How Much Does a Website Cost in 2023? The Definitive Guide

How much your site costs will depend on how you build it. We’ve made a cheat sheet to weigh up your options:

Build Method	Benefits	Drawbacks
Website builder tool	AffordableNot too difficult	Needs 20hrs+ of your time, and some confidence with technology.
Hire a freelancer or agency	Professional resultSave timeInstall advanced features	Costly, and results depend on your ability to communicate well.
Code website from scratch	Exactly according to your specSave money	Results are limited to your skill level and free time. You’re in charge of design, debugging, spam, security, updates, content, and indexing on Google.

Website builder and ecommerce platform costs

Shopify	Wix	BigCommerce	Square Online	Squarespace	WooCommerce	Americommerce	PinnacleCart
Score4.7	Score4.6	Score4.4	Score4.4	Score4.3	Score3.8	Score3.5	Score3.2
Best ForAdvanced sales features	Best ForCreating a good-looking website with excellent sales features	Best ForOffers you all the functionality you need to scale and succeed	Best ForPayment integrations	Best ForSelling digital products or portfolios	Best ForThose looking to work on their own	Best ForB2B	Best ForDropshipping
Price RangePaying for one year upfront£19-£1,500+/monthFirst three months for £1 each	Price RangePaying for one year upfront£14-£119/month£12.60-£107.10 with code “GET10!”	Price RangePaying for one year upfront£19-£2,000+/month	Price RangePaying for one year upfront£9-£54/month	Price RangePaying for one year upfront£17-£35/month£15.30-£31.50/month with code: EM10	Price RangePaying for one year upfrontAverage of £30/month	Price RangePaying for one year upfront$24.95-$299/month	Price RangePaying for one year upfront$44.95-$199.95/month
Free Plan	Free Plan	Free Plan	Free Plan	Free Plan	Free Plan	Free Plan	Free Plan
Free Trial	Free Trial	Free Trial	Free Trial	Free Trial	Free Trial	Free Trial	Free Trial
Try Shopify	Try Wix	Try BigCommerce	Try Square	Try Squarespace	Competitors	Competitors	Competitors

WordPress website costs

The cost of WordPress depends on the type you’re using.

1. WordPress.com offers specific price packages ranging from £0-£55 per month.
2. WordPress.org is open-sourced (this means it’s free).

Cost of a small business website

Cost of a Small Business Website
Upfront costs
Design	£500-£1,000
Domain	£2.99-£100/year
Total Upfront Cost	£502.99 to £1,100
Ongoing costs
Hosting	£3-£45/month
Content Updates	£0-£250/month
Total Ongoing Costs	£3 to £295/month

Cost of an online shop website

Cost of an ecommerce website (per year)
Domain	£9-£18
SSL certificate	£120-£250
Hosting	£120-£1,200
Technical maintenance	£850-£3,500
Content Updates	£1,200-£10,800
Total	£2,299 to £15,768

Website builder vs web designer

Here are the main factors to weigh up and decide upon when you’re building your own website or hiring a designer:

Use a website builder	Hire a web designer
✔️Affordable, cost spread out over time. Free options available	❌High upfront costs
✔️Maintenance automatic and included in price	✔️ Maintenance costs may be minimal (unless you need significant changes)
✔️Add your own media and customise design	✔️Unique website look, feel and function
❌Some platforms don’t offer certain features	✔️Get any feature you can imagine
❌Plugins may cost more than you anticipate	✔️Full cost transparency from the start
✔️Choose from a range of design templates or build your own	❌Design limited to your own research or designer’s preferences

Additional costs

1. Content production

Producing written content is something that you can do yourself to keep costs down. However, it can be worth getting a freelancer or agency to help. Expect to pay between £30 and £100 per hour for web copywriting.

2. Imagery

Hiring a photographer to collect a bank of images for your brand or product is always advisable for creating a strong brand image. You can also buy stock images and graphics from sites like depositphotos, or download free images for commercial use on unsplash.

3. SEO/marketing

SEO stands for search engine optimisation. It’s the process of making a site the best that it can be in terms of search engine visibility. Search engines give preference to sites that load fast and offer the information that people are searching for, among other things.

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