Website Cost & Pricing

A small business website typically costs between $3,000 and $15,000 for a professionally designed site.

Template-based sites can start around $500–$2,000, while custom designs with advanced features like e-commerce or booking systems range from $10,000 to $30,000+. The final price depends on the number of pages, design complexity, custom functionality, and whether you need ongoing maintenance. At MooseBase, small business projects start from $2,000 and most fall in the $3,000–$12,000 range, which includes custom design, mobile optimization, basic SEO setup, and a content management system so you can make updates yourself.

Website costs vary because every project has different requirements.

A simple 5-page brochure site costs far less than a 50-page site with custom booking, payment processing, and third-party integrations. Key factors include design complexity (template vs custom), number of pages, functionality needed, content creation, SEO requirements, and the experience level of your developer. Agencies generally charge more than freelancers but offer broader skill sets and reliability. Geography also plays a role - US-based teams charge more than offshore developers, but communication and quality control are typically smoother.

A cheap website can work as a basic online placeholder, but it rarely drives real business results.

Budget websites typically use generic templates, lack mobile optimization, load slowly, and miss critical SEO fundamentals - all of which hurt your credibility and search rankings. Visitors form an opinion about your business in under 3 seconds, and a dated or clunky site sends them to a competitor. If your website is your primary lead generation tool, investing in professional design pays for itself through higher conversion rates, better search visibility, and stronger first impressions.

Most small businesses should budget $5,000–$15,000 for their initial website, plus $100–$300 per month for hosting, maintenance, and minor updates.

If your business depends heavily on online leads, budgeting toward the higher end ensures you get custom design, proper SEO, fast load times, and conversion-optimized pages. Don't forget to account for ongoing costs: domain renewal ($10–$20/year), SSL certificate (often included with hosting), email hosting, and any premium plugins or tools. A good rule of thumb is to treat your website as a marketing investment, not a one-time expense.

Website maintenance typically costs $50–$300 per month depending on the complexity of your site.

Basic maintenance includes software updates, security patches, backups, and uptime monitoring. More comprehensive plans add content updates, performance optimization, SEO monitoring, and priority support. WordPress sites generally need more active maintenance due to plugin and core updates. Neglecting maintenance can lead to security vulnerabilities, broken functionality, and declining search rankings. Many web agencies, including MooseBase, offer maintenance packages that keep your site secure, fast, and up to date without requiring your attention.

An e-commerce website typically costs $5,000–$50,000+ depending on the platform, number of products, and custom features needed.

A basic Shopify or WooCommerce store with under 100 products starts around $5,000–$10,000. Custom e-commerce builds with advanced features like subscription billing, inventory management, multi-currency support, or custom checkout flows range from $15,000–$50,000+. Ongoing costs include payment processing fees (typically 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction), hosting, SSL, and platform subscriptions. The investment pays off quickly if your store is designed for conversions with fast load times and a smooth checkout experience.

It depends on your budget, timeline, and how important your website is to your business.

DIY builders like Wix or Squarespace work for simple sites when you have more time than money. However, if your website is your primary lead generation tool, hiring a professional is almost always worth the investment. Professionals deliver custom design, proper SEO, faster load times, mobile optimization, and conversion-focused layouts that DIY tools simply can't match. Consider the opportunity cost too - the hours you spend wrestling with a website builder could be spent running your business and serving customers.

Website hosting costs range from $3–$100+ per month depending on the type of hosting and your site's needs.

Shared hosting starts at $3–$15/month and works for small, low-traffic sites. Managed WordPress hosting runs $25–$75/month and includes automatic updates, backups, and better performance. VPS and dedicated hosting range from $50–$300+/month for high-traffic or resource-intensive sites. Cloud hosting platforms like Cloudflare or Vercel offer generous free tiers for static sites. Your hosting choice directly impacts site speed, uptime, and security, so don't choose based on price alone.

A WordPress website costs between $500 and $25,000+ depending on whether you use a pre-built theme or a fully custom design.

