How Much Does It Cost To Build A Website For A Small Business?
Written by  Mark Brinker  |  Last updated: March 11, 2021


It all boils down to how much work is involved.
Specifically, the 2 factors determining how much work is involved are the size and complexity of your site.
That means a nice-looking, professional 15-page informational website with standard customization is going to cost less than a highly customized 50-page site with all the bells and whistles.
In terms of actual dollars, the cost to build a website for a small business could be less than $1,000 or more than $10,000.
That’s a big price range. So let’s break things down so you can get a realistic estimate for what it will cost to design and develop your website.
NOTE: The information below is for small/medium-sized businesses. It’s not meant for large corporations with deep pockets that have full-time employees designing, developing and managing their websites in-house getting paid $80k-$120k/yr.
The 2 Options (With Pricing) For Designing And Developing A Small Business WebsiteOPTION 1: Hire A Professional
If you’re super busy running your business and/or tech just isn’t your thing, then you need to hire someone to build your site for you. It’s that simple.
However, if you’ve searched online and visited sites of website designers/developers, you’ve probably encountered:

• No prices listed at all.
• Prices all over the map, from ridiculously cheap to crazy expensive.

The good news is we rolled up our sleeves and did the research for you regarding what it costs to build (or redesign) a small business website in 2021.
For competent, experienced web designers that did list their prices, we found the going rate in 2021 to build a modern, professional small business website was typically $4,000-$10,000 but could be as much as $20,000 (or more) depending on the number of pages on the site and the amount of customization required.
 Website Design vs. Website Development. Website design and website development are often used synonymously, but they’re two very different things. Website design is like working with an architect to create the blueprint for your house. Website development is like working with a contractor to actually build your house. The 2021 pricing estimates listed above are for website design *as well as* website development (i.e. the complete, all inclusive cost).
Now that you have a ballpark idea of what things cost, here’s a closer look at the specific factors affecting the price of building a small business website:

• Page volume. Let’s say a web development firm offers a 10-page website package for $3,500, but your site needs 25 pages — how much extra will that cost? A good rule of thumb is to add about $100/page for each page over and above what’s included in the standard website package. In this example, adding 15 pages (to the 10 pages included in the standard website package) would cost $1,500. Add this amount to the original base price of $3,500 and the revised total is $5,000. Every situation will vary, obviously, but at least this gives you a reasonable cost estimate based on common pricing in the industry in 2021.
• Custom site layout. Every website starts with a theme or template. Nobody codes a website totally from scratch anymore. That’s way too time-consuming and expensive. A template or theme often gets you 50-60% of the way to the finish line, but there’s still tons of customization and coding needed to get your site looking and functioning how you want it. The more customization and coding required, the greater the cost. Templates and themes are a major reason you can often build a professional small business website in the $4,000-$10,000 range instead of $15,000-$20,000 or more.
• Custom images & graphics. Fancy images and graphics can give your site a one-of-a-kind look, but it comes at a price. Sophisticated visual effects often require special editing software, not to mention the talent of a custom graphic design specialist.
• Custom logo. Although not required, a custom logo is a nice addition to any website. A custom logo kicks up the trust/credibility factor a notch. To get a decent-looking, professionally designed logo in 2021, expect to pay somewhere in the $500-$1,000 range.
• Custom programming. Sometimes you can find a WordPress plugin providing the exact functionality you want right out of the box (i.e. image carousel, membership portal, payment calculator, etc). Other times, getting your site to do what you want requires significant trial/error and testing. In a perfect world, everything would be plug-and-play and work perfectly the first time — but that’s rarely the case. A fair amount of tinkering and testing is usually required to get everything working as intended.
• Number of design revisions. Most website projects start with an initial concept design (kind of like a rough draft), then it’s common to have 1 or 2 rounds of design revisions to get everything just right. Some website designers offer as many as 3-5 rounds of design revisions. Technically, a website designer can offer as many rounds of design revisions as they want. But keep in mind, every design iteration adds to the overall cost of the project. In my experience, 2 rounds of design revisions are more than sufficient 99% of the time.
• Website content development (i.e. copywriting). Solid, thoughtful, persuasive content is the foundation of any great website. If you’re launching a new site but don’t have any content yet, it needs to be developed. If you have an existing site but the content is weak, stale or outdated, it’ll need to be refined, enhanced … maybe even overhauled. Over the years I’ve discovered the # 1 obstacle to launching a website is content development. Our clients struggle with this because it’s time-consuming and difficult to do. That’s why a few years ago we began offering professional copywriting services to our website design and development offerings. Yes, you want your website to look modern and stylish, but it’s your website’s content that moves the needle.

