How much does a website cost for a tradesperson in the UK?

The four ways trades buy websites, and what each really costs

DIY builders such as Wix or Squarespace look cheapest at £10 to £30 a month, but the real price is your time: 20 to 40 hours of evenings, a site that never quite looks right, and an address like yourbusiness.wixsite.com that quietly tells customers you cut a corner.

• DIY builder: £10 to £30 a month, plus 20 to 40 hours of your own time
• National pay monthly brands: commonly £35 to £55 a month, often with £350 to £750 upfront and a 12 to 24 month contract
• Freelancers: roughly £800 to £2,000 one off, quality varies widely
• Agencies: £2,000 to £5,000 and up, priced for corporates rather than a one van firm

The traps that do not show up in the headline price

The two that catch trades most often: contracts and ownership. Some national providers sign you into 12 or 24 months, and with some you never own the website at all; leave, and the site stays behind. Always ask two questions before paying anyone: how long am I tied in, and if I walk away, what do I keep?

The third trap is the creeping build. A quote that grows once the work starts is not a quote, it is an opening offer. Whatever you are told, get the number in writing and get it fixed.

What a fair price looks like

For a small trade business you should expect a professionally designed site, working properly on a phone, with your real services, your real area and a visible way to ring you, for hundreds of pounds, not thousands. Our own model: we build your site first, free, and the exact fixed price arrives in writing with the finished preview. Most sites land between £395 and £795, it never moves after you accept it, and one payment takes it live with your first year of hosting included.

However you buy, apply the same test: would you accept a customer of yours paying only after seeing the finished job? That is the standard worth holding web designers to.