How much should a local business website cost in 2026?

Ask three web designers what a website costs and you will get three numbers that do not overlap. Here is what we see in Buckinghamshire and the surrounding counties, what sits behind the numbers, and what we charge.

The short answer

For a local business that needs one good page (what you do, where you are, when you are open, how to get in touch), a fair price in 2026 is £500 to £1,500 to build, plus £15 to £40 a month to keep it online and looked after.

Anything under £500 is usually a template with your name typed into it. Anything over £2,000 for a single page is paying for something you probably do not need: a content management system, a design agency's overheads, or a project manager.

What you are paying for

A website has four costs. Most quotes hide at least one of them.

1. Design and build. Someone has to decide what goes on the page, in what order, and make it look like your business. This is the bulk of the cost. A one-page site done properly takes a day or two of skilled work. Six pages take a week.

2. Hosting. The site has to sit on a server somewhere. For a static site on a modern host (Cloudflare, Netlify, Vercel) the raw cost is close to zero. For WordPress it is £5 to £30 a month for a decent host, and someone has to keep it patched.

3. The domain. Your web address. A .co.uk costs roughly £5 to £15 a year at cost. Some agencies mark this up to £30 or more and hold it in their own name. Check whose name it is in.

4. Upkeep. Prices change. Hours change. Photos go stale. If nobody is on the hook for updates, the site rots. This is the cost most owners forget, and it is the reason so many local business sites still show 2023 prices.

The three common options

DIY builder (Wix, Squarespace, GoDaddy). £12 to £30 a month on a plan, plus your own evenings. Cheap if your time is free. In our experience most owners get it 80% done, lose interest, and it stays 80% done for two years. Budget 20 to 40 hours if you have not done it before.

Freelancer. £400 to £1,500 for a one-page site, £1,000 to £3,000 for a small multi-page site. Quality varies more than price does. Ask to see three live sites they built more than a year ago and check whether they still work on a phone.

Agency. £2,500 upwards, often much more. You get a process, a designer, a developer and an account manager. For a national brand that is right. For a barber in Winslow it is not.

Where the real cost hides

Two things push the price up more than anything else.

Content. If you do not have words and photos ready, someone has to write and shoot them. Copywriting for a one-page site is £150 to £400. A half-day with a local photographer is £200 to £500. Neither is included in most build quotes.

Scope creep. "Can we just add a shop" or "can we just add bookings" turns a one-page site into a different project. The honest answer is usually to link to a booking system you already use (Fresha, Treatwell, Square) rather than build one.

What we charge, and why

Our price is £600 to build and £25 a month to host, cancel any time. Or £75 a month for 12 months then £25, interest-free, if you would rather spread it.

The £600 covers a one-page site designed for your business, built for phones first, with a contact form, Google Maps, your Instagram feed and three rounds of changes before go-live. The £25 a month covers hosting, SSL, the Instagram feed kept current, and small updates through a shared sheet. Domain at cost. Copy and photos are yours to supply, and we tidy them.

We can do it at that price because we build static sites (no WordPress to patch), we do not run an office, and we build the preview before you pay anything, so nobody pays for work they have not seen.

What to check before you pay anyone

• Whose name is the domain in? It should be yours.
• What happens if you stop paying? You should get your files.
• Who updates it, and what does that cost per change?
• Does it work on a phone? Look at three of their sites on yours.
• Is there a monthly fee, and what does it actually include?

If the answers are clear, the price is probably fair. If they are vague, the price is not the problem.