The short answer
There is no honest single answer to "how much does a website cost in the UK?", because every website is quoted. The price follows the scope: how many pages, who writes and photographs them, what the site connects to, and who looks after it afterwards. When three quotes for "a website" differ wildly, they are usually quoting three different websites.
This guide is for the owner of a UK small business, often a trade or a service firm, holding quotes that don't line up. It contains no prices. We quote every project and publish no price list. A market range would tell you less than your own quotes, once you know how to read them.
Instead, it covers what sets the price and what each kind of supplier does. Then it gives you the lines a proper quote should list, the red flags, and a one-page brief to send every supplier. We build websites for UK service firms, including the two London trades you'll meet below. This is the checklist we'd want any client to hold us to.
Why website quotes differ so much
"A website" isn't a fixed product. For a builder, it can mean one page with a phone number on it. It can also mean a page for every service, a portfolio of finished jobs and three ways to ask for a quote. Both are websites, and the second is several times the work of the first.
Most of the gap between quotes comes from what each supplier assumed and didn't write down. A low quote often assumes you'll write the words, supply the photos and never edit anything yourself. A high quote may include all three, plus search setup and upkeep you never asked for.
Neither has to be dishonest. They answer different questions. The trouble is that you can't see those assumptions when you buy, and the supplier can.
That gap is where bad deals happen. You choose on the look of the first draft, then find the missing work after you've paid. So compare what each quote includes before you compare the totals, because until you know what a total covers, it's the least useful number on the page.
Nine things that decide how much a website costs in the UK
Nine decisions set the price. The first four decide how much gets made. Three more are work you can't see in a design preview. The last two decide what the site costs you after launch.
| What moves the price | Less work | More work | Ask the supplier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pages and service lines | One page that covers everything | A page per service, each with its own words and photos | Which pages are included, by name? |
| Copy (the words) | You supply finished text | The supplier interviews you and writes every page | Who writes it, and how many rounds of changes? |
| Photography | Your own photos, or stock | Photos of your finished jobs, chosen and captioned | Who supplies them, and who holds the rights? |
| Integrations | A phone number and an email link | Booking, quote routing, WhatsApp, a CRM | What happens, step by step, when someone asks for a quote? |
| Content system | Nobody edits after launch | Your team updates pages and projects without breaking the layout | What can we change ourselves? |
| Speed and search setup | Whatever the template gives | Tested speed targets, page titles, structured data, redirects | What speed will you test to, and how? |
| Accessibility | Not mentioned | Built and tested to a named standard | Which standard, and who tests it? |
| Ownership and handover | Domain and hosting in the supplier's name | Everything in your name, with documentation | Whose name is on the domain, hosting and code? |
| Upkeep | None, or folded into a monthly fee | Updates and monitoring, priced as a separate, optional line | What does upkeep cover, and can we cancel it? |
The next three sections take the lines that hide the most work.
Copy, photos and integrations: where the hidden work sits
Copy is the easiest line to leave out of a quote. "Content supplied by client" means you write every page, and for a builder with nine services, that's nine pages.
Each page has to say what the service is, which jobs you take, and what happens after someone gets in touch. If you won't have the time, say so in the brief. The quote will change.
Photos decide whether a trade site looks trustworthy. Stock images of spotless hard hats convince nobody. Photos of your own finished jobs do, but someone has to choose them, crop them and write a line under each. Ask who does that, and whose name any paid image licence sits in.
Integrations hide the most scope in the fewest words. "Contact form" can mean a form that emails you. It can also mean a form that asks the right questions, sends residential and commercial enquiries to different people, and confirms receipt to the customer.
WhatsApp is the same. It can be a click to chat link that opens a chat with your number, which is a small job. Or it can be a connection through the WhatsApp Business Platform that files every message in a CRM, which is a much larger one.
Sometimes the cheapest integration is the one you don't build. For a lakeside villa in Albania, we sent guests to the booking channel it already used instead of building a second one. A quote that includes customer logins, a portal or a booking system with its own rules is for a web application. Scope it as one.
Speed, search and accessibility: the work you can't see in a preview
These three don't show in a design preview, so a quote can leave them out and nobody notices until after launch. Each has a public standard you can ask a supplier to name.
