Most small business owners set a website budget by guessing, or by picking a number that feels comfortable, then trying to find someone who will build a site for it. That is backwards. A better way is to start from what the website is for, work out what that is worth, and let that set the budget.
This guide gives you a simple method to budget for a website, typical figures to sanity-check against, and the costs people most often forget.
Step 1: Decide what the website needs to do
A website that exists mainly to reassure people who already heard about you is a different project from one that must win new customers from Google. Be honest about which you need.
- Credibility: people hear about you elsewhere, check you out online, then ring. A clear, simple site does the job.
- Lead generation: people find you by searching. The site needs to rank locally, explain your services well and make it easy to get in touch.
- Bookings or sales: people book or buy online. The site is part of your operations and needs to be reliable.
- It is fine for the answer to be 'credibility now, lead generation later'. Plan the first build so it can grow into the bigger job, rather than paying for everything at once or starting again in two years.
Step 2: Work out what a customer is worth
Take the average profit you make from a new customer, not the revenue. Include repeat work if customers typically come back. A window cleaner's customer might be worth a few hundred pounds a year for several years; a kitchen fitter's might be worth several thousand once.
Then estimate how many extra customers a year a good website could realistically bring you compared with what you have now. Be conservative. If you have no idea, look at how many enquiries you get from your current site or Google Business Profile, and what a modest improvement would mean.
If you are just starting and have no figures, use your pricing: the typical job or appointment value and your rough margin. Then sanity-check it against how many customers a week you need to be busy. The aim is not precision; it is a figure you believe, so the budget is anchored to something real.
Step 3: Turn that into a three-year budget
The budget column deliberately leaves most of the value with you. A website should pay for itself several times over, not just break even. If the numbers suggest a budget you cannot justify, the site probably needs to do a simpler job, or be built in stages.
If the sums show a website would pay back quickly even at the top of the range, that is usually a sign it is under-used in your business today, and worth doing properly rather than cheaply.
| Business | Profit per new customer | Extra customers a year (conservative) | Value over 3 years | Sensible 3-year website budget |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mobile hairdresser | £150 | 10 | £4,500 | £1,500–£2,500 |
| Plumber | £250 | 12 | £9,000 | £2,500–£4,500 |
| Physiotherapy clinic | £300 | 20 | £18,000 | £4,000–£8,000 |
| Solicitors (private client) | £800 | 15 | £36,000 | £8,000–£15,000 |
Step 4: Split the budget into build and running costs
A three-year budget has two parts: the one-off cost to build the site and the monthly cost to keep it running. Many people budget for the first and forget the second.
- Build: design, development, copywriting, photography, setup.
- Running: hosting, maintenance, security, backups, changes.
- Renewals: domain names, email mailboxes, software licences.
- Marketing around the site: Google Business Profile management, local SEO, photography refreshes.
- A contingency of 10–15% for things you did not know you needed, such as an extra page or a booking feature.
A budget worksheet you can copy
Fill in the right-hand column with your own quotes and estimates. Anything you cannot price yet, mark as a question for the designers you speak to.
| Item | How to estimate it | Your figure |
|---|---|---|
| Build or setup fee | From quotes | |
| Copywriting and photography | Included, or quoted separately | |
| Hosting and maintenance | Monthly cost × 36 | |
| Domain and email | Annual cost × 3 | |
| Booking, shop or other software | Monthly cost × 36 | |
| Paid changes | Expected changes a year × rate × 3 | |
| Google Business Profile and local SEO | Your time, or a monthly service × 36 | |
| Contingency | 10–15% of everything above | |
| Three-year total | Sum of the above |
Step 5: Plan for cash flow
A good budget also has to fit your bank account. If a £4,000 build would stretch you, options include paying in stages, choosing a monthly plan that spreads the cost, or building a smaller site now and adding to it later. There is no prize for paying upfront if it leaves you short for materials or wages.
For VAT-registered businesses, remember that VAT on the website may be reclaimable, which changes the effective cost. For businesses below the threshold, it is not, so budget for the full amount if your designer charges VAT.
Common budgeting mistakes
- Budgeting only for the build and being surprised by hosting and maintenance.
- Forgetting copywriting and photography, then launching late or with weak content.
- Spending the whole budget on design and nothing on getting found: Business Profile, reviews, local SEO.
- Buying features you do not need yet, such as a shop with three products or a blog you will never write.
- Not valuing your own time when choosing DIY.
- Ignoring year two. Many plans and platforms cost more after the first year, so budget from the renewal prices, not the introductory ones.
Where we fit in a budget
If your budget works better as a small upfront amount and a predictable monthly figure, Nerdsharks Monthly is £299 to set up and £99 a month, which covers the design, copywriting, hosting, maintenance and two changes a month. If you would rather pay for the build and keep the monthly low, Own It is £1,795 and £49 a month. For larger companies that want everything built and run for them, Pro is £6,950 and £299 a month. Fit whichever you consider into the three-year sum above.