The short answer: a tradesperson in the UK will typically pay one of three ways. Roughly £10 to £30 a month to build it yourself on a website builder, from a few hundred to several thousand pounds as a one-off to have it built, or a fixed monthly price for a site that is built and looked after for you.
The three ways to pay
| Option | Typical cost | Who does the work | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Build it yourself | Roughly £10 to £30 a month | You | Someone with spare evenings who is happy to learn it |
| One-off build | From a few hundred pounds for a simple site to several thousand for a bespoke one | A designer or agency, then usually you | A business that wants to own everything outright and can pay up front |
| Pay monthly, managed | A fixed monthly price, often with no setup fee | The designer, for as long as you pay | A trade that wants it done, kept up to date and off their plate |
Build it yourself
Website builders are the cheapest way to start. You pick a template, drop in your logo and photos and write the words. The monthly price usually covers hosting, and often the domain for the first year.
The real cost is your time. Most trades who go this route get the home page done, then never finish the rest, because the evening they set aside went on a quote instead. If you enjoy this kind of thing, it is a perfectly good option. If you do not, it tends to sit half built.
A one-off build
You pay a designer or agency once and they hand over a finished site. Prices vary a lot, because "a website" can mean a single page or thirty. Always ask what happens afterwards, because the build price is rarely the whole cost.
- Hosting: the site has to live somewhere, and that is usually a monthly or yearly bill.
- The domain: typically about £10 to £20 a year for a .co.uk or .com.
- Changes: many designers charge by the hour for edits after launch. A new price list or an extra service page can mean a new invoice.
- Upkeep: software updates and security fixes, if the site runs on a system that needs them.
Pay monthly, managed
One monthly price covers the design, hosting, the domain and changes. There is usually little or nothing to pay up front, which matters when cash is tied up in materials and a van.
Two things to check before you sign up to any pay-monthly site:
- Who owns the domain? It should be registered in your name. If it is in the designer's name, you cannot take it with you.
- How long are you tied in? Look for the minimum term and what happens after it.
This is how AZ Web Labs works. It starts with a free preview, then one fixed monthly price that you see before anything goes live, with no setup fee, a three-month minimum, and the domain registered in your name.
Which one is right for you?
- If you have the time and like doing things yourself, build it yourself.
- If you have the money up front and someone in the business who will keep it updated, a one-off build can work out cheapest over several years.
- If you want it done properly and never want to think about hosting or updates, pay monthly.
Whichever you pick, the site only earns its keep if customers can find your number, see your reviews and send an enquiry from their phone. Those three things matter more than how it was paid for.