How much does a small business website cost?

Look at the first-year cost.

A starting price helps you get your bearings, but it doesn't tell the whole story. At Siega Solutions there's an upfront build payment and a monthly maintenance fee. These are my packages, not a market average or a quote that fits every project.

All amounts exclude VAT. The totals show twelve months to make comparison easier; the terms of the service are set out in the quote.

If you'd rather pay the fee a year in advance, the yearly fee equals ten months: €300, €400 or €500 a year depending on the plan, with two months free. With that option, the first year comes to €450, €699 and €949, excl. VAT. Either way, there's no lock-in: you can cancel whenever you like. If you've paid the yearly fee and cancel, your website stays live until the paid period ends; the unused part isn't refunded.

The build covers the initial work we agree on. The fee includes hosting, fixes for bugs in my implementation and a monthly allowance of time for content changes. It's worth weighing up both together, especially if you'll need to update the website often.

Choose by what you need to say.

Presence fits when you can explain your business on a single page of up to five sections: what you do, services, photos, opening hours and contact details. It includes a mobile-friendly design, call and WhatsApp buttons, and 15 minutes of changes a month.

Business allows up to four pages. It's useful if you want to separate your services, show a gallery and receive enquiries through a form. It includes basic search engine setup and 30 minutes of changes a month.

Complete expands to six pages and includes the Business features, a simple service catalogue and a connection to an external booking system. It includes 45 minutes of changes a month. Connecting a booking service is not the same as building a platform of your own.

All three packages include one initial round of revisions. If you need an online shop, bespoke features or a different structure, I'll put together a Custom proposal with an agreed scope, price and maintenance.

What can change the quote.

Domain + setup costs €20/year as an optional extra: registering or renewing an available standard domain and connecting it to your website. It's registered in your name. Special extensions and premium domains are quoted separately.

With that extra, the first year of each plan would cost €530, €799 or €1,069 respectively, excl. VAT. Licences for external tools are charged separately. If you already have a domain, I'll check with you how to connect it before adding any extra cost.

Adding pages, developing new features or redoing the design changes the work involved. It's better to define that upfront than to assume any request fits into a monthly fee. You can read more about this difference in the website maintenance guide.

Five questions before you sign up.

• Exactly how many pages and which features does the proposal include?
• What text, photos and materials do I need to provide?
• How many revisions are included, and how are extra ones quoted?
• What does maintenance cover, and what happens if I go over the agreed time?
• What do I get if I cancel the service and need to move my website?

There's no need to choose the biggest package just to be safe. Start with what your visitors need to understand and how you want to receive enquiries. A clear proposal ties each cost to a specific need.