Re: website pricing …
 PRO TIP # 1: If you want to hire a professional to help you with your website, but you don’t feel like you can afford one lump sum payment upfront, see if they offer financing. That way you get a really nice website *right now* to help grow your business, but not  deplete your bank account.
 PRO TIP # 2: Be careful with budget pricing. Unusually low prices often translates to shoddy workmanship, an unpleasant experience or nickel and diming you for every little thing. As they say, you get what you pay for.
OPTION 2: Attempt To Do It Yourself (DIY)
If you have a basic understanding of web technology and you’re fine doing the work yourself, you can totally build your own website.
The raw materials you’ll need aren’t horribly expensive:

• Domain name: $10-$12/year to register a new domain. There are a zillion registrars to choose from. I prefer NameCheap.com.
• Website hosting: Costs range from about $100/year for standard web hosting from companies like BlueHost or HostGator to $300-$500+/year for more robust web hosting from companies like WPengine or SiteGround — which really isn’t needed until your site is getting gobs of traffic (i.e. more than 100,000 visitors/month), at which time you could upgrade to a web server with more horsepower.
• SSL certificate. Even if you don’t plan to sell things directly from your site, you’ll still want to secure your site with HTTPS protocol. Here’s an article I wrote explaining HTTPS in plain English. You can get an SSL certificate for as little as $10/year or as much as $200-300/year. Shop around, but don’t buy more than you actually need. UPDATE: Some web hosting companies now offer a free SSL certificate as an incentive to host your site with them.
• Premium website theme. $100-$150. There are hundreds if not thousands of themes to choose from. Some free, some paid. I urge you to spend a few bucks and get a quality theme. Don’t skimp here. You’ll thank me later. We’ve experimented with many website themes over the years and the ones we now use exclusively, both for our own site as well as our clients’ sites are from StudioPress — great design + solid coding.
• Premium plugins. $100-$200. As with website themes, you usually get what you pay for. Do yourself a favor and invest a few dollars to get quality plugins. For example, two premium plugins we use on nearly every site we build are Gravity Forms and Envira Gallery. Yes, there are lots of free plugins and many of them are very good. But there are also lots of bad plugins that don’t work as advertised and will waste a bunch of your time. So be careful.
• Stock photos. If you’re a good photographer or you already have high-quality images for your site, then you’re all set. But chances are you’ll need to purchase some images to dress up your site a bit. The two places we recommend are BigStockPhoto.com and iStockPhoto.com. They have lots of high-quality, royalty-free images at reasonable prices. In most cases, you can probably get all that you need (at least initially) for $50-200. After that, you just buy what you need as your website evolves. UPDATE: Here’s an image site we just learned about where you can get free, high-resolution, royalty-free images for your website >> Burst   (from Shopify). The only drawback is there’s a limited selection. But the images they do have are very nice.  IMPORTANT: Never, ever, ever just copy/paste images from other sources onto your site, unless you’re 1000% certain you have permission. Otherwise you can get sued. Play it safe and just purchase your images — it’s way less expensive than a lawsuit — and you’ll sleep better.
• Education. $25-$300. Unless you work on websites every day, you’re probably going to have to buy a few books or take an online course or two to learn Photoshop, HTML/CSS coding language, etc. to get yourself up to speed in one or more areas of website design and development.

