How Much Does a Small Business Website Cost in 2020 | RocketThruster

Would you prefer to watch a YouTube video on how much a small business website costs? If so, check out the video.

It’s 2020 everyone!

And guess what, some small businesses still don’t have a website!

Crazy right?

Even now, when everything is researched and shared online, some small businesses still refuse to create a website for their business.

Maybe you’re even in that boat, but you’re finally coming around to the idea that ‘Hey! This is pretty important!’

Better late than never, right?

Now that you’re ready to build your website, How Much Does a Small Business Website Cost?

Depending on what you’re wanting your website to do, prices can sometimes be all over the board – but, don’t worry, I’ll break everything down so you can see how much a website will cost for your specific circumstance.

Before we move on though, I want to mention two things, just to give you an idea of how this article will be laid out.

First, when it comes to how much it will cost to build a website – there are two paths you can take. You can either have someone build your website or you can do it yourself. I will be covering the cost of both.

Second, something most people don’t talk about, I will be covering some of the hidden/recurring costs of website ownership. So, while the first part of this article will be dedicated to the upfront cost, we will dive into the costs people don’t talk about near the end.

How Much Does It Cost To Build a Small Business Website When Hiring a Web Designer?

First, let’s run through what it will cost to build a website when hiring a web designer and how the price changes based on what you’re looking for.

Even these estimations can change.

While the average cost of a website (with no more than 20 pages) can range from $2000 – $8000, even then that can change.

So, if the price of a website depends on so many variables, what are the variables considered when building and quoting a website?

1. Where is the website built (WordPress, Wix, etc.)?
2. What do you want the website todo?
   1. Do you want SEO optimization?
   2. Do you want to focus on lead generation?
   3. Do you want your website to integrate with other products?
   4. and more.
3. Do you want us to do your copywriting? If so, how many pages?

I can keep going here, but I’m sure you get the point – there’s a lot that goes into the strategy behind building a website.

That’s why as you’re looking for a web designer, in most cases, you need to get on a phone call to get a more accurate price.

This is because every client has different needs, so the price can vary based on their preferences.

With the list I gave above (things that can affect the cost of a small business website), let’s go into more depth for each one.

Where Will Your Website Be Built?

This is generally one of the biggest contributors to a large or low price to build your website.

Although, it’s important to note that, unless you come specifically asking for a website on, let’s say, Wix – generally this decision is made for you. In which case, most web designers will use WordPress as their go-to choice.

Anyway, back to what I was saying, the platform you use to build your website can play a huge roll in how much your website costs to build.

For example, generally, a website built on WordPress is more expensive than a website built on Wix.

But, there’s a reason behind that.

Because WordPress is so powerful, it takes time to get everything set up and built.

Don’t let this scare you away for WordPress though.

If you are a small business that is very particular about how things are done and what you want to see included on your website – WordPress is the way to go.

You can do and build nearly anything on WordPress, and that’s why tons of small business owners love WordPress.

Heck, that’s why 35% of the internet runs their website through WordPress.

To put that into perspective, there are 1,744,517,326 websites on the internet, which means 610,581,064 websites are built with WordPress.

But, with all that said, this is not to bag on Wix or any of the other options when it comes to building a website.

Wix is a fantastic solution if you need to get a good looking website built quickly. Frankly, there are no limitations to Wix’s design features. You can build and design anything you want.

The limitations arise as you want your website to become more and more powerful.

WordPress has a huge selection of plugins and they allow you to integrate with third-party solutions as well.

Wix hasn’t been around long enough to have that type of backing from developers building their own plugins for the platform.

At the end of the day, both Wix and WordPress are fantastic platforms to build your website. It just comes down to what you are needing (and, of course, what you can afford) – now and in the future.

I do want to mention that, while I did only talk about WordPress and Wix, there are plenty of other options for you to choose from.

Places like Weebly, Ionos, SquareSpace, and WebNode are all great places to build a website.

What Will Your Website Do/Include?

Alright, now that you know where you’d like to have your website built, it’s time to start thinking about the strategies.

Once again, this will play a large roll in the final cost of your website.

