What a small business website should actually cost

Quotes for the same website can range from $500 to $15,000. Here is what actually drives the number, and where the money goes.

Why the range is so wide

If you ask five people to quote your website you will get five wildly different numbers. That is not because four of them are trying to cheat you. It is because "a website" describes anything from a single page with your phone number on it to a store processing thousands of orders a month.

What actually drives the price

• How many pages you need
• Whether the design is custom or a theme
• Whether you are selling or taking bookings online
• Who is writing the words and sourcing the photos
• How much ongoing support is bundled in

Where the money goes

On a typical small business build, most of the cost is not the code. It is the thinking about what your customers need to see, the design work, and getting the content right. The build itself is often the fastest part.

The honest advice

Be suspicious of anything under about $500 — that is usually a template with your logo dropped in, and it will look like it. Be equally suspicious of a $15,000 quote for a five-page site with no store. Somewhere in the middle is where most small businesses should land.