Websites
How much does a website cost in the UK?
By Bhavesh Narsai · Published 2 July 2026 · Updated 20 August 2026
Ask five web designers what a website costs and you will get five different dodges. So here is the straight answer, with real ranges, what actually drives the price, and the hidden costs people only find out about later.
How much does a small business website cost in the UK?
A professional small business website in the UK typically costs £300 to £1,500 from a freelancer, or £2,000 upwards from an agency. At BAV Tech Solutions in Bolton, a Starter build is £595 and Done For You is £895, both including the first year of hosting, with a free mockup before you commit.
Want a figure for your own job rather than a range? The website cost calculator asks nine questions and itemises it, and it will tell you if you do not need a new site at all.
The three routes, honestly compared
1. DIY builders (Wix, Squarespace and friends): £10 to £30 a month
Cheapest on paper, and fine if you enjoy this sort of thing and have the hours. The honest catches: it costs your evenings instead of your money, the results usually look like a template, and the monthly fees quietly add up to more than a simple professional build within a couple of years. Nobody writes the words for you either, and the words are usually the hard part.
2. A freelancer or independent: roughly £300 to £1,500
The sweet spot for most local businesses. You get a professional, mobile-friendly site built around getting you enquiries, without agency overheads. Prices vary with how many pages you need, whether the copy is written for you, and what extras (booking, forms, local SEO) are included. This is the tier I work in, with fixed prices agreed up front.
3. An agency: £2,000 to £10,000+
Worth it when you genuinely need it: big multi-page sites, e-commerce with lots of products, custom systems, or a brand project with a team behind it. For a local service business that mainly needs to be found on Google and take enquiries, an agency build is usually paying for overheads you do not need.
Web design Bolton cost: what local businesses actually pay
Bolton follows the same pattern as the rest of the UK: agencies quoting £2,000 upwards, independents somewhere in the £300 to £1,500 band, and plenty of quotes that never say what is included. What is genuinely hard to find is a published price. Most local firms ask you to enquire, which makes comparing quotes slow and puts the awkward conversation at the end instead of the start.
Mine are published, so here they are. These are the fixed prices behind web design in Bolton, and the full breakdown of what each build includes is on the portfolio and pricing page:
| Feature | Launch Page | Starter | Done For You | Custom Build |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | From £295 | £595 one-off | £895 one-off | From £1,500 |
| Pages | One page | Up to 3 | Up to 5 | Multi-page |
| Copywriting | You supply it | You write it | Written for you | Written for you |
| First year hosting | Add-on from £18/mo | Included | Included | Included |
| Hosting after year 1 | £18/mo or your own | £18/mo | £28/mo | Quoted |
Every build with hosting included is yours to keep once paid for, with no long hosting tie-in.
The hidden costs nobody mentions
- Hosting: typically £5 to £30 a month. Ask whether it is included and for how long.
- Domain name: usually £10 to £15 a year.
- Content: if the price does not include writing the words, that job lands on you.
- Updates and small changes: ask what happens after launch. Some charge every time you need a sentence changed.
- Ownership: make sure you own the domain and can take the site elsewhere. Beware of deals where cancelling means losing everything.
What actually moves the price
- Number of pages and how custom the design is.
- Who writes the content (them or you).
- Features: booking systems, payments and online ordering cost more than a contact form.
- Local SEO: whether the site is actually set up to be found on Google, or just looks nice.
The question that matters more than price
A cheap site that brings in no enquiries is expensive. A fairly priced site that wins you one or two extra customers a month pays for itself quickly. Judge quotes on what the site will do, not just what it costs: will people find it, trust it, and get in touch?
Common questions
How much do web designers charge in the UK?
Most UK freelance web designers charge £300 to £1,500 for a small business site, either fixed-price or at day rates. Agencies charge from about £2,000 to £10,000 or more. What moves the number is pages, custom design, copywriting and features. I charge fixed prices, £295 to £895, agreed before work starts.
How much does it cost to have a website professionally designed?
For a typical UK small business, a professionally designed website costs £300 to £1,500 from an independent, and £2,000 to £10,000 or more from an agency. The biggest price factors are page count, whether the copy is written for you, and features like booking. Cheaper DIY builders exist, but those you build yourself.
Is it better to use a freelancer or an agency for a small business website?
For most local businesses a freelancer is the better value. You get a custom, mobile-friendly site built around winning enquiries, without agency overheads. Agencies are worth it for large multi-page sites, e-commerce with many products, or custom systems. For a typical local service business, an agency build usually means paying for overheads you do not need.
Should I just use Wix or Squarespace instead of paying a web designer?
A DIY builder is fine if you have the time and enjoy it, but it costs your evenings, usually looks like a template, and the monthly fees add up to more than a simple professional build within a couple of years. It also will not write your content for you, which is usually the hard part.
Do I own my website if a freelancer builds it?
You should. Make sure you own your domain name and can move the site elsewhere if you ever want to. Be wary of deals where cancelling means losing the whole site. With my builds, the domain and the site are yours.
Also worth a read: how long a website actually takes to build, and whether a website builder is good enough for SEO.
My own pricing is fixed and transparent: no hidden agency fees, the words written for you, your first year of hosting free, and you can get a free website mockup for your Bolton business before spending a penny.