Speed has targets from Google. Its Core Web Vitals say the main content should load within 2.5 seconds and the page should respond to a tap within 200 milliseconds. The layout should barely shift, with a score of 0.1 or less.
Google highly recommends that site owners meet these targets. It also indexes and ranks the mobile version of a site, so the tests should run on a phone. Ask to see the results.
Search setup is a list of small, checkable jobs. Each page needs its own title and description. Structured data tells search engines who you are and where you work. Add a sitemap, and register Google Search Console in your own name.
If you're replacing a site, every old page address needs a permanent redirect to its new one. Google recommends server-side 301 or 308 redirects for this.
Accessibility means disabled people can use the site. In 2024 to 2025, 16.7 million people in the UK reported a disability, a quarter of the population. The standard to name is WCAG 2.2 at level AA, published by the W3C. Building to it from the first template is less work than fixing it later, because the fixes touch every page.
Ownership and upkeep: what the price covers after launch
Two quotes with the same build price can cost very different amounts over five years. The difference is who owns what, and what you pay to keep the site running.
A supplier can lower a quote by keeping everything on its own accounts. The domain sits in its name, and the site runs on its hosting and its own system. That's cheaper for the supplier to run, but it makes leaving expensive for you, and you won't see that cost until the day you try to go.
Our guide to whether you own your website covers the five checks, and how pay-monthly deals can lock you in.
Our own standard is simple. Your domain, hosting, code repository and documentation sit in your accounts. We build on our own infrastructure and transfer everything at handover. You own the site; our name appears as the studio that built it.
Upkeep is the other line. Software needs updates, the site needs backups, and someone should notice when a form stops sending. Ask for upkeep as its own line, with what it covers, and check you can cancel it without losing the site. Ours is optional and agreed at handover.
Two London projects, two different scopes
ES Construction and Safe Waterproofing Systems are both London trades, and both could have asked for "a website". Their scopes came out very different, and scope is what a quote prices.
ES Construction is a residential builder taking everything from small repairs to full refurbishment. Its site carries nine service lines, from loft conversions and extensions through to decorating, plus a portfolio of completed work. Quote requests come in by phone, email or WhatsApp, and WhatsApp sits level with the phone number, because for a builder it is often the first contact.
In quote terms, that is nine service pages, each needing its own words. It is three contact routes, each to be tested on a phone. And it is copy that invites the small job as readily as the large one, with structural work shown alongside finishing work rather than buried. That's writing work more than design work.
Safe Waterproofing Systems is a damp proofing specialist working on homes and commercial property. Its buyers are usually anxious and comparing several firms at once.
The site has a page per specialism: basement and structural waterproofing, damp proofing, rising damp and deck waterproofing. It adds galleries of completed projects, and testimonials placed where a hesitant buyer reaches them. It leads to a survey request form, with residential and commercial enquiries split.
Here the effort sits on the path to one form: what evidence comes first, where testimonials go, and what the form asks each buyer. In this trade the enquiry is the whole conversion.
Neither site is "five pages and a contact form", and a quote for that would have missed most of the work. What these projects taught us about trade sites is in websites for builders and tradespeople.
Five kinds of website supplier, and when each makes sense
The kind of supplier changes the price too, because each does a different share of the work. None is right for everyone.
| Supplier | Who does the work | Suits | The trade-off |
|---|---|---|---|
| DIY builder, such as Wix or Squarespace | You | A sole trader with one service who mainly needs to exist online | Your evenings go on it, and you can't take the site elsewhere: Wix says its sites must run on Wix's servers |
| Freelancer | One person, sometimes with subcontractors | A clearly defined site, once you've found someone good | Everything rests on one person's time; ask who covers illness and holidays |
| Template agency | A team adapting a theme it has used before | A standard site on a familiar system, delivered quickly | Your site resembles its other clients' sites, and anything outside the template costs extra |
| Studio | A small team that designs and writes for your business | Several services with integrations, on a site whose job is winning enquiries | More thinking per page, so a higher quote; more than a one-service firm needs |
| Pay-monthly | A supplier who builds the site and rents it to you | Spreading the cost when cash is tight | You may never own the site; get the minimum term and the price of leaving in writing |
We're a studio, so weigh our view of that row accordingly. We're also based in Tirana, and our guide to working with a software studio in Albania covers what to check when your supplier is abroad. A pay-monthly deal can also be fair, as long as the price of leaving is in writing before you sign.
