Now that you have a domain and have identified your hosting needs, it makes it easier to decide how you're going to build your website. Shared hosting options are available on many DIY builder sites and dedicated hosting may require the expertise of a designer and developers.
Here are some of the ways you could choose to build your site:
1. DIY website builders (Wix, Squarespace, WordPress.com)
DIY website builders offer an affordable solution with basic plans ranging from £10-£30 per month. These platforms provide near-instant setup, allowing users to create an operational website within hours without the need to learn how to code!
However, this convenience comes with its limitations. Users of these builders are bound to the platform's available templates, which can make a website look generic and may not fully represent a brand's uniqueness. In order to customise any of these templates you will need to hire a wordpress developer. There are often hidden costs when you need to install premium features or additional plugins.
While these are cost-effective, these solutions often require an investment of time to customise properly.
2. UK freelance developers
You could choose to go down the path of working with a freelancer. It is quite affordable for SMEs, and you could look to pay the web designer anywhere between £750 - £5,000 or an hourly rate between £25 and £75.
While this is a way to create a more customised site and save yourself the time, this comes with its own disadvantages. The quality of work can vary significantly depending on both the freelancer's skill level as well as your budget constraints.
Unlike agencies with full teams, you're relying on a single individual. This means there is a possibility that your projects can stall if your freelancer becomes unavailable due to illness, other commitments, or unexpected circumstances.
Through our experience, we've found these issues can typically be avoided by carefully selecting proven, reliable freelancers with strong track records and clear communication practices. Even then, it's wise to have contingency plans in place for ongoing maintenance needs.
3. UK design agencies
UK design agencies offer the ideal solution for larger businesses requiring a more strategic approach to their website design. They usually deliver complete end-to-end solutions, with project costs ranging from £3,000 to £20,000+ depending on scope and complexity.
For this investment, you'll receive deliverables including detailed wireframes, UX strategy, custom UI design tailored to your brand, professionally crafted content, basic SEO implementation, and the oversight of a dedicated project manager to ensure smooth execution.
The downside is that agencies are often priced beyond the budget of most SMEs.
4. Offshore development with Black Piano
We at Black Piano offer a hybrid solution to many UK businesses who want an agency solution at a freelance price! We have built fully successful teams with a remote working model for multiple businesses around the UK.
By hiring a remote development team offshore, you can get more bang for your pound. An E-commerce site with Black Piano costs around £8,000 (vs. £15-20k UK agency), whereas a fully functional business website costs approximately £2,500.
Our model reduces the cost by 60-70%, giving you access to fully professional teams and a time zone advantage that allows for faster progress. As we are British-owned and based in London, you don't have to worry about communication gaps or delays.
All the other stuff you need for your website
Content writing
You will need to build content for your website. It's great if you do it yourself, and that will definitely save you some money. However, many businesses choose to hire a content writer to ensure their messaging is professional, persuasive, and SEO-friendly. As it stands, the current rates for professional copywriting for core pages (home, about, services) typically cost £50 - £500 per page, depending on the content writer’s expertise and the research required for the topic.
Blogs
SEO-optimised blog posts range from £100 to 300 each, with higher rates for in-depth, long-form content. If you need stock images/videos (£5–50 per asset). This could go higher if you decide to create custom and videos via a professional (£300 to £2,000+).
SEO strategy
Many companies charge £1,000 - £5,000+ for a full SEO strategy including keyword research, backlinking, and technical audits. We at Black piano pay £2,000 for 2 dedicated SEO experts in India. That is 360 hours of dedicated time spent on our brand, and we pay a fraction of the cost.
CMS costs (often hidden)
A CMS (Content Management System) is essentially a software that allows users to create, manage, and update website content without the need for coding knowledge. Here is a list of some of the popular ones in the UK.
WordPress (self-hosted)
While this is free, premium themes can cost between £30 and £200 a year, and essential plugins between £50 and £500 a year add to the cost. It is ideal as a low-cost solution, provides flexibility in design but requires maintenance. These maintenance costs can be around £500 per year.
Shopify
This platform is the best for building dedicated e-commerce sites. Plans start at £25/month, scaling to £299/month for advanced features. A hidden cost of transaction fees (0.5–2%) applies unless you use the Shopify payments portal if you plan to build a site with any financial transactions.
Webflow
Costing between a range of £14–£39/month for basic sites and £200+/month for CMS and hosting. It's ideal as an option for SME's looking for a cost-effective solution as it combines design freedom with built-in hosting.
Magento (open source)
While free, it needs developer expertise to optimise. Magento eCommerce (enterprise) costs £15,000+/year and is used by large retailers for product updates as well as e-commerce platforms with more than 500 products.
Wix
Wix is fairly affordable, costing between £8 and £24 per month. It's all-inclusive but less scalable and works best for simple sites which do not have too much content and interaction.
How to plan your budget for your website?
A website isn’t a one-time expense. Ongoing maintenance and regular optimisation are crucial for security, performance, and reliability. Here’s what to remember while planning your regular finances for your website.
