A website for a UK business costs anything from about £9 a month on a DIY website builder to £30,000 or more for a large custom build. For a small business site, Bark's 2026 price guide puts freelancers at £1,000 to £3,000 and agencies at £2,000 to £7,000. Ours start from £1,198.80 including VAT (£999 plus VAT at 20%), as a one-off project.
What are your options, and what does each cost?
There are three ways to get a website, and they price very differently. The figures below are published market ranges, not our prices; ours come further down.
| Route | What it typically costs | Source |
|---|---|---|
| DIY website builder (for example, Wix) | £9 to £25 a month on Wix's Light to Business plans, billed annually | ExpertSure, Wix pricing UK, updated August 2026 |
| Freelance web designer | £300 to £1,000 for a basic site; £1,000 to £3,000 for a small business site | Bark, website design prices 2026 |
| Web design agency | £2,000 to £7,000 for a small business site; £5,000 to £15,000 for an online shop; £10,000 to £30,000 or more for a custom enterprise site | Bark, website design prices 2026 |
The ranges are wide because "a website" covers everything from a single page to an online shop connected to a stock system. Bark doesn't say how its figures were collected, so treat the freelance and agency ranges as a guide to the market rather than a quote.
What moves the price of a website?
Five things account for most of the difference between one quote and the next.
- The number of pages. Every page has to be planned, designed, written and built. A site meant to be found for dozens of different searches needs dozens of pages.
- The depth of design. Adapting a ready-made template is quicker than designing each page around your brand and your real work.
- Who writes the words. Copy is easy to leave out of a quote, and waiting for it is what slows most website projects down.
- Search and tracking set-up. Keyword research, site structure, redirects from an old site, structured data, analytics and conversion tracking. Some quotes include all of it. Some include none of it.
- Integrations and features. Online payments, bookings, a link to your CRM, a client portal. Each one adds building and testing time.
Why do two quotes for the same website differ so much?
Usually because they aren't quotes for the same website. One may include the research, the writing, the search set-up and the tracking. Another may cover design and build only, leaving the words, the redirects and the analytics to you. Both can be fair prices for what they include.
We think most business websites are built backwards: design first, words later, and search and tracking as an afterthought. A site built that way can look finished and still bring in very little, because nobody planned it around what customers search for, or measured what they did once they arrived.
So line the quotes up against the five points above. The gaps usually explain the price. Our page on website design and development lists the questions worth putting to any web designer before you sign.
What does a website from DC Digital cost?
Our websites start from £1,198.80 including VAT (£999 plus VAT at 20%), as a one-off project. The total uses the standard VAT rate of 20%.
Every site we build includes four things, from the starting price upwards:
- Planning around search and the buyer. What your customers search for, what they need to know before they get in touch, and which pages that calls for.
- Design and copy. A design built from your brand and your real work, and the words written for you. You check them; we write them.
- A WordPress build that's ready for search. Fast and accessible, with a clean structure, internal links, structured data and the technical basics done properly.
- Tracking, forms and enquiries. Forms that work on a phone, Google Analytics 4 and Tag Manager, and a link to your CRM where you have one, so you can see where each enquiry came from.
The price rises with the number of pages, the depth of design, how much we write and any integrations. Larger projects and portals are quoted individually. Most of our websites take about 4 to 12 weeks from the first conversation to launch, and every price we charge is on our pricing page.
For an example of a build where we did the research, the writing and the WordPress build, see the Mr Gates website, which launched in September 2026.
What will a website cost after launch?
The build is a one-off cost. Running the site is not. Plan for:
- the domain name, renewed every year or every few years;
- hosting, which keeps the site online;
- maintenance: software and plugin updates, security and backups;
- changes and new pages as the business moves on.
For our website clients, hosting and maintenance are quoted with the website, because what they involve depends on the site you have.
When is a DIY website builder the right choice?
Sometimes it is, and we'd rather say so. If the business is new, you need a handful of pages, you have the time to write and set them up yourself, and you aren't competing for searches against firms that have invested in their websites, a builder plan is a sensible way to start. You can move to a built site later.
It stops making sense when the website has to win enquiries against those firms, when your time is worth more spent running the business, or when you need tracking that shows which pages and searches bring in work.
Questions about website costs
Is a website a one-off cost?
The build usually is, and ours is: a one-off project from £1,198.80 including VAT (£999 plus VAT at 20%). Running the site isn't. The domain, hosting and maintenance carry on, and most businesses add pages and changes over time. Ask any supplier to separate the one-off price from the running costs, so you can compare quotes on the same basis.
How much does a website cost per month?
On a DIY builder, the subscription is the cost: £9 to £25 a month on Wix's Light to Business plans, billed annually, according to ExpertSure in August 2026. A professionally built site has a one-off build price, then running costs for hosting, the domain and maintenance, which ExpertSure puts at £50 to £300 a month.
What should a website quote include?
The pages to be built, who writes the words, the design approach, the search set-up (research, site structure and redirects from any old site), analytics and conversion tracking, forms and integrations, the timeline, and what happens after launch. If any of these are missing, ask whether they're excluded or simply unstated. The answer often explains a low price.