Why Website Pricing Feels Impossible to Pin Down
Every local business owner asks this eventually — usually right after getting quotes ranging from $500 to $15,000 for what sounds like the same thing. Your website is your 24/7 storefront, and what you pay depends on two things: what you need it to do, and who’s building it. Here’s an honest breakdown of what websites cost in 2026.
The Four Ways Most Businesses Get a Website
DIY Website Builders — $20–$60/month
Wix, Squarespace, GoDaddy. You’re renting a template and doing all the work yourself: the design, the writing, the updates, the troubleshooting. Fine for a placeholder page with your hours and phone number, but the ceiling hits fast — real online booking, an estimate-request workflow, or anything custom usually means paid add-ons or hitting the template’s walls.
Template-Based Freelancers — Typically $1,500–$5,000 Upfront
A designer installs a premium theme and customizes the colors, text, and images. It can look sharp, but you’re sharing the same foundation as thousands of other sites, and the theme drags along code you’ll never use. Hosting and updates are usually extra, and once the project ends, you’re on your own.
Agencies — Typically $5,000–$15,000+ Upfront
A team designs and codes the site for your business. The work is usually solid, but you’re paying for account managers, meetings, and overhead — and many small businesses simply don’t need that much.
Monthly Website Plans — Typically $150–$400/month
A newer option: instead of a big upfront bill, you pay one monthly price that covers the design, the build, hosting, and ongoing updates. Think of it like the difference between buying equipment outright and leasing it with service included. It’s how I work.
How My Plans Work
I build every site from my own lean, mobile-first foundation — no bloated theme, no agency overhead. You pay one monthly price, and I handle everything: building it, hosting it, keeping it secure, and making your small updates. When something needs changing, you text or email me, not a support queue.
Plans start with a 12-month minimum. You always own your domain and your content, and after 24 months the site itself is fully yours. If you’d rather own it sooner, you can buy it out anytime.
What I charge
No big upfront bill. Your site is designed, built, hosted, and maintained by me for one monthly price.
Founding rates are locked in for as long as you stay.
Starter Site
A fast, professional home base for your business.
$150 /mo
Standard price $175/mo founding rate
- Up to 4 pages (home, services, about, contact)
- Click-to-call and Google Maps
- Contact form sent straight to your inbox
- On-page SEO basics and Google Business Profile link
Booking Site
Turn visitors into appointments and estimate requests.
$225 /mo
Standard price $275/mo founding rate
- Everything in Starter
- Online booking or estimate-request form
- Automated appointment reminders
- Reviews and testimonials section
Custom Build
Online stores, portals, and workflows built around how you run.
From $325 /mo
Standard price $375/mo founding rate
- Online store with products and checkout
- Customer or client portals
- Custom workflows and integrations
- Quoted per project after a scoping call
Every plan includes
- Hosting, SSL, backups, and security updates
- Small edits each month (hours, prices, photos, text)
- A monthly performance report
- A direct line to me, not a support ticket
- 12-month minimum. You always own your domain and content, and the site is fully yours after 24 months — or buy it out anytime.
- The $299 site audit is credited toward your first month.
- Prefer to pay upfront? Ask me about one-time pricing.
What Actually Moves the Price
It’s not the number of pages. It’s what the site does:
Online Booking and Scheduling
For any appointment business — barbershops, salons, auto shops — this is the highest-ROI feature on the list. A booking system that works flawlessly on phones pays for itself. I’ve watched it happen with my own clients: once booking moves online, the phone stops ringing with scheduling calls and starts ringing with new customers.
Custom Workflows
Automated reminders that cut no-shows. Estimate-request forms. Online stores and inventory. Anything that replaces phone tag or paperwork with a system that runs itself.
Speed and Mobile Experience
Most local searches happen on phones, and a site that takes five seconds to load instead of one quietly loses visitors every day. Most owners never notice, because the customers who give up simply never call.
Ongoing Care
Hosting, security updates, backups, small changes. Someone has to do it, or the site slowly breaks. With an upfront build, budget $50–$150/month for a care plan. With a monthly plan, it should already be included — check that it is.
Five Questions to Ask Before You Pay Anyone
- Who owns the domain and content — and what happens if you leave? Your domain should always be in your name. Get the exit terms in writing before you sign.
- What’s the real monthly cost? Add up hosting, care, and any app or plugin fees, not just the headline price.
- What does a small change cost? Updating your hours or adding a service shouldn’t mean a new invoice every time.
- How fast does it load on a phone? Ask to see a past project on your own phone, not on their laptop.
- Who will I actually talk to? The person who builds the site should be the person who answers your questions.
Ask a Better Question Than “What Does It Cost?”
Try this instead: what’s one new customer worth to you, and how many is your current setup losing?
Run the math. If a haircut is $40 and online booking brings in two extra appointments a week, that’s about $350 a month — more than a booking plan costs. An auto body shop that lands one extra $800 repair a month from its estimate form is earning back its plan three times over. A good website isn’t an expense; it’s the cheapest salesperson you’ll ever hire, and it works 24/7.
Not Sure What You Need? Start With the Audit
Before you rebuild — or settle for a $30/month template — find out what’s actually broken. The Gorham Web Consulting $299 site audit goes through your current site (or your top competitor’s) and gives you a prioritized list: speed issues, mobile problems, missing booking paths, SEO gaps. You keep the report either way, and if you sign up for a plan, the $299 is credited toward your first month.
Ready to talk it through? Visit Gorham Web Consulting to see how I can build a website that helps your small business grow.