In total, you’re realistically looking at about $300-$600 in expenses to get up and running.
Obviously the main cost with the DIY option is your time.
Even for a “simple” site, don’t be surprised if it takes you 20-40 hours to produce something of decent quality you can be proud of. And that’s assuming you’re already somewhat familiar with how to build a website. If you’re totally new to this, multiply that time estimate by 2x or 3x. I’m not exaggerating.
Building a modern, well-engineered website is way more time-consuming than most people realize. But if you have more time than money right now and you don’t get overwhelmed by web technology, the DIY approach is a perfectly viable option.
The Cost Of Website Updates, Upgrades, Maintenance & LicensesOnce your website launches, your work’s not done.
Just like buying a house, you’ll need to invest time, effort and money to maintain it.
For example, you’ll have annual hosting & maintenance fees and possibly annual licensing fees for premium plugins and services.
It’s likely you’ll purchase new images as you upgrade and expand your site.
You might add staff or hire freelancers to assist you in creating new custom web content or videos to boost your marketing efforts.
Your site also requires ongoing technical maintenance to install updates and security patches to WordPress core files and WordPress plugins to protect your site from being hacked. Yes, even small business sites are targets for hackers.
If you’re comfortable performing these updates yourself, great. But sometimes routine updates break your site, so you need to know what to do if/when this happens. Are you prepared to deal with …

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Embroiled in legal battles, bankruptcy and more over the last few months, the owners of Ciao restaurant in Roseville have decided to shut down. The incidents began with the hiring of a paid consultant during the opening weeks of the Italian eatery, which eventually spiraled into allegations of embezzlement, mismanagement of funds and close to $300,000 missing from the coffers of the restaurant owners. It only took a few months for the chapter 11 bankruptcy notice to be filed and from that point, we will be losing one of our restaurants within the next couple months.
 
It’s difficult to face news of this nature, especially seeing as most of the restaurants in the Placer County area have rather dedicated customers, relationships that have been formed over many years of providing a service to the region. We all seem to have our favorite restaurants, our favorite staff and the places we like to visit on a regular basis, which makes it difficult to see a new business open up in attempts to establish that type of relationship themselves, only to face hardships and financial issues right out of the gate.
 
It can also be difficult to entice new businesses into the area when situations like this arise to past efforts. Which has always been one of the goals of the county, bringing in new and exciting venues for residents across the Placer County area to enjoy. Though many of the businesses that come into the area aren’t as likely to face the same situation, as they will often have their business goals already said, there initial startup costs cared for and with more franchises looking at the Placer County area as a space to open, the risk of this same issue happening is rather low.
 
We all want to ensure that the Placer County area is a space that businesses can look to with excitement, knowing that they have the capability to infuse themselves in the community and to flourish while providing a service to local area residents and visitors. We hope that the news of this particular situation happening doesn’t deter further efforts made by various business owners. It’s difficult to see a situation like this happening but at the same time it does go to demonstrate the level of risk and reward that comes with any type of business opening.
 
Whatever the future holds next for the particular owners of this restaurant, we hope that it’s a future of benefit and that they have the capability to once again make an attempt at having their restaurant ownership dreams become a reality. We want to present a space that is inviting and enticing to a number of business owners and hope that situations of this nature aren’t all that common, giving more reason for potential business owners to turn to the Placer County region as their future destination. We may be short one restaurant, but we hope it’s not a sign of the times.

When it comes to attending your property garden, planning ahead is one of the most important steps in ensuring that you get the outcome you’re looking for. This is why the UC Master Gardeners hold their workshop for winter gardening this coming August. In order to provide homeowners across the Placer County area the capability to maximize their winter gardening potential as well as protecting crops from vegetable gardens for the next season. The information provided will be essential to both novice and experienced gardeners across the community.
 
One of the most difficult aspects of gardening to deal with is knowing exactly how to treat your crops across the time outside of planting and harvesting. Those two key events in home gardening are probably the ones that are most recognizable to individuals across the Placer County area, putting a high level of focus into exactly how your garden should be treated during this point in time but not really having the information necessary on how to properly attend to your property outside of those activities. By being able to get your information from highly experienced gardeners, you can set yourself up for success.
 
The UC Master Gardeners have been providing their expertise, free of charge to home and garden aficionados across the Placer County area over the course of many years. These are individuals who have dedicated their lives to learning everything there is to know about gardening in general, especially in the soil native to our communities. With this information at hand, and the capability to get specific questions that you may have answered, it can be a highly important outing for those looking to make the most of their properties and their upcoming gardening schedules.
 
