The three ways to get a site
- Build it yourself on Squarespace, Wix or similar: a monthly subscription and your time.
- Hire a freelancer: a project fee, usually for a template customized to you.
- Hire an agency or studio: a larger fee that covers strategy, writing, design and development.
What moves the price
- Number of pages that need new writing.
- Photography, if your photos are old or missing.
- Online booking, payments, or a store.
- Connections to your CRM, scheduling or quoting tools.
- Moving content and keeping rankings from an old site.
Costs after launch
Domain, hosting, software licenses, and someone to make changes. Ask every builder what a typical edit costs and how fast they do it. That number matters more over five years than the launch fee.
Comparing three quotes
Put them side by side in a simple table with these rows, and fill every cell. Blank cells are where surprises come from:
- Pages included, and who writes them.
- Photography.
- Features: forms, booking, payments, integrations.
- Redirects from the old site.
- Hosting, and what it costs after the first year.
- Who makes changes after launch, and the price of a typical change.
- What you get if you leave.
When spending more pays off
When the website is where customers book or buy, when you're in a crowded market where the site has to win against competitors' sites, or when your current site already brings in leads and a careless rebuild could lose them. For a business that gets most work by referral, a simple, accurate site is often enough.
Questions
Why do quotes vary so much?
They usually include different work. Ask each builder to list pages, content and features.
Is a cheap website a mistake?
Not if it's fast, accurate and you own it. Cheap becomes expensive when you can't change it.
Do I pay monthly or once?
Often both: a project fee, then hosting and upkeep monthly.
Should I pay for a website in installments?
Staged payments tied to milestones are common and protect both sides.
Are website builders really cheaper?
In cash, usually. Count the hours you'll spend building and updating it yourself.
About the author
Jason Murphy, Founder
Jason has spent two decades building sites, search programs, and digital products for businesses. At Lehvel, he leads product and strategy.
Jason Murphy on LinkedIn