What a proper website quote should list
A proper quote lets you point at any part of the site and find the line that pays for it. Check each quote you hold against this list, and ask for anything missing before you compare totals.
- Every page, by name.
- Who writes the copy, and how many rounds of changes are included.
- Who supplies the photos, and who holds the rights to them.
- Each integration, described by what happens: "a quote form that emails the office and confirms receipt to the customer", rather than "contact form".
- The content system, and what your team can change without the supplier.
- Speed targets and how they're tested, plus the search setup, including redirects from any old site.
- The accessibility standard, such as WCAG 2.2 AA, and how it's checked.
- Whose name the domain, hosting, code and accounts sit in, and a clause assigning the copyright to you.
- Upkeep as a separate, optional line, with what it covers.
- What is excluded, in writing.
- The timeline, payment stages tied to delivered work, and whether VAT is included.
Red flags in a website quote
Some quotes tell you most by what they leave out. Each of these deserves a question before you sign.
- A single total with no breakdown. Ask for the lines above.
- A price given before anyone asked what the site is for, or who your customers are.
- A design shown before a brief. It's often a past project with your logo on it.
- Promised rankings. Google's own advice on hiring help with search says "No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google."
- "SEO included" with nothing listed underneath it.
- The domain registered in the supplier's name "to keep things simple".
- No mention of copy. Then writing it is your job, and you find out after signing.
- A monthly fee with no minimum term, buy-out price or handover written down.
- Hosting or upkeep you can't cancel without losing the site.
When you don't need a studio, or a new website
Not every business needs what a studio builds, and not every tired website needs replacing.
- If you're a sole trader with one service and plenty of word-of-mouth work, a DIY builder and a weekend may be enough. Register the domain in your own name.
- If your current site loads quickly and brings enquiries but reads badly, new copy may fix it without a rebuild.
- If you can't fill in the brief below yet, do that first. A quote before then is a guess.
- If you can't decide between rebuilding and fixing, get an audit and a written recommendation before any quote. We'll tell you when rebuilding isn't the better path.
How to brief a supplier so the quote is accurate
A quote is only as accurate as the brief behind it. Write one page, send the same page to every supplier, and ask each to price what's in it and list what isn't. Then the quotes answer the same question.
- What your business does, where you work, and the job you most want more of.
- Your services, one line each. Each may become its own page.
- How customers contact you today (phone, WhatsApp, email or a form) and who answers.
- What happens after an enquiry: a site visit, a survey or a written quote.
- What you already have: a logo, photos of finished jobs, reviews, the current site, and whose name the domain is in.
- Who will write the copy, if the supplier won't.
- Any system the site must connect to, such as a booking tool, a CRM or your accounts software.
- Who will edit the site after launch, what they'll change, and how often.
- For a limited company, the details the law requires on your website: your registered number, registered office address and where you're registered.
- The date you need it by, and what that date is tied to.
Point 1 matters most. A site written for "anyone who needs a builder" persuades nobody in particular. A site written for homeowners planning a loft conversion knows what to say first.
This week, write that page and send it to every supplier you're considering, including us if you like. When the quotes come back, lay them side by side against the list of what a proper quote should include, and mark every line each one leaves out. Where one total is far lower than the rest, find the missing lines before you look at the number.
Questions
Why don't more web designers publish prices?
Some do, as fixed packages, and a package is good value when your needs match it exactly. Check what it leaves out, especially copy and upkeep. Others, including us, quote every project, because the same words, "a five-page website", can describe very different amounts of work.
Will a new website lose my Google rankings?
It shouldn't, if the move is planned. Keep the same domain, and give every old page address a permanent redirect to its new one. Google says rankings can move while it recrawls a changed site and settle down over time. Ask for the redirect list before launch, and watch Search Console for errors in the weeks after.
Should I pay for a website upfront?
Pay in stages tied to delivered work, for example a deposit to start, a payment when the design is approved and the rest at launch. Staged payment protects both sides. Whatever the split, put it in writing, along with when the copyright and every account pass to you.
How we wrote this: drafted with AI, then checked and edited by the people who build our projects. Figures come from our own work or from the linked sources.