As with anything, turning to experts for the assistance you need will always set you up for success. If you have an issue with your home piping, you turn to a plumber and if you’re looking to make the most of your garden during the winter seasons, getting the information you need from master gardeners in the area will provide you with the necessary information in order to make the most of your efforts. It can be disheartening to put months of work into your garden throughout the spring and summer only to see all of your crops wither and die in the winter.
 
Whether you’ve got a passing interest in gardening or have put in the months of work to make your property look its best, there is a little something for gardeners of every level available at these workshops. It can be a great way to spend an afternoon, discussing your plans with like-minded individuals across the community, getting professional information that you require and heading back to your home garden with a new sense of clarity and confidence, knowing that you have the capability to provide the best to your plants throughout the growing season, the winter and all year round.

For many years, Placer County has been the largest county in California without a 2-1-1 system in place. These are available in every state and almost every major city, making it long overdue since the necessary investment was made to provide residents of the area with this service. For the uninitiated, 2-1-1 systems provide a wealth of government information including disaster information, city financial reports and more. By making the choice to bring this service to the county, it provides everyone locally with vital information on the goings on within Placer County.
 
Though this may seem like a highly important feature to have in the Placer County area, it’s been far too long since the necessary funding was put aside in order to bring it to the residents of the area. By having the capability to directly communicate with members of the city, to have your voice be heard when it comes to a variety of different infrastructure plans that are in place as well as the ability to obtain required information when it comes to local emergencies and otherwise, it better involves the members of the community.
 
One of the most important things to have in place when it comes to communication with the residents of the Placer County area is a means in which they can feel involved and informed. With the 2-1-1 system being so heavily invested in, the capabilities are virtually endless when it comes to the capability to make the most of this system. Whether you’re a resident of the Placer County area or looking to obtain information on an area that you intend to visit or potentially move to, having the means to do so quickly and easily is important.
 
There’s no word yet on the initial amount set aside for the installation of the system, only that a quarter of $1 million will be required in upkeep each and every year. This may mean a small rise in taxes in the area, which is always a situation that is met with disdain, yet the level of capability that the system presents versus the minor amount of investment is imbalanced in the favor of our fellow residents. Taking a few extra dollars a year to ensure that we have access to all the required information we need is an easy trade-off.
 
This is just another step in the continuing efforts being put forward by our City Council to ensure that we have access to as much as possible in the Placer County area. Having the capability to get the required information when we needed, for the city to have the capability to speak directly with the residents of the area, it’s a situation that works well for everybody involved and will only serve to improve the relationship between the members of the community and those chosen to lead. We can’t wait to see the potential that this new system brings to Placer County.

When we think of conflict arising when it comes to education services, we would like to believe that it’s a matter of providing the best possible foundation for our children’s future. The issue that were facing in the Placer County area recently though, is one that directly conflicts with providing the best possible education and more to do with the maintenance of monopolies that have been in place over decades. This conflict reaches every student, every home and political individual across all spectrums, leading to the need for a resolution to come soon.
 
The issue that we face when it comes to the education system in the South Placer County area as of late is an embroiled battle between the public school system, which has enjoyed a long-lasting death grip on all things education related over the last few decades and the few charter schools that have been attempting to present another alternative to parents looking for the best for their children. This is much akin to smaller cell phone companies attempting to offer services that rival the big brands, often being met with hostility, lawsuits and endless lobbying.
 
The problem with it happening with our school systems though is that often it’s the students who bear the brunt of these conflicts. Educators who have come into the South Placer County area from other states are often surprised by the current norm in the area when it comes to teaching. With a high focus on test scores and less on providing quality education on an individual basis, it has done nothing but regress the level of capability that our educators have in treating each student. This becomes a downward spiral as it often works in direct contrast with propelling results forward.
 
From town hall meetings to the courtroom, the political stage to the homes of every student, the ripple effect of this constant conflict between two different educators believing that they have the best options available is felt. A particular point of worry for the public school system is that charter school options have been increasingly popular, with more parents in the area of bringing their children to these locations in order to obtain their information, which of course has a negative effect on the financial bottom line of their establishments. It can be easy to see why they’re so willing to fight.
 
