How Much Does a Small Business Website Cost in the UK?
A small business website in the UK costs either a monthly subscription (a DIY builder, or a designer's site-plus-hosting package) or a one-off build fee plus smaller running costs. The headline price matters less than four hidden costs: domain renewal, hosting, paying for edits and, above all, whether you actually own the site and domain when you leave.
What are the three ways to get a small business website?
There are three routes, and each one moves cost and risk around rather than removing it. You can build it yourself on a builder, pay a monthly subscription to someone who builds and hosts it for you, or pay once for a custom build that you then host and own.
| Route | Upfront cost | Ongoing cost | Your time | Main risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DIY website builder | Low or none | Monthly or yearly plan for as long as the site is live | High: you write, design and test | A tidy site that does not get enquiries |
| Website subscription package | Low or none | Monthly fee, often with a minimum term | Low | You may not own the site or domain when you stop paying |
| Custom build | A one-off quoted price | Hosting, domain, any edits | Medium: content and sign-off | Paying for design that ignores how customers contact you |
Our own starting price at Oski Marketing, for comparison, is website design from £1,600 one-off, which covers custom design, mobile, SEO foundations, analytics, a contact form, hosting set-up and two revision rounds. Get other quotes and compare what each one includes line by line.
How much does a DIY website builder cost?
A builder costs a monthly or yearly plan, and the price depends on the plan and on where you are. Wix states that its prices and currency vary by location and that the yearly prices it shows are for subscriptions paid upfront. Squarespace shows both monthly and annual prices on its pricing page, with annual plans cheaper per month. Always look at the price while browsing from the UK and note whether it is the monthly or the annual figure.
Both builders include a custom domain free for the first year on qualifying plans. That is a real saving, but put a reminder in your diary for the renewal, because from year two you pay for it.
The bigger cost of a builder is your time. Someone has to write the homepage, choose photos, set up the contact form and check it works on a phone. A plumber in Sutton who does that well on a builder will usually beat a beautiful custom site with vague words and a broken form.
What are the hidden costs of a website?
The hidden costs are the ones that arrive after launch, so ask for each in writing before you agree to anything. These are the six we see most often:
- Domain renewal. Free in year one on many plans, then charged every year.
- Hosting. Included in builders and subscriptions, separate for most custom builds.
- Edits. Changing prices, adding a service or swapping photos. Some designers include a few edits a month, others charge per change.
- Paid plugins and apps. Booking tools, forms and review widgets often carry their own subscription.
- Email. A business address on your own domain is usually a separate subscription.
- Cookie consent. If your site uses non-essential cookies, such as some analytics or advertising tags, the ICO says consent must be freely given, specific and informed, and simply continuing to use the site does not count. A proper consent banner may be a paid tool.
Who owns a website that someone else builds for you?
The person who builds it usually owns the copyright unless your contract says otherwise. GOV.UK explains that for commissioned work, the first legal owner of copyright is the person or organisation that created the work, not the person who paid, unless agreed in writing. The Intellectual Property Office's own blog makes the same point for websites and advises putting a contract in place before commissioning so copyright transfers to your business on completion.
Ownership of the domain is a separate question. The domain should be registered with your business as the registrant, not the designer. For a .uk domain you can look up the registrar and status through Nominet's WHOIS and RDAP tools, and your registrar account should show you as the owner. Our guide on who should own your website and Google profile walks through how to check each one.
When is a monthly website subscription worth it?
A subscription is worth it when you want a site live quickly, have no cash for a build, and the contract lets you leave and take the domain with you. It is a poor deal when the minimum term is long, the site and domain stay with the provider when you cancel, or edits cost extra on top of the monthly fee.
Before signing, ask three things: can you leave with a month's notice, will the domain be transferred to you if you leave, and can you have a copy of the content and photos? If any answer is no, price in the cost of rebuilding from scratch later.
What should a small business website include for the money?
For the money, a website should at minimum make it easy to contact you from a phone and give a stranger a reason to trust you. That means a clear line saying what you do and where, a tap-to-call number, a short contact form that you have tested, real photos of your work, reviews or accreditations you can back up, and pages for your main services.
What you can usually skip at the start: animated sliders, a blog you will not keep up, and pages that exist only to fill a menu. Our guide to what a small business website needs goes through the must-haves in more detail, and how much digital marketing costs puts a website in context with the rest of your spend.
What to do this week
- Look up your domain and confirm it is registered to your business, and note the renewal date.
- Log in to your website builder or hosting account and check it is in your name, with your email address.
- Fill in your own contact form from your phone and check the message arrives, and how fast.
- If someone built your site, find the contract and check whether it says who owns the copyright.
- List every website-related subscription you pay for and its renewal date in one place.
Frequently asked questions
Is a website builder good enough for a small business?
Often, yes, if you have the time to write the words, take good photos and test it on a phone. The builder handles hosting and security. What it will not do is decide what your homepage should say or check that enquiries reach you, which is where most small business sites fall down.
Do I own my website if I paid someone to build it?
Not automatically. Under UK copyright law the person who creates the work is usually the first owner unless you agree otherwise in writing. Ask for a clause that transfers ownership of the design and content to your business on payment.
Why is my free domain now charging me?
Many builders include a domain free for the first year on an annual plan, then it renews at the normal price. Check the renewal date and price in your account, and make sure the domain is registered in your business's name, not the builder's or a designer's.
What ongoing costs does a website have after launch?
Expect domain renewal, hosting or a builder subscription, any paid plugins or apps, email, and the cost of edits. Ask for each of these in writing before you agree to a build, so the first-year price is not the only number you see.