Start with what the site has to do

Price tables online rarely agree, because a website isn’t one product. A five-page site that brings in enquiries is a different job from a shop with hundreds of products.

Before you compare prices, write down what the site needs to do and who it’s for. A few honest answers in a brief will get you most of the way. It also helps to give your homepage a clear job. Once everyone quoting is pricing the same job, the numbers become easy to compare.

Count the pages, and what goes on them

Page count matters, and so does how different the pages are. Ten pages that share a couple of layouts can take less design time than five that each need their own. A page with a gallery, a form or a price list takes more work than a page of text.

List the pages you think you need and mark the ones that are similar. That list alone will make a quote more accurate.

Decide who writes the words and takes the photos

Content is often the part people forget to budget for. With copy and photos ready, the design and build can move quickly. When someone still has to write them, or a photographer has to shoot them, that adds time or cost.

My example budgets assume you supply the content, and I price photography on its own. Ask anyone quoting you how they treat content, because it changes the number.

Check whether the brand is ready

A designer can build a site around an existing logo, colours and type. If those aren’t settled yet, the brand work either happens first or becomes part of the website project.

You can see it in the price. On my services page, a five-page website for an existing brand has an example budget of £7,000 and takes around 4 to 6 weeks. A new identity and website, developed as one project, has an example budget of £15,000 and takes around 6 to 8 weeks. Both figures are illustrative, not fixed quotes. If you’re not sure whether you need new brand work, this note on logos and clearer brands may help.

Choose the platform to fit the job

The platform affects the build cost and the running cost. Website builders charge a monthly subscription. At the time of writing (2 November 2026), Squarespace lists its Basic plan at £14.40 a month paid annually, or £19.20 paid monthly, including estimated VAT. Shopify lists its Basic plan at £19 a month paid yearly, or £25 paid monthly.

Those subscriptions pay for the platform. Design, content and your time come on top. I’ve written about picking the platform for your website last, once you know what the site needs to do.

Add up the integrations and the shop

Every connection to another system needs setting up and testing. Bookings, payments, a newsletter, a customer database or stock control can each add to the scope.

An online shop adds the most. Someone has to load the products, test the checkout and look after orders. That’s why ecommerce sits outside the example budgets on my services page.

Budget for the years after launch

A website keeps costing money after launch. It needs hosting, a domain renewed every year, software updates, backups and the odd change.

On a website builder, the subscription covers most of that. Squarespace says hosting is included in all its plans, and its annual plans add a free domain for the first year, which then renews at the standard rate. With self-hosted WordPress, someone has to look after hosting, updates and backups. That might be you, your developer or a managed hosting provider. Whichever route you take, keep the domain registered to you or your business.

Compare DIY, freelancer and studio fairly

A DIY builder usually costs the least in cash and takes the most of your own time. It can be a sensible place to start if the site is simple and you enjoy the work.

Freelancers and studios charge for the build, and their prices vary a lot. What each price includes tells you more than the number. Does it cover planning the content? Design as well as build? How many review rounds? What happens after launch?

Before I start a project, we agree the deliverables, review rounds, fee and schedule in writing. Ask anyone else you’re considering to put the same in writing. Check whether VAT is included, too.

Work out a sensible starting point

A builder and an afternoon are enough for some businesses right now. If the site is how most customers find you, it’s worth investing properly. Either way, decide what the site has to do, then set the budget around it.

For a sense of scale, look at my example budgets. Then tell me a little about the project and we’ll work out where it’s likely to land.

Start with the brief

It’s easy to choose a platform before you’ve decided what the website needs to do. A friend recommends one, a template catches your eye and the monthly price looks reasonable.

The difficulty comes when you discover a requirement you hadn’t considered. Perhaps the site needs to take bookings, connect to your customer database or support a growing library of articles. A platform change at that point can mean paying to build parts of the site twice.

Before comparing editors and templates, answer these four questions.

What is the website’s main job?

Who is it for, and what should they do next? Send an enquiry, buy a product, book an appointment or return for useful advice?

A website built to attract project enquiries needs a different structure from an online shop with hundreds of products. Decide what success looks like before choosing the tools.

