How much should a tradesman's website cost?

2 min read

Roughly £500 to £2,000 as a one off for a small trades site, or £15 to £120 a month if it is built and looked after on a subscription. Below that you are usually buying a template nobody will maintain. Above it you are usually paying for an agency's office.

The version that includes hosting, the certificate and getting found is one plan. See websites for tradespeople.

What you are actually paying for

Three separate things get bundled into one number and it is worth pulling them apart. There is the build, which happens once. There is the running of it, which is hosting, the security certificate and keeping the thing online. And there is the work to get you found, which is ongoing or it is nothing.

What the price of a trades website actually buys Three things bundled into one number. The build, which happens once. Running it, which is ongoing: hosting, the certificate, staying online. Getting found, which is ongoing or it is nothing. Below them, what a cheap quote usually misses: getting found, nearly always missing, and running it, sometimes missing too. What the price buys Three things bundled into one number The build HAPPENS ONCE Running it ONGOING Hosting, the certificate, staying online Getting found ONGOING, OR NOTHING What a cheap quote usually misses Getting found, nearly always missing Running it, sometimes missing too

A cheap quote nearly always means the third one is missing, and sometimes the second. That is fine if you know it. It is not fine if you find out in a year when the site has been offline for a fortnight and nobody noticed. There is a longer account of where the money in a typical agency quote actually goes in why trades websites cost so much.

One off, or monthly

A one off payment gets you a site you own outright and are then responsible for. A monthly plan spreads the cost and includes somebody keeping it working. Both are legitimate. What matters is whether you were told clearly which one you were buying.

The thing to watch on a monthly deal is what happens at the end. Ask whether you can leave, what you take with you, and who owns the domain name. If the answer to the last one is not "you", walk away.

Questions worth asking before you pay anyone

  • Who owns the domain name, and is it registered in my name?
  • What happens to the site if I stop paying?
  • Is the hosting and the security certificate included?
  • Who do I ring when it breaks, and what does a change cost?
  • Can I see three sites you have built that are still live?

What a very cheap site actually costs

The £150 site is rarely a scam. It is usually real, and it is a template filled in once by somebody who has moved on. It sits there slowly going out of date, the contact form quietly stops sending, and nobody finds out for months. The money was not wasted so much as spent on something that needed a second half.

What the second half looks like when it is included is set out on websites for tradespeople.

While you are here

Is a cheap website worth it for a tradesman?

Yes, if it is genuinely maintained. A simple five page site that stays online, stays current and is linked to a proper Google listing does the job for most trades. The risk with a cheap site is that nobody is looking after it. The design is rarely what goes wrong.

Should I use Wix or Squarespace instead?

You can, and for some people it is the right answer. It costs roughly £15 to £25 a month and the work is yours to do: writing it, keeping it current, and setting up the Google side yourself. What you are buying from anyone else is that work, not the software.

What it costs for your trade

Builders
What a building firm pays, what each price buys, and why the site earns its keep after the quote goes in rather than before.
Electricians
What an electrical firm pays, and why five jobs at five prices are five pages rather than one list headed Services.

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