Anywhere from £0 to several thousand pounds, depending on who builds it. Here's where that range actually comes from, and what the sticker price often leaves out.
From £39/month · no contract · free preview first
Free DIY builders like the entry tiers of Wix, Squarespace or WordPress.com cost £0 to start, but come with a platform-branded address and real limits. A proper subscription plan with your own domain typically runs £9 to £29 a month, Wix's Light to Business tiers and Squarespace's Basic to Plus tiers both sit in that range, rising to £79 to £119 a month for the top-end plans built for businesses updating content constantly. GoDaddy's Website Builder advertises from £4.99 a month, but that's a first-year rate that jumps to £16.99 or more at renewal, worth checking before you commit. A UK freelancer will typically quote £1,200 to £2,000 for a straightforward small business site, sometimes up to £3,000, with hosting and maintenance usually billed separately on top. A design agency doing a bespoke multi-page site can quote anywhere from £2,000 to £10,000 or more. Done-for-you services that build the site for you and keep it running sit somewhere in between, often as a flat monthly fee or a one-time build fee.
A quote for the build itself is often only part of the real cost. Domain registration usually runs £10 to £20 a year on top. Hosting may or may not be bundled in. And almost every option eventually needs updating: new opening hours, new photos, a new price list. Some agencies quote a low build fee and a separate hourly rate for every change after launch, which is worth asking about upfront rather than discovering later. Some DIY builders do something similar in reverse: an eye-catching first-year price that renews meaningfully higher once you're already invested in the site.
Every option on this list is really charging for the same three things in different proportions: your time, someone else's design judgement, and ongoing upkeep. A free builder asks for more of your time and none of anyone else's judgement. An agency asks for very little of your time but a lot of money for judgement and upkeep. It's worth being honest with yourself about which of those you actually have spare, before comparing prices in isolation.
It's also worth checking whether you're being asked to sign a contract. A 12-month minimum term is common with agencies and some subscription builders, and it changes the real cost of walking away if the site isn't working for you.
MyShopfront has three plans. Essential, from £39 a month, lands close to what a mid-tier DIY builder plan costs, the difference is that a person builds and hosts the site for you rather than handing you more software to learn. Managed, at £69 a month for businesses that update content often, costs less than Wix's Business Elite or Squarespace's Advanced plans, and a real person does those updates instead of you doing them yourself. Lifetime, at £599 as a one-time payment, comes in well under a typical UK freelance build of £1,200 to £2,000, with hosting included rather than billed on top. All three include a free preview before you pay anything.
If you enjoy tinkering and have the hours, a free or low-cost DIY builder is a reasonable choice, just budget for the domain and the paid tier you'll likely want once you outgrow the free one, and check the renewal price, not just the introductory one. If you'd rather hand it over and have it simply work, expect a monthly fee somewhere in the £30 to £100 range for a straightforward homepage-level site, or a few hundred pounds one-time if you'd rather avoid a subscription entirely, and check whether any monthly fee locks you into a contract or lets you leave anytime. See our guide on free builders vs a done-for-you website for a closer look at that trade-off, or our full pricing breakdown for the specifics.
Not necessarily. One-time builds often come with a real cost once something breaks or needs updating and there's no one on retainer to fix it. Factor that in before comparing sticker prices alone.
No, price doesn't directly affect ranking. What matters more is having real, accurate content about your business, working links, and a fast, mobile-friendly page.
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