WordPress Website Design Packages: What You Actually Get
A WordPress website design package is a priced bundle for a site built on WordPress, usually with a set number of pages, a theme and a handful of plugins. In the UK, small business packages typically cost £800 to £5,000 as a one-off, or a setup fee plus a monthly charge that includes hosting and updates. The headline price tells you less than the theme, the builder, the licences and what you still pay for after launch.
Start with the pages and the jobs, not the platform
WordPress is a content management system. A design package is a priced wrapper around a build on that system. Before you compare quotes, list the pages you need, the action you want a visitor to take, and who will edit the site after launch. A five-page brochure site and a WooCommerce shop with 80 products are both sold as WordPress packages. They are not the same job.
I still see quotes that list a WordPress website, five pages, a contact form and SEO, then stop. That line fits a £900 imported theme and a £4,000 custom theme. You cannot compare them until you know the theme, the page builder, who owns the plugin licences, and what happens when an update breaks the layout.
Typical UK prices
These are market ranges I see for small businesses, not a figure from any one studio.
| Type | Typical price | Typical scope |
|---|---|---|
| Template starter | £500 to £1,500 | 4 to 6 pages, bought theme, basic form |
| Small business brochure | £1,500 to £3,500 | 6 to 12 pages, customised theme, blog, contact |
| Custom WordPress design | £3,500 to £8,000 | Unique layouts, extra content types, tighter brand and speed work |
| WooCommerce shop | £2,500 to £10,000+ | Catalogue, cart, payments, shipping; price climbs with products |
| Pay monthly | Setup £200 to £2,000, then £30 to £150 a month | Build plus hosting, updates and a set support allowance |
A £799 package on a £49 theme is common. So is a £4,500 package that still uses a page builder. The gap is customisation, content help, speed work and real testing on a normal phone.
What you usually get
Most UK WordPress packages include a theme or templates, a fixed page count (often home, about, services, contact), a contact form, a phone-friendly layout, WordPress installed with a handful of plugins, and a short handover on editing. Many also install an SEO plugin and generate an XML sitemap. Installing Yoast or Rank Math is not a ranking campaign. It will not write your service pages or put you in the local map pack on its own.
Budget for these unless they are named in the quote:
- Copy, photography and logo work
- Business email (WordPress is not your inbox)
- Updates after handover, unless you buy maintenance or pay monthly
- WooCommerce, booking, membership or extra languages
- Migration, 301 redirects and Google Search Console
- Cookie consent that meets UK GDPR, beyond a free banner
- Training beyond a short call or a PDF
Theme, page builder or custom theme
This choice drives cost, speed and lock-in. A bought theme with an imported demo is fast, but you inherit the author's layout and careless custom work can vanish on updates. Hold the single-site licence in your business name. Most packages between £1,000 and £4,000 use a visual builder. Gutenberg is free and built in. Elementor Pro is about £50 to £200 a year. Ask who pays the renewal and whether the layout still works if you stop paying; some builders lock editing when the licence lapses. A custom theme costs more and should ship less demo clutter and fewer unused plugins. You still update WordPress itself. Get the theme name, builder, paid plugins and licence holder in writing.
Hosting sits outside the pretty mock-up
WordPress needs PHP, a database and updates. Shared hosting at £3 to £6 a month runs a simple brochure site but often struggles with WooCommerce, heavy builders and large images. Managed WordPress hosting in the UK is typically £15 to £40 a month. Hosting included for a year often means the cheap shared box. Check backups, PHP version and whether staging exists. Budget £10 to £15 a year for a .co.uk or .uk domain, and buy email separately.
One-off build or pay monthly
One-off: you pay for design and build, you own the site, then you pay hosting and either handle updates or buy maintenance (commonly £25 to £80 a month for core, plugins and backups). That fits if you have the capital and someone who can log in without breaking the layout.
Pay monthly: a setup fee, then a monthly amount that includes hosting, updates and ongoing management. That fits if you cannot put a few thousand pounds down and you do not want to touch the dashboard. Some contracts mean the studio owns the site and you rent it; leave, and you start again. Others transfer the site once you settle agreed fees. Get ownership in writing.
I offer both a one-off website build and a pay-monthly plan with a setup fee, then a monthly price that covers hosting, updates and ongoing management. Current figures are on arlowebstudio.com.
How to compare two packages
Put every quote through this list:
- Unique page templates, not five pages. Five service pages that clone one layout are one template.
- Who writes copy and who supplies photos and the logo.
- Theme, builder, paid plugins, and the annual renewal for each.
- Hosting specification and whose account it is.
- Backup frequency and who restores a failure.
- Where form submissions go, and a test on a normal phone.
- Redirects and Search Console if you already have a site.
- After launch: update cover, the rate for extra pages, and the notice period on a monthly plan.
If two quotes are £1,000 apart and the dearer one includes copy, image compression, a year of updates and staging, it can cost less over twelve months.
Traps that show up after launch
Cheap packages often install 15 to 25 plugins. Each needs updates. A tighter build with 8 to 12 is easier to keep alive. Imported demos leave dummy posts and placeholder text; you should not pay to delete someone else's demo. No staging means updates go live. If the theme, builder or backup plugin is licensed to the designer, you can lose updates when you leave. Put licences in your business name.
WordPress.org and WordPress.com are different. Almost every UK design package uses self-hosted WordPress.org. WordPress.com is a hosted product with plan limits. Confirm which you are buying. For most small firms a solid first site is home, about, three to six service pages, contact, daily backups and monthly updates. That usually sits in the £1,500 to £4,000 one-off band, or on a monthly plan with a modest setup fee. Do not squeeze WooCommerce or booking into a brochure quote.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a WordPress website design package cost in the UK?
For a small business brochure site, most one-off packages sit between £1,500 and £3,500. Template starters can be £500 to £1,500. Custom design is often £3,500 to £8,000, and WooCommerce is usually £2,500 to £10,000 or more. Pay-monthly plans in the wider UK market tend to use a setup fee then £30 to £150 a month.
What should be in a WordPress package as a minimum?
An agreed set of pages, a theme or templates, a working contact form, a layout that works on phones, a named host, a handover, and written clarity on licences. Updates after launch must be explicit: a short included period, a maintenance plan, or part of a monthly fee.
Do I own the site if I pay monthly?
Only if the contract says you do. Some monthly deals are a rental, and you lose the site if you leave. Ask who the domain, hosting account and plugin licences are registered to, and what files you receive if you cancel.
Is WordPress.com the same thing as a design package on WordPress?
No. Almost every UK WordPress design package uses self-hosted WordPress.org software on hosting you or the studio control. WordPress.com is a separate hosted product with its own plan limits. Confirm which one you are buying before you pay a deposit.
What will I still pay after the package is done?
A domain at about £10 to £15 a year, business email, hosting if it was not included (£3 to £40 a month depending on type), any paid plugin renewals, and either your time on updates or a maintenance fee. Extra pages and new features are normally billed on top.
Can another designer take over the site later?
Yes, if you own the files, the database, the domain and the licences, and you have admin access in your name. If a page builder or theme licence stays with the original designer, a handover is slower and can cost extra. Get that in the contract at the start.