Ultimately, the most important aspect of this entire conversation is ensuring that our children have the capability to get the best possible education and as long as these issues continue to pervade the entirety of the establishment, we will get no further in improving the capabilities that we provide. We want to ensure that every child in the Placer County area has the ability to enjoy their time in school, to set the foundation for their futures and to know that each individual that they interact with throughout the day, in a leadership role, has their best interests in mind. 

Once again, Placer County finds itself in the top 10 of the quality of life rankings in the state of California. This year though, we have taken the top spot, giving another title to the area that we all know and love. Not only has Placer County found itself topping the list of quality of life ranking amongst every county in California but is also found itself in second place when it comes to the general health of the community members within the Placer County region.
 
This ranking project has been carried out over the last number of years in order to establish the best places in California for individuals to choose as their home, as well as assessing the overall health of residents in the area, giving further information to not only the community members but also health specialists and other doctors in the area as a means of review. Finding ourselves so high on the list of both aspects of investigation is something to be proud of yet also something that we need to strive to maintain over many years to come, for the benefit of everyone involved
 
They say getting to the top isn’t nearly as hard as staying there and when it comes to aspects of the county such as quality of life and overall health, it’s a situation that will require continual effort from everybody involved in order to maintain our place at the top. Everyone who lives in the Placer County area understands the amount of benefits that are provided and the capabilities that we have at hand when it comes to maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Being able to take advantage of these opportunities is something that we should all strive for in our everyday life.
 
There’s a reason why the Placer County area has been such a draw for individuals and business owners the course of many years. The wide number of programs and incentives individuals to maintain their health, the capabilities made available to get out there and enjoy life all come together in order to create the foundation in which our ranking rests upon. It only takes losing sight of those goals, either as an individual or an elected official, for a moment in order to begin to see the backslide, eventually resulting in losing our coveted top position.
 
Though much of our readership in the area is already currently active, and are individuals who part of the demographic that have allowed us to take this position, we invite everybody continue with these trends and to continue to demonstrate exactly what it is about Placer County that sets ourselves apart and that has earned the yearly recognition we receive. It’s because of the efforts of the entire community, our city leaders and the various program administrators across the county that we have the capability to view ourselves as leaders in quality-of-life standard in California, and we look forward to continuing that trend.

Thousands across the Placer County area have been impacted one way or another by the recent wildfires that have ravaged a great portion of California. Whether it was your own home, the home of a loved one or friends, everybody in the area was glued to their televisions during this time, awaiting the news of potential evacuation and monitoring the progress of the wildfires to keep track of how close it was to those we care about. It was an emotionally stressful situation but for many also a great financial disaster.
 
One of the issues that came about in the wake of the wildfires that required addressing, was ensuring that there were necessary protections put into place to protect homeowners across the region going forward. When you lose your home in active God such as a gigantic wildfire, it can be difficult to turn to your insurance company and to expect a beneficial result. We all understand that often, these companies are simply looking to pay out as little as possible and in some cases outright refuse coverage when individuals truly need the financial assistance that it’s meant to provide.
 
New laws put forward across the state of California, will ensure that insurance companies cannot make any stipulations regarding properties neighboring areas of the primary wildfires, as well as those that were in the direct path. This can make many homeowners across the Placer County area breathe a sigh of relief, as the unknown future of whether or not you have the capability to depend on your insurance company if the situation were to affect us directly as greatly lessened. Having the government of the state of California provide us with the necessary legal protection is a positive result in the wake of a negative event.
 
With this information at hand, we suggest that you reach out to your insurance company, to have a conversation with your insurance broker and to ensure that you are fully informed on the impact that this legal bill makes and to better understand the responsibilities that are placed on your insurance company in the future. One of the worst situations to face in the wake of losing your home is the unknown result. Not knowing whether or not your insurance company is going to be there to provide you with the financial assistance you need.
 