A theme-based WordPress site with basic customization runs $500–$3,000. A custom-designed WordPress site with tailored functionality typically costs $5,000–$15,000. Enterprise WordPress builds with complex integrations, custom plugins, and multilingual support can exceed $25,000. WordPress itself is free, but you'll need hosting ($25–$75/month for managed), a premium theme ($50–$200), and plugins ($0–$500/year). WordPress powers over 40% of the web, making it a reliable and flexible choice for most businesses.

Wix is cheaper upfront - plans start at $17/month compared to $3,000–$15,000 for a professional designer.

However, the long-term math is less clear. Wix sites often convert fewer visitors, rank lower in search results, and limit your ability to scale. You're also locked into their platform with no easy way to migrate. Over 3–5 years, a Wix site that generates fewer leads can cost more in lost revenue than a professionally designed site that actively drives business. Wix makes sense for hobby sites or simple portfolios, but most service businesses get better ROI from a professional build.

SEO adds $500–$5,000+ to your initial website build and $500–$2,000/month for ongoing optimization.

Basic on-page SEO (title tags, meta descriptions, header structure, image optimization) should be included in any professional website build at no extra charge. More advanced SEO - keyword research, content strategy, local SEO setup, link building, and technical optimization - is typically a separate investment. For most small businesses, a $500–$1,000/month local SEO plan delivers strong results within 6–12 months. The ROI is excellent because organic search traffic compounds over time, unlike paid ads that stop when you stop paying.

A professional website typically delivers 3–10x ROI within the first year for service-based businesses.

If your site generates just 2–3 extra leads per month at an average project value of $2,000–$5,000, a $10,000 website investment pays for itself quickly. Professional sites convert visitors at 2–5x the rate of DIY sites thanks to strategic design, clear calls to action, fast load times, and proper SEO. Beyond direct leads, a professional site builds brand credibility, supports higher pricing, and works 24/7 as your best salesperson. Track ROI by measuring leads, form submissions, phone calls, and revenue attributed to your website.

A single landing page typically costs $500–$3,000 for professional design and development.

Simple landing pages with a headline, form, and basic content start around $500–$1,000. High-conversion landing pages with custom design, A/B testing, copywriting, and integrations range from $1,500–$3,000+. Many businesses get the best value by having landing pages built as part of a larger website project. The key to landing page ROI isn't just design - it's strategic copywriting, a clear value proposition, and a single focused call to action. A well-built landing page can convert 5–15% of visitors into leads.

Yes, a domain name typically costs $10–$20 per year for standard extensions like .com, .net, or .org.

Premium domains or niche extensions (.io, .design, .agency) can cost $30–$100+/year. Some website builders and hosting providers include a free domain for the first year, but you'll pay renewal rates after that. Your domain is your business address online - choose something short, memorable, and easy to spell. Avoid hyphens and numbers. Register your domain through a reputable registrar like Namecheap, Google Domains, or Cloudflare, and make sure you own it (not your web designer).

A website redesign typically costs $3,000–$20,000 depending on the scope.

A visual refresh with updated branding and modern design runs $3,000–$8,000. A full redesign including new site architecture, content rewriting, SEO migration, and added functionality costs $8,000–$20,000+. The biggest factor is whether you're keeping the same platform or migrating to a new one - platform migrations add complexity and cost. Before redesigning, audit your current site's analytics to identify what's working and what's not. A strategic redesign focused on conversion optimization and SEO can dramatically improve your lead generation within weeks of launch.

Website builders like Wix, Squarespace, and Weebly offer free tiers, but they come with significant limitations.

Free plans typically show the builder's branding, use a subdomain (yoursite.wix.com), limit storage and bandwidth, and restrict essential features like custom domains, e-commerce, and analytics. To get a professional-looking site, you'll need a paid plan ($14–$45/month). Over 3 years, that's $500–$1,600 - not including your time building and maintaining it. The real cost of a 'free' website is often the business you lose from a site that looks generic, loads slowly, and doesn't rank well in search results.