An unbiased guide for visionary brands who are ready to flourish

The essence of a website is taking what sets your entrepreneurial heart aflutter and publishing it for (almost) the whole world to see. And when you’re in a position to invest in online alignment and growth – the question, “how much should a website cost in the UK?” is one worth asking.  So, we’ve unpacked it for you. Here’s how much should a website cost UK – unbiased, unfiltered and written for you.

Expensive or an investment in everyday success?

When considering how much is a website, we look at the 3 C’s: Complexity, Customisation and CMS (content management system) choice. 

Complexity is all about the technical requirements for your website, including whether you need a Lead Generation site or an eCommerce site. The number of pages, your unique customer journey, payment gateways and any plugins/integration requirements are factored into the complexity of your website.

💜 A service-based business with a basic 4-5 page website that includes a contact form and minimal frills is classed as “low” complexity. 

💜💜💜 A large multi-page eCommerce website such as Ulta Beauty is classed as “very high” complexity due to the volume of products, categories, pages, stock and the demand for a seamless shopping experience. 

Customisation focuses on creating unique and distinct visual interest. It overlaps a little with both Complexity and CMS Choice because a single-page website is going to become laggy and slow with too many elements. Likewise, Drag-and-Drop Editors can limit the scope of how creative a website designer can be. 

Which brings us to CMS choice. At Belle Creative, scalability and long term success is important to our clients (and us) – so we build eCommerce sites on Shopify and Lead Generation sites on Wordpress.org. There’s a rising trend for designers to build on Drag-and-Drop Editors like Squarespace, Showit and Canva. These CMS make it easy for designers to create and sell templates, replicate and reuse elements and build a visually “pretty” site very quickly.  The downside to this is that strategy is often skipped in a bid to make a quick sale. And while these Drag-and-Drop Editors are easy for you (the client) to manage – a strategically designed website that’s fit for purpose shouldn’t need constant design changes. Therefore making “usability” a moot point: you’re paying a designer good money for a reason!

Balancing the 3 C’s with your budget

So, how much should a website cost in the UK? Your business model, industry and whether you sell products, services or a combination of both is going to influence the complexity of your website – even at a surface level.  For a service provider seeking a 5-page Lead Generation website (this tends to be a Homepage, About Us, Services, Portfolio and Contact) with an integrated contact form, basic SEO and thoughtful design touches that reflect the brand – expect to pay between £2,000 and £5,000.

On the other hand, a medium to high complexity eCommerce website with SEO optimisation, multiple product pages, categories, secure payment processing and a well thought-out user journey should start at £5,000. There’s always going to be price outliers in any industry. Novice designers are likely going to stick to basic websites with limited customisation available – therefore the cost is going to reflect their skill level. And large in-house agencies tend to have higher overhead costs, leading to bigger cost markups.

Here at Belle Creative, we’re a team of seasoned design experts who place an immense importance on strategy, technically correct website development and ultimately – your long term business success. We do not use templates and every website is built from scratch with your specific goals in mind. Therefore, you can expect to invest between £3,500 and £8,000 with us, depending on your project scope.

Website costs aside from development

The design and development of your website should always make up the bulk of the cost. However, there are a few additional costs to consider when investing in a website. These include:

• Hosting: up to £25 / month
• Website domain: Up to £20 / year
• Stock photos: £0 - £120, however we always recommend clients invest in brand photography to best represent their business
• Copywriting: £350 - £1,200 per page
• Ongoing maintenance: £50 - £300 / month (not always necessary)

Choosing a website designer with experience, scope to customise and a portfolio that speaks to you

It’s worth noting that Drag-and-Drop Editors have opened the door for anyone to design a website. There’s no regulations when it comes to using the term “website designer” which means anyone with a laptop can piece together a website, hit publish and handover the login details. How much should a website cost should align with what you expect to get out of it.

At Belle Creative we only build on Wordpress.org and Shopify. These platforms give us unlimited capacity to create and customise, plus they’re technically sound, secure and play well with Google. To ensure you’re working with a web designer who cares deeply about creating a customised experience for your dream clients, ask the following questions: 

• What’s your preferred CMS (and if it is a Drag-and-Drop Editor, why do you use this platform)?
• Do you have experience with HTML and CSS and can you walk me through some examples of how we can customise my site? 
• What’s your approach to balancing design and my dream client's user journey? Do you have a strategy for maximising their experience?

We build websites that captivate and convert.

And while they’re not “cheap” – they work. Time and time again, our websites appeal to the dream client they were designed for and this is what leads to sales and booked out calendars. Build a Website fit for your Dream Client