Of course it would be better in a situation where we never had to put in legal ramifications for insurance companies attempting to block individuals from receipt of financial compensation but unfortunately, we live in a world that allows that to happen, at least until recently. We don’t want to have to expect our government to hold the hands of major companies and to ensure that they are following through on their promises but in certain circumstances, such as the previously unheard of level of damages suffered from these wildfires, it’s good to know that we can turn to our leaders to provide leadership.

The Placer County Fairgrounds are getting a major transformation, in a partnership between the Placer Valley Tourism Board and funding from the county, $34 million is being injected into what has become known as The Grounds. With room for 17 basketball courts pending capacity of up to 7000 people, the future is looking bright for this area of the county. Seeing an investment at this magnitude within the Placer County area only bodes well for the capabilities that will be available once construction is complete.
 
One of the main focuses of the new grounds is to provide a larger outdoor sporting area, with a focus on the most popular draws in the county, being basketball, baseball and other such events. Not only this, but it will also allow for larger gatherings and venues such as trade shows, musical performances and more. Having a dedicated and reliable space in order to hold events of this nature will only add to the appeal of the Placer County area, giving more reason for residents to partake in the various events as well as drawing in new crowds to the area.
 
The former Fairgrounds have played an important role in the Placer County area over many years, yet inability to bring the larger draws as well as a general lack of interest in this section of the county has allowed the space to generally fade into the back of the minds of residents and visitors alike. With this new infusion being made by interested parties, it will be interesting to see exactly how far it goes to boosting the level of visibility experienced by the Placer County area. One thing’s for certain though, having a draw of this nature will only benefit the county.
 
One of the downsides of the Placer County area has always been having the awareness of exactly what there is to offer, which can make it difficult to have the capability to fully enjoy the area. By having a centralized place of gathering and events, it not only raises the ability that we have within the city to bring in more attention but also provides us with the capability to host various community events, which always worked to bring neighborhoods together. Whether it’s a tradeshow or other event, seeing everyone from Placer County in one spot is always great.
 
Whatever the future brings for this space and the community as a whole, seeing those come together to provide the necessary funding in order to better the area is always beneficial to the Placer County region. We look forward to seeing all the potential that this development raises, seeing our younger generation have a space in which to hone their skills, both sport and social and to see the members of the community come together in order to give back to the area. We look forward to seeing faces new and old across The Grounds in the future. 

We are already aware of the high cost of living in the state of California yet continue to see pockets of affordability across the region, giving hope to first-time homebuyers and those looking to move into the world of homeownership. One place in the state though that is seen continually developing trends that are hostile to this notion is the Placer County area. It may come off as a negative thing to say, but if we’re going to make the market appealing to homebuyers, we need to begin looking at the cost of living.
 
Within the last 10 years, the median cost of a starter home in the Placer County area has risen by almost $100,000 per home. This leaves most options in the County sitting close to a quarter million each. Though this may not seem like much for those who are already established in homeownership, for those looking to buy their first home or to upgrade from apartment living, this can be a highly daunting numerical figure to face and one that may just send them back to condominium or apartment living for the foreseeable future.
 
This is a detriment for a number of reasons. Firstly, it makes the area less attractive for younger families and first-time homeowners to turn to the Placer County area as the space in which to begin their lives and secondly, the rising cost of homeownership in the Placer County area also affects our capability to draw in business, as often the community is a deciding factor when business owners are looking for a place to set up shop or to expand. Without being able to properly address the situation, we may see more long-term homeownership in the region, which has its own ups and downs.
 
Having community members who choose to call the Placer County area home over the course of decades is always a great foundation to have but it also takes being able to draw in new individuals from all walks of life to allow diversification as well as to expand on the demographics we have area in order to make the Placer County area more appealing to businesses of all sizes and types. By being able to present affordable options to prospective homebuyers, we not only ensure that their futures are secured by that we are also benefiting our own.
 
It can be difficult to come up with the exact solution to situations of this nature. It’s not like we can just magically wave a wand and shed thousands of dollars from the cost of homes in the area. But in order to make the region more attractive, we do have to begin to seriously look at our capability to open our communities to newer members and in order to do so have to ensure that we have the means to allow them to set their own roots. Whatever the future brings, we hope that it’s one of inclusion and possibility.