“How much should I budget for a website?” is the question we hear more than any other from Bedford business owners. It’s a completely reasonable question — and one that’s remarkably hard to find an honest answer to online.
This guide breaks down UK website costs at every level, what you actually get for your money, and where the hidden costs tend to lurk.
The Honest Price Ranges for UK Websites in 2022
DIY Website Builders: £0–£30/month
Wix, Squarespace and similar tools let you build a website yourself for a low monthly fee. These are fine for personal projects and hobby blogs, but they have significant limitations for serious businesses:
- Generic templates that look like thousands of other websites
- Limited SEO capabilities — particularly technical SEO
- Poor page speed on Google’s Core Web Vitals assessment
- You own nothing — cancel the subscription and your website disappears
- Adding features requires higher-cost plans or paid add-ons
- Your time has a cost — learning to build properly takes 20–40 hours
Best for: Testing an idea or a very early-stage side project. Not recommended for any business that needs to rank on Google or project credibility.
Cheap Freelancer Websites: £300–£800
At this price point, you’re typically getting a beginner or overseas freelancer using a premium WordPress theme with minimal customisation. The results are usually:
- A site that looks like hundreds of other sites using the same theme
- No conversion strategy — it’s built to look nice, not to generate leads
- Minimal SEO setup
- Little or no aftercare once it goes live
Many businesses come to us after being burned by a cheap website that cost them more in the long run — through lost enquiries, poor rankings and the cost of rebuilding from scratch.
Professional Agency Websites: £1,000–£5,000
This is the range where most SME websites should sit. A reputable UK web agency charging in this range will typically provide:
- Bespoke design (not an off-the-shelf template)
- Conversion-optimised layout based on your target customer
- Full mobile responsiveness
- On-page SEO foundation
- Fast page load times
- Post-launch support
At WebDevLab, our Professional Business Pro package sits at £2,499 — and consistently delivers a return on investment within the first few months for our Bedford clients.
Enterprise / Bespoke Development: £5,000–£50,000+
Large e-commerce stores, custom web applications, membership platforms, complex booking systems and enterprise-level websites fall in this range. The cost reflects the significant development time and expertise required.
Hidden Costs to Budget For
The headline website price rarely tells the full story. Budget for:
- Domain name: £10–£30/year
- Hosting: £60–£300/year depending on quality
- SSL certificate: Often included, but not always
- Professional photography: £200–£800 (worth every penny)
- Copywriting: £50–£200 per page if you need it written for you
- Ongoing maintenance: £49–£299/month to keep the site secure and updated
What Should You Pay?
Our honest recommendation for most Bedford small businesses: budget at least £1,000–£2,500 for your website. Think of it as an asset — not a cost — and measure its success by the enquiries it generates, not just how it looks.
A website that costs £2,499 and generates three extra clients per month is extraordinarily good value. A website that costs £400 and generates nothing is extremely expensive.
Want a no-obligation chat about what your specific business needs? Book a free consultation with the WebDevLab team.