If you’re still working that out, start with a few honest answers in a website brief. Then give your homepage a clear job.

What does it need to do now and later?

Write a straightforward list of requirements. Payments, bookings, articles, multiple languages and connections to existing business tools are all worth considering.

Mark each one as essential or nice to have. Then look a year ahead. If you expect to start selling products or offer online bookings, include that in the brief now.

You don’t need to build every future feature at launch. You do need to understand whether the platform can support it, what it might cost and whether it relies on another service.

Who will look after it?

Think about who will update the website, how often and how comfortable they are with the editor. Ask to try the tasks you’ll actually do: changing a price, adding a case study or publishing an article.

Hosted services typically handle the underlying hosting and platform updates. With self-hosted WordPress, someone needs to take responsibility for hosting, software updates and backups. That might be you, your developer or a managed hosting provider.

Include the ongoing work in your decision. A flexible website is only useful if someone can keep it current.

What happens if you need to move?

Ask what you can take with you if your needs change. That includes your domain, written content, images, customer data and any functionality the business depends on.

Exporting content and moving a complete website are different things. A new platform may still require a new design, rebuilt integrations and redirects from old page addresses.

Wix explains its hosting and export restrictions, while Squarespace lists what its export tool includes. Check these details before committing. For self-hosted WordPress, confirm who controls the hosting account and can provide the files and database.

Then compare the platforms

With those answers in place, compare a shortlist against the same requirements. These are useful starting points rather than fixed rules.

• Online retail. Include Shopify in your shortlist and compare payment options, stock management and the full cost of running the shop.
• A marketing or portfolio website. Compare Framer, Squarespace, Wix and WordPress against your design, content and editing requirements.
• A growing publication or a site with several integrations. Consider WordPress alongside alternatives, allowing for the development and maintenance involved.
• A site you’ll manage yourself. Test the editor before deciding. Check which features are included and which need a higher plan or paid add-on.

A couple of common questions

Which platform is best for SEO? Check that it supports the basics you need, including editable page titles, useful page addresses, redirects and indexable content. The quality of your content, site structure and visitor experience also matters. A platform alone won’t bring in enquiries.

How long will the website take? Scope, content preparation, integrations and feedback all affect the schedule. Agree those before treating a platform’s promise of a quick launch as your project timeline.

Choose the tool that fits the job

This site runs on WordPress because it suits the way I want to publish and manage the content. Another business may need something different.

Sometimes the right answer is the platform you already have. Sometimes moving will make the website easier to manage or give it room to grow. Start with the brief, then choose the platform that meets it.

If you’re weighing up the options, tell me what your website needs to do. We’ll work out a sensible starting point together.

Answer the first question

Imagine a visitor landing on your homepage without the conversation that usually introduces your business. They do not have your context. The opening needs to help them understand what you offer and whether it is relevant to them.

A distinctive headline can create interest, but it needs clear supporting language. If you removed the company name and the imagery, would the words still say something specific about your business? If not, there may be an opportunity to make the offer clearer.

Bring the evidence forward

Once the visitor understands the offer, give them a reason to believe it. Depending on the business, that could be a real project, a product in use, an explanation of your approach or a client’s own words. Choose evidence that answers the questions someone is likely to have.

For a design studio, showing the work early helps connect the promise to something visible. The project becomes more useful when it explains what was needed and why the design takes the form it does. Attractive imagery and a clear story can do different parts of the same job.

Make the next step feel manageable

Contact can feel like a commitment when a visitor does not know what happens next. A small amount of context helps: what they can send, who they will speak to and whether they need to have a finished brief.

The invitation should match the point they have reached. Someone exploring a studio may be ready to start a conversation before they are ready to book a paid piece of work. Give them a sensible way to express that interest.

Edit for a person with limited time

Read each section and ask which question it answers. If two sections make the same point, bring them together. If a paragraph needs a long explanation to earn its place, consider whether it belongs on a more detailed page.

A homepage does not have to contain everything. It needs to introduce the business and help the right person find what matters next. The quieter the structure, the more responsibility each piece of content has to be useful.