How Much Does a Small Business Website Cost in 2025?

A professional website is not a vanity project in 2025 — it is the backbone of how customers discover, evaluate, and buy from small businesses.

Yet the most common question owners ask is still the simplest: “How much will it cost me?” The honest answer is “it depends,” but that doesn’t help you plan a budget or compare proposals.

This guide breaks the cost into understandable components, shows realistic price ranges, and gives you a checklist to collect apples‑to‑apples quotes.

Quick answer (typical ranges in the U.S. for a small studio or experienced freelancer in 2025):

• One‑page landing or “starter” site: $1,200–$2,500 (copy provided by client, light brand styling, contact form, analytics).
• 5–10 page marketing site: $2,500–$6,000 (custom design system, refined UX, basic SEO setup, lead capture, blog).
• E‑commerce (10–100 products): from $5,000; common range $8,000–$20,000+ depending on catalog rules, shipping/tax logic, and integrations.

These numbers assume professional work, legal licenses, and a real QA process. Prices below that are possible, but they usually trade away quality, security, or longevity.

What actually drives cost (and why)

1. Scope & complexity — Page count matters less than the “moving parts.” Dynamic sections, calculators, quote builders, member logins, and custom content types add design and engineering effort.
2. Visual design depth — A simple brand‑aligned layout can be fast; a bespoke art‑directed look with custom illustrations, micro‑animations, and polished motion takes significantly longer.
3. Content readiness — If the studio writes copy, edits images, and structures messaging, add time. The fastest projects have well‑prepared text, photos, and brand assets at kickoff.
4. Platform & stack — WordPress remains the most flexible for small businesses. Hosted builders (Wix/Squarespace) reduce upfront development but limit extensibility. Shopify is strong for e‑commerce. Custom frameworks are rare for small budgets but powerful for special use‑cases.
5. Integrations — Booking tools, CRM (HubSpot/Kommo), payment gateways, inventory feeds, or shipping calculators each add configuration and testing time.
6. Compliance & accessibility — ADA/WCAG‑aware design, privacy consent (GDPR/CPRA), cookie banners, and policies require planning and QA.
7. Performance & SEO — Image pipelines, Core Web Vitals, structured data, and technical SEO are not “extra polish” anymore; they are table‑stakes for ranking and conversion.
8. Hosting & DevOps — Managed WordPress with staging/backups, SSL, and a firewall costs more than bare hosting, but it pays back with reliability and speed.
9. Project management — Discovery, sprint planning, feedback cycles, and stakeholder reviews take disciplined time. Cheap quotes often ignore this and then slip on deadlines.

Typical packages and what you get

• Starter (best for new local services): 4–6 sections on one long page, brand‑matched theme system, mobile‑first layout, contact form with spam protection, basic analytics, and a lightweight blog template to add later. Launch in 2–3 weeks — if content is ready.
• Growth (best for B2B/B2C lead gen): 6–12 pages (Home, Services, Service Detail, About, Reviews, FAQ, Blog, Contact), tailored design system, SEO foundations (titles, meta, schema basics), performance budget, and lead capture linked to email or CRM. Typical 4–6 week timeline.
• E‑commerce essentials: visual product templates, product attributes/variants, tax and shipping setup, payment gateway, abandoned cart email, and analytics for revenue tracking. Add‑ons: subscriptions, bundles, ERP or inventory sync, custom checkout, POS integration.

Pricing by platform in 2025 (small business scale — not enterprise)

• WordPress (marketing site): $2,500–$6,000 for a bespoke theme built on solid foundations (ACF/blocks, performance budget, security hardening). Premium plugin licenses add ~$150–$400/yr.
• WordPress + WooCommerce (store): $5,000–$15,000+ depending on catalog logic, payment/shipping rules, integrations, and custom UX for product options.
• Shopify: Build fees often $4,000–$12,000 for custom theme work and setup; monthly app costs can reach $50–$300+ depending on features.
• Wix/Squarespace: Lower build fees ($1,000–$3,500) for simpler sites with fewer custom needs; ongoing subscription is higher relative to low traffic, and extensibility is limited.
• Custom frameworks (Next.js/Nuxt/Django, etc.): $12,000+ for specialized needs. Great control and performance, but maintenance requires a technical partner.

Timeline & staffing reality

Even a “simple” site touches multiple disciplines: strategy, UX, UI, copy, development, QA, and deployment. A common pattern is 1–2 designers, 1 developer, and a project lead working in short sprints. Delays typically come from content gaps or slow feedback. To protect timeline and cost, approve a sitemap and wireframes early; lock content before polish; reserve specific review windows.

