[//] Prices, and how they work
What a website actually costs.
Most web design sites will not tell you a number. That is not because it is impossible — it is because a number invites comparison. Here are mine, what changes them, and what you would be paying for.
Starting prices
Quick Fix
Estimate from£99
One specific thing that’s broken.
- One issue diagnosed and fixed
- Usually live within 48 hours
- Plain-English explanation of the cause
- 14 days of free aftercare
Performance & SEO
Estimate from£499
Make the site you have work properly.
- Everything in Quick Fix
- Core Web Vitals into the green
- Full technical SEO pass
- Responsive & cross-browser fixes
- Accessibility clean-up
- Before/after report
Full Rebuild
Estimate from£849
Start again, and do it properly.
- Designed and built from scratch
- Fast and accessible from day one
- Content moved across, URLs preserved
- Set up so you can edit it yourself
- Two to three weeks, typically
- 30 days of free aftercare
These are starting estimates for typical jobs, not a menu. After I have looked at your site you get one exact figure and one date — and once you have accepted it in writing, it does not move.
Included at every price
- A free audit of your existing site, before you commit to anything
- One fixed price and one delivery date, in writing
- All work built on a private preview you can watch
- A client account centre with every invoice, preview and message
- Aftercare — 14 days on a repair, 30 days after a launch
- Full ownership: the code, the domain and every account stays yours
What moves the price
- How much of the writing you need doing
- The single biggest variable on a new site. If you have your copy ready it is quicker and cheaper; if you need it drafted, that is real work and it is priced.
- How many pages actually need building
- Not how many pages you have. Forty pages of near-identical service copy is one template and a spreadsheet; six genuinely different pages is six pages.
- Whether anything has to be migrated
- Moving platform means a redirect map so your rankings survive. It is the step that gets skipped by cheap quotes, and the one that costs a business its search traffic overnight.
- How bad the foundation is
- An abandoned theme or a site built by someone unreachable can make a small change slow. I will tell you when that is the case, including when it means a rebuild is cheaper than more repairs.
Straight answers
How much does a small business website cost in the UK?
For a genuinely small business, a complete website from scratch is typically £800 to £3,000 depending on how many pages and how much of the writing you need doing. Mine starts at £849. Below about £500 you are usually buying a template with your logo on it; above about £5,000 you are usually paying for an agency's overheads rather than a better website.
Why is there no fixed price list?
Because the honest answer depends on what is wrong. The figures here are starting points for typical jobs. What you get before committing is one exact number and one date, in writing, after I have actually looked at your site — not an hourly rate that drifts.
Do you charge a deposit?
No. There is no deposit, no setup fee and no card details taken before the work exists. I invoice in full once it is live and you have told me you are happy, payable within 14 days. The risk of hiring someone new sits with me rather than you.
What if the job turns out to be bigger than you thought?
That is my problem, not yours. Once you have accepted a figure in writing it does not move. The free audit exists so I am quoting on what is actually there rather than guessing.
Are there any ongoing costs?
Not to me, unless you specifically want ongoing cover. You will pay your own hosting and domain directly — realistically £3 to £15 a month and around £12 a year — and you own both accounts. I do not resell hosting or hold your domain.
Do you charge VAT?
No. I am not VAT registered, so the price you are quoted is the price you pay. For a VAT-registered business that is neutral; for everyone else it is 20% you do not spend.
What does an hour of your time cost?
I do not sell hours, because an hourly rate rewards me for being slow and gives you no way to budget. Small pieces of work outside a quoted job are usually £60 to £99 depending on what is involved, agreed before I start.
Get an exact figure, free
Send me your web address. Within 24 hours you get a written audit and, if you want one, a fixed price. No call to book and no obligation.