1. Hosting & infrastructure
Let's start with the basics. Hosting renewal can be anywhere between £50 and £300 per year for shared/VPS hosting. If you need to renew your domain, you should allocate £10–£20/year for standard domains (.co.uk, .com)
Pro tip: Set a calendar reminder two weeks before renewal; most UK hosts will find you a "loyalty discount" if you threaten to leave.
2. Software & security updates
If you need any CMS, plugin, or theme updates, budget for around £20 to £100/month. That £50 WordPress theme you bought in 2020? It’s now a security risk if you have additional security add-ons and need monitoring or malware scans; put aside £10 to £50/month.
Basic security software costs £10 - 50 a month and is shown to stop 99% of automated attacks. We suggest paying £5 - £30 a month to back up your server in case of unexpected crashes. Skip these, and you risk spending additional on a developer to fix disasters.
3. Developer support
Sometimes, your website crashes, or you need to customise a certain feature or edit your website. You need a software developer for this. An ad-hoc fix can cost you around £30 to £150/hour, depending on the feature's complexity and the developer's skillset. Many businesses sign retainer agreements at £100 to £500/month with developers or agencies for priority support.
4. Optional but recommended extras
If you need performance optimisation with the right SEO strategy, look at spending £1,000 to £5,000 as a one-time cost as well as recurring content update costs (£25 to £75/hour).
Tips to reduce website costs without sacrificing quality
Let’s be real: nobody wants a £15,000 website that performs like a £500 template. But you also don’t want a £500 website that costs you £15,000 in lost business. Here’s how smart UK businesses reach the right balance.
1. Template hacks
You don't always need fully custom sites; you need smart customisation of premium tools.
Ollie, a Manchester based fitness-coach was quoted £4,000 for a custom website design by a freelancer in Birmingham. When he hired a designer in India through Black Piano, the costs fell considerably. The designer used a premium theme (£60) with a custom logo (£100), personalised visuals (£250), and SEO optimised content (£400). £3,190 saved vs the original quote. A site that converted 22% better than the freelancer’s proposal.
2. Outsource to trusted offshore teams
We at Black Piano help businesses secure the right talent and reduce their hiring and recruitment costs by 60-70%.
We work as an Employer on Record for many local businesses, hiring over 40 skill sets.
Our recent hire for London bakery, we saved them around £43,000+ in employment costs. They work as a cloud kitchen and builds business through their online presence. Therefore, their biggest investment was their website with a custom order online feature.
For a UX designer in London, they were looking to spend £65,000/year salary + 13.8% employer NI. We hired a top-tier Indian graphic designer with UX expertise, at a salary of £22,000 per year. It took us 3-days to find and hire Aditi, and she still works on a retainer with them.
Unlike almost all other EOR services, we don’t just provide a platform to pay your staff and then step back. From recruiting and interviewing top talent to handling contracts, payroll, and onboarding, we’ve got you covered.
And we don’t stop there. As your dedicated remote HR partner, we ensure your team stays engaged, motivated, and committed for the long haul. Learn more about what we do: Employer of Record
3. Work like a smart startup: MVP first
Instead of overengineering your site from day one, focus on the core essentials that will generate leads or sales immediately (contact forms, clear service pages) or establish credibility (testimonials, about page).
Start with the essentials and make a wishlist or a plan for 6 months later. The benefit is you avoid upfront costs for features you may not need right away. As your business gains more traction and recognition you have the flexibility to add on required features.
4. Avoid unnecessary features
Ask yourself if the custom video header would add as much value as a static image in the first version of the website. Often, the simplest solution performs best, leaving you with more budget for the upgrades that actually matter down the line.
A simple checklist before adding a feature to your website:
- Will this feature drive revenue in the next 90 days?
- Can we test this cheaply first?
- What’s the maintenance cost of adding this feature?
5. Host like a pro (not a newbie)
Investing in a scalable CMS and hosting is crucial for websites that anticipate growth in content, traffic, and features. A scalable CMS allows for easier content management and website maintenance as the site expands, while scalable hosting ensures the site can handle increased traffic and performance demands.
Why work with Black Piano?
James, a Bristol architect, hired a boutique design agency for his firm’s site. But things didn’t go as planned. They charged £18k for unnecessary features (3D virtual tours his clients never used). The custom CMS meant only their team could make £250 per hour updates. The result wasn't great as the mobile performance scored 12/100 on Google.
Like James, many believe expensive is good. We at Black Piano believe that quality can be more affordable. You're just looking in the wrong place. With just a simple management fee, we employ the right talent on your behalf. We handle all the extras such as laptops, payroll and HR.
Here are more details of what hiring with us will cost you:
Conclusion
View your website not as an expense but as a revenue-generating asset that works around the clock to attract and convert customers. The actual cost consideration isn't just the price of building a site, but the opportunity cost of not having an effective online presence in an increasingly digital marketplace.
For advice on hiring the right talent that fits both your budget and business objectives, give us a call. We’re available anytime.
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