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What a proper website costs (and what moves the price)

The honest range most projects run to, what pushes the number up or down, and how you actually pay. No hiding the figure.

Pricing 6 min read Updated July 2026 The honest numbers

What a website that wins work actually costs, the range most projects fall into, and the honest reasons the number moves up or down.

No “it depends” and no hiding the figure. Here’s how it really works.

Most people asking what a website costs have been burned before, either by a vague non-answer or a quote with no logic behind it. So here’s the straight version: what the build typically runs to, exactly what moves the price, how you pay, and what it costs to keep it going afterwards.

The short answer: most builds land between £3,999 and £8,999, and eCommerce or heavily custom builds start at £6,999. The rest of this explains why, and roughly where you’d sit.

The build

Typically £3,999 to £8,999, depending on scope. eCommerce and custom builds from £6,999.

After launch

Optional ongoing support, from £50 a month. Month to month, no contract.

The way in

The call and the Scorecard are both free.

Pricing

What it costs

Five straight answers to the questions you’d actually ask on a call, so we can spend the call on your business instead of dancing around the number.

5 straight answers
1 The range

The honest range: £3,999 to £8,999

A range, on purpose

Most builds land between £3,999 and £8,999. I quote a range rather than one fixed number on purpose, because the honest answer to “what does it cost” is “it depends what winning your buyers actually takes”.

A local firm with a handful of pages and one clear service needs a very different build to one selling several high-value services into a research-heavy market. Pretending otherwise would mean either overcharging the simple job or under-building the complex one, and neither is fair.

Where you land comes down to scope, which is the rest of this guide. But you always get the exact number in writing before you commit, and the price we agree is the price you pay.

The point: an honest range, then a fixed number before you commit

2 The value

What you're actually paying for

The work behind the pages

The word “website” undersells what the money buys. You’re paying for the strategy behind the site, the copy, the design, the build, the proof, the buyer education, the self-serve tools, and the CRM and follow-up wired in behind them.

Every build includes
  • Website Scorecard and diagnosis
  • Clear positioning
  • Buyer journey mapping
  • Core website copy
  • Bespoke design and build
  • Buyer education content
  • Proof and case study placement
  • Self-serve buyer tools where they earn their keep
  • Forms, tracking and CRM connections
  • Team training
  • 90 days of improvements after launch

A cheaper “website” usually means a nice-looking template with none of the parts that win the buyer. That’s what most people are comparing against, and it isn’t the same purchase.

The point: you’re buying the work that wins buyers, not a set of pages

3 Up

What pushes the price up

Scope, not padding

The build scales with how much it takes to win your particular buyer. A few things move the number more than anything else:

What moves it up
  • More services or audiences to position and build for
  • More key pages to create
  • Deeper buyer-education content
  • Self-serve tools, and how many of them
  • More proof to produce, like case studies or video
  • Deeper CRM and follow-up automation
  • eCommerce: products, checkout and payments
  • A research-heavy, high-value market where the bar for trust is higher

A pricing calculator or a fit quiz is real work; a simple enquiry form isn’t. None of it gets bolted on to inflate the bill. It’s scoped to what winning your buyer needs, and we agree exactly what’s in and out before anything starts.

The point: see exactly what would move your number, and why

4 Down

What keeps it sensible

Spend it where it wins

Scope flexes down just as easily. If a job is straightforward, the price reflects that: a focused starter site is £3,999, and it’s a proper build, not a cut-down one. Self-serve tools get scoped per project, so we build the one or two that genuinely earn their keep rather than a drawer full of gadgets nobody uses.

The aim was never to spend the most. It’s to spend it where it wins you clients. A good client being worth a few thousand pounds is usually why the maths works: the build pays for itself on a handful of the right enquiries, sometimes on the first one.

The point: pay for what wins buyers, not for padding

5 Paying

How you pay, and what comes after

Staged, and no lock-in

The build is paid in three stages, so you’re never paying for work that hasn’t happened yet: 50% to start, 25% once the design is agreed, and the final 25% on launch day.

After launch you’ve got options, and none of them lock you in:

Ongoing, all month to month
  • Optimisation partnership, £750 a month. I keep improving the site on real behaviour, enquiry quality and sales feedback, with hosting, maintenance and support included.
  • Care, £50 a month. If you just want the site hosted, safe and off your plate.
  • Care+, £100 a month. A closer eye and faster cover for busier sites.

And the way in costs nothing. The call is free, and so is the Scorecard if you’d rather see where your site stands first.

The point: pay in stages, stay in control, no long contract

Pricing in one sentence

Most builds run £3,999 to £8,999 depending on scope, paid in three stages, with optional ongoing support from £50 a month and a free way in.

The numbers, simplified
1. The build. Typically £3,999 to £8,999, scoped to what winning your buyers takes.
2. eCommerce and custom. From £6,999, depending on what needs building.
3. How you pay. 50% to start, 25% at design sign-off, 25% on launch day.
4. After launch. Optimisation partnership £750/mo, or Care from £50/mo. Optional.
The real question

Weigh the price against what your website is worth to you working, because the current one is charging you too.

For most established businesses, one good client covers a big chunk of the build, and the site keeps winning them long after. The cheapest option is usually the template that keeps losing you the work, and you pay for that one every month, in clients who quietly chose someone else.

Before you spend a penny, the free Scorecard shows you where your site stands. And if I don’t think a build is right for you, I’ll say so before you commit.

Want a sense of where your build would sit?

The free Scorecard shows where your site is winning work and where it’s leaking it. We go through it together on a short call, so you get a feel for the scope, and the number, before you commit to anything.

Free · your actual site · talked through on a call