how much do websites cost?
Building a website involves a range of expenses—some upfront, some ongoing, and others that depend on your goals. Whether you're a small business owner or scaling an established brand, understanding the breakdown of these costs helps you budget wisely and make informed decisions.
essential costs
Domain Name
Your domain name is your website’s address, like yourbusiness.com. You need to register it annually. The cost depends on the registrar and the extension you choose. A standard .com domain typically ranges between $15 and $35 per year. If you're using a specialty extension like .studio or .agency, the cost can be higher—sometimes up to $50 or more per year.
Popular domain registrars include GoDaddy, Namecheap, and Squarespace Domains.
Web Hosting
Hosting is the server space where your website lives. Without it, your site doesn’t exist online. Hosting prices vary depending on the type of hosting and the provider.
For basic shared hosting, expect to pay $10 to $20 per month through providers like Bluehost or SiteGround. If you’re expecting more traffic or need more control, VPS or dedicated hosting could run between $30 to $100+ monthly.
If you're using a website builder like Squarespace or Wix, hosting is included in your monthly plan, which leads us to the next point.
Marshall Hope Corporation
Website Builders
If you’re not planning on building a site from scratch or want to have easy access to make updates to your site, you'll likely use a website builder platform. These platforms often bundle design tools, templates, and hosting into one monthly fee. Common platforms include Wix, Squarespace, and Shopify.
Basic plans using these platforms can start as low as $16 per month and scale up to $65+ per month, depending on your business, website, or commerce needs.
These platforms are great for launching quickly and keeping things simple—but they can also become limiting when you need custom functionality or deeper branding control. We recommend consulting an agency to determine your best recommended platform and help you set up any custom design or setting functionalities.
hiring professionals
Once you've covered the basics, it's time to consider the investments that bring quality, usability, and brand consistency to your site.
Professional Website Design
While templates are convenient, they rarely capture the uniqueness of a strong brand. Hiring a web designer ensures your site is tailored to your audience, message, and goals while increasing engagement and brand recognition.
Freelance web designers typically charge between $1,000 and $5,000 for a small business site, while creative agencies may charge $5,000 to $15,000+, depending on the complexity and scope. This cost often includes layout design, licensed images and videos, branding alignment, responsiveness across devices, and basic SEO optimization to ensure your site has the best performance and look.
Custom Development and Software Features
Sometimes you need more than a standard site. Custom features like booking systems, membership areas, dashboards, or integrations with internal tools require back-end development.
Custom development ranges widely. For small enhancements, you might spend $500 to $2,000+ on these custom features alone. For larger applications, like customer portals or e-commerce customizations, you could be looking at $10,000 or more. These are one-time investments, but they make your site function exactly the way you need it to.
WordPress users may also need to purchase premium plugins or themes. A plugin like WPForms for custom forms costs around $100 annually. Page builders like Elementor Pro cost about $59 per year. These add flexibility but also add to your budget.
long-term costs
Building a website isn’t a one-and-done project. To keep it performing well, you’ll need to account for long-term costs that support growth, functionality, and visibility.
Website Maintenance
If you're using WordPress, regular maintenance is essential. Updates to the core software, themes, and plugins help keep your site secure and functioning properly. Neglecting this can result in broken features or vulnerabilities.
Routine maintenance by an agency can cost anywhere from $50 to $400+. This includes backups, performance monitoring, security patches, and minor design updates. Overlooking this important investment can cause you to miss critical updates or spend unnecessary time troubleshooting.
Digital Strategy and Brand Support
Working with a creative agency for ongoing brand and marketing strategy ensures your site reflects your current offerings, tone, and target audience.
Ongoing support may include updating banners or landing pages for seasonal campaigns, optimizing content for SEO, and adding new features that align with your growth goals.
This kind of strategic partnership can range from $500 to $2,000+ monthly, depending on how involved the agency is in your marketing ecosystem.
Marketing and SEO Costs
To drive traffic to your site, you’ll likely invest in SEO, content creation, and marketing integrations. That might mean hiring a content writer, investing in keyword research tools like SEMrush or Ahrefs, or integrating email marketing software like Mailchimp or ConvertKit.
These tools and services vary widely in cost. SEO tools might run $100+ per month, while a blog post from a professional copywriter could cost $150 to $500+. Email platforms often start around $20 monthly and increase with your list size.
create a website plan today
We understand that seeing all these numbers and details can feel overwhelming. But building a website doesn't have to be complicated or expensive. Every business has different needs, and there are flexible options available for different budgets and goals.
Our Annapolis, Maryland-based Agency helps with everything from initial layouts and design to custom development, ongoing maintenance, and even taking over projects that are already in progress. Whether you need a simple site or something more advanced, we can create a plan that fits your needs and grows with you.
Schedule an introductory call with us and we’ll walk you through your options, answer your questions, and help you move forward with confidence.