Getting a Website Built: What Determines the Price and What to Look For

Three tiers – and what each one has to deliver

Before money is discussed, it should be clear what kind of website you actually need. In practice there are three tiers, and the effort rises noticeably with each. A website-builder subscription sits below them, a larger agency with a concept phase and photo production above – both can be right if they match your goal.

• One-pager for a trade business, practice or law firm: one page with services, references, contact and a clean mobile layout. Enough if most customers come by referral.
• Company website with five to ten subpages and a blog: structure, copywriting and search engine optimisation become work packages of their own. The right choice if you want to be found via Google.
• Website with functionality – appointment booking, customer area, multiple languages, integration with your software: here the website becomes a tool, and every function is its own work package.
• Ongoing operation: hosting, domain, updates and backups apply at every tier. Ask about them before you sign – not after.

What really drives the price

• Copy: whether you supply the content or it is developed with you is often the biggest single item – good text takes longer than good design.
• Custom design versus template: a design that fits your brand takes time. An adapted template is cheaper and perfectly adequate for many businesses.
• Features: every integration – booking, newsletter, reviews, maps – is its own work package and usually a data protection topic too.
• Multiple languages: every language doubles the copy effort and needs a clean technical setup so Google assigns the versions correctly.
• Photos: your own photos of the team and premises lift any website – stock images are spotted at first glance.

How to recognise a good provider

• They ask about your goal first – enquiries, applications, appointments – and only then about colours.
• You receive the source code and all credentials; domain and hosting run in your name. Otherwise you are at their mercy with every change.
• Accessibility, data protection and loading speed are part of the offer, not paid extras.
• References you can open and test on your phone.
• A clear process with sign-off steps instead of "we'll be in touch when it's done".

How it works with me – from enquiry to go-live

• Week 1: conversation about goal, audience and existing content; then a fixed-price quote.
• Weeks 2 to 3: structure and draft of the homepage, review, copy developed in parallel.
• Weeks 4 to 5: build of all pages, contact form, SEO basics, testing on all devices.
• Week 6: sign-off, go-live, Search Console and Analytics set up, short briefing so you can edit content yourself.

When the more expensive option pays off – and when it doesn't

If customers are meant to find you via Google, effort spent on structure, copy and loading speed pays back directly – every service needs its own page, otherwise nothing ranks. If the website is mainly a business card for referral customers, a well-made one-pager is enough, and the money saved is better spent on photos or a Google Business Profile.

The most common mistake is not a budget that's too small but the wrong scope: a large website with ten subpages that never get filled with content. Better to start small and expand once it's clear what customers actually search for.