Ongoing costs you should budget in 2025

• Domain: $12–$25/yr.
• Managed hosting (small marketing site): $15–$40/mo. Higher‑performance or e‑commerce: $40–$120/mo+ with CDN and backups.
• Premium plugins & SaaS: typically $150–$600/yr (SEO, forms, security, backups, advanced blocks, cache/CDN, email marketing).
• Maintenance & updates: $50–$300/mo depending on update cadence, uptime monitoring, and small‑task support hours.
• Security: firewall/WAF, malware scanning, hardening, and incident response policy are essential. A compromised site often costs far more than prevention.
• Analytics & marketing stack: GA4 (free), but many add Hotjar/Clarity, email automation, review widgets, and call‑tracking — expect $20–$150/mo combined.

ROI math (a quick sanity check)

Suppose your local service site costs $4,000 to build and $120/month to maintain. You average 600 organic visitors/month after 4–6 months, convert 3% to leads (18 leads), and close 25% (≈4–5 customers). If an average job is $450 in profit, that is ~$1,800–$2,250/month. Even with conservative ramp‑up, the site pays for itself within a few months, then compounds as SEO improves.

Ways to reduce cost without hurting results

1. Come prepared with content: finalized copy, photography, and brand assets cut 15–30% of timeline and rework.
2. Reuse proven patterns: pick a design system and component library that fits your brand; avoid reinventing every section.
3. Start narrow: launch a strong core (Home, 1–2 service pages, Contact, Reviews) and schedule phase 2 for blog, gated resources, or advanced automations.
4. Choose the right platform for today + 18 months: don’t over‑engineer. If you need e‑commerce later, pick a path that upgrades cleanly.
5. Bundle maintenance: many studios discount monthly care plans when included at project start — it keeps the site healthy and reduces surprise costs.

Red flags that often cost more later

• No written scope or acceptance criteria. If “done” isn’t defined, budget and deadline will drift.
• “We don’t do staging or backups.” That is a risk, not a savings.
• “Unlimited revisions.” This usually means no process. Ask about structured rounds: wireframes → visual design → development → QA.
• No mention of performance budget or accessibility. You will feel the pain in SEO and usability.
• Custom code without documentation. Future updates get slower and pricier when the next developer can’t read the work.

How to write a scope that gets accurate quotes (copy/paste checklist)

• Business goal: lead gen, bookings, online sales, portfolio, education — pick one primary goal.
• Audience & value proposition: who you serve and why you’re different.
• Sitemap: list pages and any dynamic sections (blog, resources, case studies).
• Features: forms (fields), CRM/email integrations, calculators, bookings, multilingual, member area, search.
• Content: who writes copy? who supplies photos/video? any stock image budget?
• Design: brand assets available? examples you like/avoid? accessibility level?
• SEO: target locations/keywords, redirects from old site, schema requirements.
• Performance: target CWV metrics, image sizes, CDN, cache strategy.
• E‑commerce (if needed): product types/variants, tax/shipping rules, payment gateway, promos/discounts, subscriptions, POS.
• Compliance: privacy, cookie banner, ADA/WCAG expectations.
• Analytics: GA4, events, conversion tracking, call‑tracking.
• Timeline: key dates, review windows, launch constraints.
• Post‑launch: training, maintenance plan, SLA, and who owns hosting/domain/licenses.

FAQ (short and practical)

Q: Can I start on Wix/Squarespace and move later?

A: Yes, but plan for partial rebuild when migrating to WordPress/Shopify. Content moves; design and custom features rarely do 1:1.

Q: Why are quotes so different for the “same” site?

A: They likely aren’t the same. One includes discovery, QA, accessibility, and performance budgets; another may skip them. Ask for a line‑item breakdown.

Q: Do I really need monthly maintenance?

A: If you use a modern CMS or store, updates and backups are non‑negotiable. A hacked or broken site can cost more in a week than a year of maintenance.

Q: What if I only need a few edits a year?

A: Ask for a lightweight care plan with a small task bank or pay‑as‑you‑go — but make sure security updates and backups still happen.

Treat your website as an asset with compounding returns, not a one‑time cost. Anchor your budget to business goals, pick a platform that fits your next 18 months, and partner with a studio that documents scope, designs for performance and accessibility, and stands behind maintenance. That combination keeps total cost of ownership low — and results high.