This is the first question in almost every conversation we have, and the honest answer is the one nobody likes: it depends. But it does not depend on mysterious things. Four factors move the number, and once you know them you can read any quote — ours or anyone else's — and tell what you are actually paying for.
1. How many layouts, not how many pages
A five-page site where four pages share one layout is a fraction of the work of a five-page site where every page is designed separately. The page count matters far less than the number of distinct layouts.
This is why "how many pages?" is a weak first question and "what does each page have to do?" is a good one. A services page listing six services is one layout. Six service pages that each need their own hero, process section and FAQ is six times the design and content work, even though a page counter says seven versus two.
2. Whether anything has to be built, or only assembled
Most business websites do not need anything invented. A brochure site, a portfolio, a restaurant menu, a clinic taking appointment enquiries — these are solved problems, and a well-chosen platform does them well for a modest price.
The price climbs when the site has to do something specific to your business: a booking flow tied to real availability, a product configurator, a members area, an integration with software you already use. That is engineering rather than assembly, and it is priced as engineering.
We wrote a longer comparison of the two approaches in WordPress or a custom website, which is worth reading before you collect quotes — it will tell you which of the two you are actually shopping for.
3. Who writes the words and who takes the photographs
This is the most common reason a project stalls and the most common thing missing from a quote. A website is mostly words and pictures. If those do not exist, someone has to make them.
- You supply everything. Cheapest and fastest — as long as it genuinely exists. Half-written copy is not supplied content.
- We write from your material. Interviews, your existing brochures, the answers you already give customers, turned into page copy. This adds real cost and usually pays for itself, because the words are what convince people.
- Photography. Stock images are free and look free. Real photographs of your team, your premises and your work are the fastest way to look more credible than your competitors, and they cost what a photographer costs.
4. What happens after launch
A website is not a purchase. It is a subscription with a large first payment. A quote that ignores year two is not cheaper, it is incomplete.
- Domain. A yearly renewal. Small — but if it lapses the site disappears and recovery is painful.
- Hosting. Anywhere from a few dollars a month to a serious line item, depending on traffic and whether the site is static or database-driven.
- Updates. Platforms and plugins publish security patches constantly. Ignoring them is the most common way a small business site gets defaced.
- Changes. Prices change, staff change, services change. Either you can edit the site yourself, or you are paying someone every time.
Our website maintenance page sets out what we cover, mostly so you have something to compare other quotes against.
Why two quotes for the same brief differ enormously
When the same brief comes back at wildly different prices, it is rarely one party being greedy. It is usually one of these:
- A template versus a design. A purchased theme filled with your logo is a legitimate, fast, inexpensive option. It is not the same product as a design made for your business, and it should not cost the same.
- Content included, or not. See above. This alone can double a quote.
- SEO groundwork included, or not. Correct titles, descriptions, headings, internal links and a sitemap are a day of work during the build — and a rebuild afterwards.
- Revisions. A quote with two revision rounds and a quote with unlimited revisions are different commercial products. Ask, and get the answer in writing.
- Who owns it. Some cheap builds leave you on a platform you cannot export from. Ask what you keep if you leave.
Six questions to ask before accepting any quote
- Who writes the copy, and is that in this price?
- How many revision rounds are included, and what counts as a revision?
- What are the yearly costs after launch, itemised?
- Can I edit pages myself afterwards without a developer?
- Do I own the domain, the hosting account and the files?
- What happens if the site breaks at 11pm on a Friday?
Any agency worth hiring will answer all six without hesitating.
Where we sit
Our pricing page publishes a starting figure rather than hiding it, because a starting figure at least tells you whether a conversation is worth having. The final number always depends on the four factors above, and we would rather scope it properly than quote blind.
If you want a real number for a real brief, tell us what the site has to do and we will come back with an itemised quote — including the yearly costs, so you can compare it honestly against anything else on your desk.