Small Business Website Packages: UK Costs and Scope
Most small business website packages in the UK are a fixed set of pages plus a design, sold as one invoice or as a setup fee and a monthly plan. One-off brochure sites commonly cost £800 to £4,000; monthly plans often run from a setup fee then £25 to £150 a month covering hosting, updates and management. Choose the package that matches the pages you need, who will maintain the site, and whether you can pay now or need to spread the cost.
What sits inside a typical package
A website package is a pre-scoped offer: a set number of pages, a design approach, and a short list of extras, sold as one invoice or as a setup fee plus a monthly charge. For most small firms that means home, services, about, contact, and one extra such as FAQs or a gallery. Someone applies your branding, adds a contact form, and puts the site live on a domain you should own.
I build websites for small businesses. This shape of offer exists because a full custom quote for every job takes time, and most firms need a similar core of pages. It is not unlimited work. If the pack says five pages, a sixth is extra. If it allows two rounds of revisions, a third is extra. Compare page count, revision caps and aftercare, not the headline number alone.
Common shapes you will be offered
- Starter brochure, 4 to 6 pages. Home, about, services, contact, sometimes one extra. Enough for a tradesperson, consultant or local shop.
- Standard brochure, 7 to 12 pages. The starter set plus separate service pages and a projects or reviews page. Worth it when the work is genuinely different from page to page.
- Shop or booking. Products, payments or calendars. That is not a brochure package. Get it quoted on its own.
UK price ranges you will actually see
Ignore any figure that does not list pages, extras and aftercare. These bands are realistic in the UK, usually excluding VAT.
| Package type | Typical one-off | Typical monthly route | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| DIY website builder | No build fee | £10 to £30 a month | Templates you assemble yourself. You do the updates. |
| Cheap template pack | £200 to £800 | Rarely offered | Generic theme, few pages, little aftercare. |
| Freelance or small studio | £1,000 to £4,000 | Setup, then £30 to £150 a month | Agreed pages, a design fitted to your brand, handover or managed hosting. |
| Small agency | £3,000 to £8,000 plus | Setup, then £80 to £250 a month | More people on the job, more process, a longer timeline. |
Packs under £500 exist. They usually mean a generic theme, stock photos and thin copy, with nobody on the hook to patch the site next year. A branded brochure site from a freelancer or small studio more often sits between £1,000 and £4,000 as a one-off. Agencies charge more because you pay for a larger team.
You will see website packages for small business sold two ways: one invoice, or a setup fee plus a monthly plan. Monthly setup in the UK often falls between £0 and £1,500. The monthly amount commonly sits between £25 and £150 and may include hosting, software updates and day-to-day management. That route suits a firm that cannot put a few thousand pounds down at once. I offer both a one-off build and a pay-monthly plan with a setup fee then a monthly price that includes hosting, updates and ongoing management. Current figures are on arlowebstudio.com because they depend on scope.
One-off builds and pay-monthly plans
A one-off package is simpler. You pay for the build, then the domain at about £10 to £15 a year and hosting at typically £8 to £30 a month. Updates, backups and small copy changes are then your job or a care plan, often £30 to £100 a month. You should receive the files and be able to move host.
A pay-monthly package cuts the cash you need on day one. The monthly fee should cover hosting, updates and management so you do not have to log in. That hands-off setup is a fair fit if you have no spare budget and no time for software. Trade-offs include a minimum term (12 months is common), a higher total over many years, and the need to check what you keep if you cancel. Ask in writing who owns the domain, whether you can export the site, and how much notice you must give.
Neither route is automatically better. If you have the budget and someone who can handle updates, one-off plus hosting can be lean. If you cannot fund the build up front, monthly is the more honest option.
What the headline package leaves out
Most brochure packages omit the items below. If you need them, get a line-item price.
- Writing your words from scratch, or anything more than placeholder text
- A photoshoot or original graphics
- A new logo
- Pages beyond the listed number
- A shop, booking calendar or membership area
- Ongoing SEO work after basic titles and a sitemap
- Email mailboxes (Google Workspace or Microsoft 365, about £4 to £10 per user per month)
- Moving years of old blog posts or product data
A £1,500 package that still needs £800 of copywriting and £400 of photography is a £2,700 project. Price the real job, not the banner figure.
Line two quotes up before you pick
I still see cheap quotes that omit hosting, skip domain ownership, and count a cookie banner as a feature. Put both offers on one sheet.
- Write your page list first. Home, three services, about, contact and a reviews page is a different job from home and contact only.
- State who supplies the words and photos. If they write them, it costs more. If you write them, give yourself time.
- Ask where the site is hosted after launch and what that costs each month.
- Ask who applies software updates and how often backups run.
- Count revision rounds. Two is standard. Unlimited usually means the job drags.
- Get a go-live week, not a vague few weeks.
- Confirm the domain is registered in your name.
- Check VAT, the extra-page rate, and the cost of work after launch.
A quote that is hundreds of pounds cheaper with half the pages and no hosting is not cheaper. Add every line up over 24 months.
What you actually need on the site
Most small businesses do not need 20 pages. You need a home page that says what you do, extra pages only where the work is different, a service area if you are local, a phone number and a form that work on a mobile, and proof you are real: job photos, reviews or a short about section. Titles and headings should match the words customers use. The site should load quickly and not hide the phone number.
Skip a blog unless you will write it. Skip a shop unless you take payment online. Skip stock video and popup chat. A tight five or six page site that is accurate, fast and easy to contact will beat a 15 page package of unused layout. Buy the smaller package and spend the difference on photos and copy.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a small business website package cost in the UK?
Brochure packages from freelancers and small studios typically cost £1,000 to £4,000 one-off, or a setup fee then £25 to £150 a month. DIY builders are cheaper if you do the work yourself. Add VAT, hosting and copy if they are not already listed.
Is a 5-page package enough?
Yes for many firms: home, about, services, contact, plus one extra. Add pages when you have distinct services that need their own explanation, not to fill a quota. Unused pages still need writing, design and testing.
Should I pay one-off or monthly?
Pay one-off if you have the cash and can handle or buy updates later. Choose monthly if you cannot fund the build up front and want hosting, updates and management in one fee. Check the minimum term, notice period and what you keep if you cancel.
Does a website package include hosting?
Only if the quote says so. One-off builds often leave you to pay hosting yourself, typically £8 to £30 a month for a small site. Monthly plans usually fold hosting into the fee. Get it in writing either way.
Who should own the domain name?
You. The domain should be registered in your business name, even if the designer sets it up. That way you can move the site later without a fight over login details.
Can I add pages after the package is built?
Usually yes, at an extra-page rate. Ask for that rate before you sign. If you already know you need eight pages, buy eight. Starting at five and dripping extras often costs more per page.