Ask five web designers what a small business website costs and four of them will say “it depends,” then book a call. It does depend. But the person asking usually wants a number to hold in their head before they spend an afternoon on the phone, and we think that is a fair thing to want.
So here are ours, then what changes the price anywhere you shop.
What we charge
A standard build at Magnolia Web Co is $1,997. Half to start, half when the site goes live. That covers the whole build, start to finish, and you own it outright, code and all. The first stretch of the care plan is included. After that, keeping it updated is $25 a month if you want it, and nothing if you don’t.
The second way to pay is $999 down, then about $415 a month for six months. The extra money in that option buys something. Search work runs from the first month instead of waiting until the build is paid off. After month six the build is clear and only the search work continues.
Veterans and first responders take 15% off either one.
Two shops, side by side
Say a lawn care company on the FM 1488 corridor and a two-chair salon both need a site.
The lawn care company takes the one-time build. They pay $998.50 to start and $998.50 at launch. Total: $1,997. After the included care stretch, they can pay $25 a month to have someone handle updates, or make changes themselves and pay nothing more.
The salon takes the spread-out option. They pay $999 down and roughly $415 a month for six months. They pay more over that half year than the lawn company does, and the difference buys six months of search work that starts while the site is still being built. Whether that is worth it comes down to how much of their business arrives from Google versus walk-ins and referrals.
And if neither of them builds anything? The cost is zero dollars, and the business keeps whatever it already gets from word of mouth and a Facebook page. For some shops that is plenty. For a trade where the customer is searching on a phone at 9 p.m. with water on the floor, it usually means that call goes to whoever does show up.
What moves the price, anywhere you shop
These are the things that make one quote twice another, at any studio.
- Number of pages that need real writing. A five-page site with your services, hours, photos and a contact form is a different job from forty pages of service-area content.
- Things the site has to do. Online booking, payments, a client login or an online store each add build time and something that has to keep working after launch.
- Who writes the words. If you hand over finished copy and photos, the job is smaller. If the designer interviews you and writes it, that time is in the price.
- Whether search setup is included. Some quotes include Google Business Profile setup and local search groundwork. Others treat it as a separate monthly line.
- Who owns it at the end. Some low monthly prices are rentals. Stop paying and the site goes away, because the designer owns the template, the hosting account or both.
Things to check before you sign
- Is the price in writing before work starts? A number that only appears after a paid “discovery” phase is not a quote yet.
- What happens if you stop paying monthly? Find out whether you keep the site, the domain and your content.
- Who holds the domain? It should be registered to you.
- Who answers when something breaks? A name and a phone number, or a ticket form.
- Can you see sites they built that are live today? Open them on your phone, not just on their portfolio page.
Where this leaves you
A small business website costs whatever the scope makes it, and the scope is something you can see and question. Ours is published on the pricing section of our home page so you can compare it against anyone else’s quote, line for line.