"What does it cost to have a website built?" is the most common question in a first call – and the honest answer is: it depends on what your website needs to achieve in everyday business. A digital business card for referral clients is a very different project from a multi-page company website that ranks on Google across Berlin and Brandenburg for multiple services and brings in steady enquiries. Here is what actually drives the effort, how to spot a fair quote and how to avoid costly lock-in mistakes.
Three tiers – and what each one has to deliver
Before requesting quotes, it pays to be clear about the goal of your new homepage or company website. In practice, almost all SME projects fall into three tiers. A DIY website-builder subscription sits below them, while a large creative agency with multi-week brand workshops and full photo production sits above – what matters is which tier fits your business model.
Clarifying this scope upfront protects you from the two most common mistakes when commissioning a website: paying for complex features nobody uses in day-to-day work, or launching a page that is too thin to rank on Google.
- Compact one-pager for a trade business, medical practice or law firm (orientation from €800 net): one clearly structured page with services, references, directions, contact and clean mobile rendering. Ideal if most clients find you via referrals or your Google Business Profile.
- Multi-page company website with dedicated service pages (orientation from €2,400 net): homepage, one subpage per core service, about section, references and guides. The right setup when prospective clients search Google for specific services.
- Website with custom features or multiple languages (orientation from €3,900 net): appointment booking, structured enquiry or job application flows, multilingual content (German, English, Polish) or integration with existing software. Each feature is its own technical work package.
- Ongoing operation, hosting and maintenance (optional from €59 net per month): domain, fast hosting, SSL certificate, security updates, tested backups and small content updates. Clarify before signing who handles them and ensure domain and source code belong to you.
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Website builder, freelancer or web design agency?
A DIY website builder looks inexpensive at first because it starts with a monthly subscription. The real cost, however, is your own working time: planning structure, writing copy, cropping images, fixing mobile layouts and configuring legal notices and cookie consent properly. You also remain technically tied to the platform – if you want to move later, you usually cannot take the site with you.
Large agencies bring separate teams for strategy, design, copy and project management. That can suit larger corporations with dedicated marketing budgets, but for businesses with 5 to 50 staff it often means extra coordination loops and agency overhead. Working directly with an experienced developer gives you a single point of contact who builds the structure, code and search engine foundations hands-on.
What really drives the effort
When two quotes for a seemingly similar business website differ widely, the gap almost always comes down to five concrete areas:
- Copywriting and page architecture: whether you supply finished, search-optimised texts or we develop the structure and copy together often makes the biggest difference. Clear copy that answers client questions takes as much care as visual design.
- Custom design versus generic template: a layout that builds immediate trust on a smartphone and matches your brand requires proper design and testing on real devices.
- Local SEO foundations: one dedicated page per service, clean metadata, structured schema data, fast loading times and a properly linked Google Business Profile determine whether the site generates organic enquiries.
- Multilingual setup: each additional language doubles the text volume and requires clean hreflang tags and localized URLs so Google indexes every language version properly.
- Photography: authentic photos of your team, office or completed work build immediate trust, whereas generic stock photos are spotted within seconds.
How to recognise a trustworthy provider
Regardless of whom you choose, check the deliverables and ownership terms carefully before signing. Hidden lock-in clauses around domains, hosting or source code rights are unfortunately still common.
- They ask about your business goal first – more client enquiries, qualified job applicants, fewer routine phone questions – and only then about colours and fonts.
- Full ownership: domain and hosting are registered in your own name, and upon completion you receive all admin credentials as well as the full source code. There are no multi-year rental or lock-in contracts.
- Accessibility under the BFSG, GDPR-compliant local fonts and forms, and fast mobile loading speed are included as standard rather than sold as paid add-ons.
- Real, verifiable live references that you can open on your own phone to test speed and usability.
- A transparent schedule with clear sign-off milestones and a structured checklist for launching or relaunching your business website so existing Google rankings are preserved.
How it works with me – from enquiry to go-live
So your new website does not turn into an endless side project alongside your daily business, we follow a predictable four-stage schedule:
- Week 1: Free initial consultation covering goals, target audience and existing material, followed by a binding fixed-price quote with a clearly defined scope.
- Weeks 2 to 3: Site architecture and homepage draft. You see early on how the site works on mobile and desktop while copy is written in parallel.
- Weeks 4 to 5: Technical build of all subpages, contact form setup, speed optimisation and testing across devices.
- Week 6: Final review, safe go-live including 301 redirects for old URLs, Google Search Console setup and a short handover so you can edit content yourself.
When which scope pays off
If prospective clients are meant to find you via Google in Berlin or Brandenburg, investing in a multi-page structure, strong copy and fast mobile loading times pays back directly. Every core service needs its own page – otherwise Google simply has no relevant page to rank for that search.
If your website mainly serves as a credible reference for contacts who already know you by recommendation, a well-crafted one-pager is plenty. The key is starting on a clean technical foundation that can be expanded with additional service pages whenever your business grows.
A well-built company website is not a sunk cost – it is the most reliable receptionist and sales representative your business has, available around the clock and convincing on any smartphone. You can explore my approach and try the interactive project planner on the web design in Berlin service page. In a free 15-minute consultation we clarify which scope makes sense for you, followed by a binding fixed-price quote.