The honest answer is the one nobody puts on their homepage: it depends. But "it depends" is useless when you are budgeting, so here is the real picture, the way we would explain it over a coffee in Preston.
The broad market picture
Across the UK, in broad strokes, you will find three tiers. DIY site builders cost a subscription of roughly £15 to £40 a month and all of your evenings. Freelancers typically charge somewhere between £500 and £2,000 for a small site. Agencies usually start around £2,000 and run well past £10,000 once e-commerce, bookings or custom features are involved.
None of those tiers is wrong. They are different tools for different jobs. The mistake is paying agency money for a template job, or expecting a £500 build to bring in customers on its own.
What actually drives the price
When we quote a website, these are the things that move the number, in order of impact:
- What the site has to do. A five page brochure site is one job. Online ordering, bookings, payments or a members area is another.
- Custom design or adapted theme. Custom design costs more and is worth it when standing out is the point. A well chosen theme, done properly, is a legitimate way to save money.
- Content. If you have words and photography ready, the price drops. If we are writing, shooting and sourcing everything, it rises.
- What happens after launch. Hosting, backups, updates and support are either in the quote or they become a surprise later. Ask.
Where people get stung
The expensive website is rarely the one with the big price tag. It is the cheap one that loads slowly, cannot be found on Google, and has to be rebuilt within a year. It is the site where the developer owns the domain and the hosting, and leaving them costs more than staying. It is the quote that never mentioned SEO foundations, so page one of Google was never on the table.
Whoever you talk to, ask these three questions. Who owns the domain and the site when we are done? What happens about search engines? And what does support cost after launch? Straight answers to those three tell you more than any portfolio.
How we quote
Every Focus & Co website is quoted per project, in plain English, nothing hidden. Tell us your budget honestly and we will do the same back. Our AI driven workflow means the budget goes further than it would have five years ago, and most sites launch in four to eight weeks.
If you are pricing up a website right now, read about our web design in Preston or just tell us what you are making. We read every brief the day it lands.