If you are a small business who needs your website to rank number one for a number of keywords related to your business and you also want to convert visitors to leads on your website. You’ll generally see a higher price.

Why is this?

Well, your website requires more work.

Someone, like RocketThruster, is having to strategize and think through what it will take to rank highly in Google and also generate leads.

If you’re just looking for a website that will look pretty, then you’ll see a much lower cost.

Things like SEO optimization, lead generation, software integration, marketing tools, and other add-ons will quickly increase your price because it’s an extra load of work, on top of designing your website.

Do You Need Copywriting?

Generally, the answer to this question simply comes to do – “is it worth paying someone to do the work for me, or should I just do it myself?“

If you can afford to pay someone to do the copywriting for you, great, you just saved yourself some time.

If not, that’s no problem, your designer can build the website and you can go write the copy yourself.

Either way, it’s totally up to your decision on which direction you’d like to pursue.

How Much Does It Cost To Build a Website When Doing It Yourself?

When it comes to building a website yourself, you’ll need to have some technical experience to get everything set up.

But, the great part is that you don’t have to spend money on hiring a web designer to build your website.

Though just keep in mind, your time is worth something.

A website takes time to build and configure, so you need to plan out time slots in your day to sit down and think through how you will set it up.

While it’s easy to say, “I’ll just get something out there, it doesn’t need to be perfect.” This isn’t the mindset you should take on as you are creating a website for your small business.

Your website is, in most cases, the very first impression to visitors. If you don’t take the time to get it done correctly – it will send the wrong signals.

So how much will it cost to build a website yourself? Excluding your time.

In this case, because you won’t be paying anyone to build it, the cost will come down to the solution you pick to build your website.

Check out this chart outlining the cost of different website builders.

** Quick note before I show you this table. WordPress is NOT a ‘website builder.’

So, why am I including it?

WordPress has a number of plugins that bring in a form of drag and drop website building.

So the price ranges you see here are the cost of those plugins – NOT the cost of WordPress itself.

For example, WordPress has a plugin called Elementor, which allows you to build your website with drag and drop functionality.

The Hidden and Recurring Costs of Owning a Website

Now that we’ve covered how much it costs to build a website, we need to cover some of the costs that most people don’t think about.

First off, if your just a small business and you’re not looking for anything super complicated, then the recurring costs shouldn’t be too crazy. Frankly, they should be pretty reasonable.

There are two common things you should expect when building a website. Those two things are domain ownership (annual fee) and website hosting (monthly fee).

Beyond that, there isn’t too much more you should be looking at paying.

Some websites, especially if you go the Wix direction, will package the hosting up into one monthly fee.

For example, Wix may charge $X/mo, which will include their website builder, hosting, marketing tools, etc.

Now, as your business grows, you may begin to see more of the recurring charges. Things like software, marketing tools, faster website hosting, and more will all begin to add up.

But, while you are still small, you don’t need to worry about any of that. For now, website hosting and domain ownership are the two you should watch out for.

So, how much does owning a domain cost when using different domain registrars?

How much does hosting cost (when it’s not bundled with other stuff)?

Final Review – How Much a Small Business Website Costs

Obviously, as you probably could tell from reading the article, that the cost of building a website can vary based on what you’re looking – by quite a bit actually.

So, if you’re looking for a more accurate estimate, you’ll need to get in contact with a web designer, like us, to discuss your project in more detail.

Of course, if you have the time and want to go the DIY route, you can save a ton of money by doing so. Just be sure you have enough time to dedicate to your website.

I’ve had many people go the DIY direction, but end up never getting their site finished because they were too busy. Which is totally understandable.

You have a business to run and sitting down in front of a computer to build a website, may not be a top priority at the moment.

At the end of the day, it comes down to what you want to do. If you have the time and don’t want to spend the money, go the DIY direction.

If you want to hire someone and ‘be done with it’ – that is a great way to go as well. While we are working on your website, you can stay focused on what you need to get done in your business.

If you have any questions about setting up a website or need help creating one, shoot us a message and we’d be happy to help!

Never Miss Another Awesome Post

Do you want your website to be a SALES MACHINE? Sign Up and Get INSTANT notifications when new content is dropped.

Leave this field empty if you're human: