Introduction
"How much does a website cost?" is one of the first questions every sole trader asks, and it's a hard one to answer. Search online and you'll find free website builders, freelancers charging a few hundred pounds and agencies quoting several thousand. It's no surprise that many tradespeople put off getting a website because they simply don't know what a fair price looks like.
The truth is that the price on the label is only part of the story. Some options look cheap but cost you hours of your own time, monthly subscriptions and lost enquiries. Others are excellent quality but priced for much larger businesses than a one-person trade. What matters is the total cost over time and whether the website actually brings in work.
In this guide, I'll compare the most common ways a UK sole trader can get a website, what each one really costs, the hidden costs to watch out for and how to decide which option gives you the best value for your business.
The quick answer
For most UK sole traders, a professional website should cost somewhere between a few hundred pounds and £1,500 to build, plus a monthly fee to keep it online, secure and up to date. Here's a rough guide to what each option typically costs:
| Option | Typical cost | The catch |
|---|---|---|
| DIY website builder | £0 to start, then around £10-£35 a month | You build, write and maintain everything yourself |
| WordPress, built yourself | £50-£200 for themes and plugins, plus £5-£25 a month hosting | Steep learning curve and ongoing security updates |
| Freelance web designer | £500-£2,000 upfront, plus hosting and changes | Quality and aftercare vary a lot |
| Web design agency | £2,000-£5,000+ upfront, plus £50-£150 a month | Usually more than a sole trader needs |
| Social media page only | Free | Harder to find on Google and you don't control it |
| Anjuros Development | £99 one-off (bespoke from £149), plus care plans from £9.99 a month | No catch - nothing to pay upfront, and you only pay once you're happy |
Prices are typical UK figures and will vary, but they show the pattern clearly: the cheapest options cost you time, and the most expensive ones cost you money you don't need to spend. Below, I look at each option in more detail.
1DIY website builders
Website builders such as Wix, Squarespace and GoDaddy promise a professional website in an afternoon. You pick a template, drag in your text and photos, and publish. Many advertise a free plan, which makes them very tempting when you're just starting out.
In practice, free plans show the builder's adverts and use a web address like yourname.wixsite.com, which doesn't look professional to customers. To use your own domain, remove the adverts and add a proper contact form, you'll usually need a paid plan of around £10-£35 a month - often more once you add extras such as booking tools or extra storage. Over a few years, that adds up to more than many professionally built websites.
The biggest cost, though, is your time. Writing the content, choosing the right images, setting up local SEO and making everything work well on phones can take days, and the result often looks like exactly what it is: a template filled in by someone who'd rather be on the tools. Every evening spent fiddling with your website is an evening you're not quoting, working or resting.
2Building it yourself with WordPress
WordPress powers a huge share of the web and gives you far more flexibility than a simple website builder. The software itself is free, but you'll need to pay for hosting, a domain name and usually a premium theme and a handful of plugins for contact forms, SEO and security.
The real challenge is that you become your own web developer. WordPress sites need regular updates to stay secure, plugins can clash with each other, and a slow or hacked website can quietly cost you enquiries for weeks before you notice. It's a great option if you enjoy the technical side, but most sole traders find it takes far more time than they expected.
3Hiring a freelance web designer
A good freelancer can build you a professional website for somewhere between £500 and £2,000, depending on the number of pages and features. You get a real person to talk to and a website designed around your business, which is a big step up from a DIY template.
The quality and aftercare, however, vary enormously. Some freelancers hand over the website and move on, leaving you to sort out hosting, updates and security yourself. Others are hard to reach when you need a quick change, or don't tell you upfront what changes will cost. Before you choose, always ask what happens after launch: who looks after the website, how much changes cost and whether SEO and mobile design are included.
4Going to a web design agency
Agencies have teams of designers, developers and marketers, and they produce excellent work. That expertise comes at a price, though: projects typically start from around £2,000 and can easily reach £5,000 or more, often with monthly retainers of £50-£150 for hosting, support and updates.
For a larger company with complex requirements, that can be money well spent. For a plumber, electrician, cleaner or decorator who needs a clear, fast website that brings in local enquiries, it's usually far more than necessary. You end up paying for meetings, project managers and agency overheads rather than features that win you more work.
What should a sole trader actually pay?
Rather than asking what the cheapest website is, it helps to ask what a website is worth to your business. For most trades, a single new job can be worth anywhere from £100 to several thousand pounds. If your website brings in just one or two extra customers a year, it has already paid for itself - and a good website should bring in far more than that.
That doesn't mean you need to spend thousands. A sole trader website doesn't need dozens of pages or complicated features. It needs to look professional, work perfectly on phones, load quickly, explain your services and the areas you cover, show your reviews and make it easy for customers to get in touch. You can read the full list in my guide to 15 essential features every sole trader website should have.
The best value option is one that gives you all of those essentials, built properly with local SEO in mind, at a price that makes sense for a one-person business - and with someone looking after it so you don't have to.
How my pricing compares
I created Anjuros Development specifically for UK sole traders and small trades businesses, so my pricing is designed around what you actually need. Here's how it compares with the typical costs elsewhere:
| What you need | Typical cost elsewhere | With me |
|---|---|---|
| Website design and build | £500-£5,000 | £99 for a customised design, or from £149 for a fully bespoke website |
| Payment upfront | Often 50% deposit or more | Nothing - you pay once you're happy with your finished website |
| Domain, hosting and SSL | Paid separately, often to different companies | All included in every care plan, from £9.99 a month |
| Security, backups and updates | Your job, or an extra monthly fee | Included as standard - I look after it for you |
| Content changes | £30-£60 an hour | From £10 per update, or up to 3 a month included with Care Plus |
| Mobile design and local SEO | Sometimes extra | Built into every website from day one |
| Managing enquiries and jobs | Separate software subscription | Job Management Portal included with Full Service, free for your first 2 months |
Put simply, a customised website with my Basic Care plan costs less than £200 for your whole first year: £99 for the website, two months of Full Service free, then £9.99 a month. That's less than many website builders charge, without you having to build or maintain anything yourself. You can see every option on my website design pricing page.
A professional website without the agency price tag
There's no single right price for a website, but there is a right choice for most sole traders. DIY builders cost you time, agencies cost you money you don't need to spend, and social media alone leaves you invisible on Google. What most tradespeople need is a professional, fast, mobile-friendly website built for local customers, at a fair price, with someone looking after it.
That's exactly what I offer. You can choose one of my website designs and I'll customise it with your content, images, colours and branding for £99, or I can design a completely bespoke website from £149. Every website includes mobile-friendly design, a contact form tailored to your business and strong SEO foundations as standard.
There's no risk to you: you don't pay anything upfront, you only pay the build fee once you're happy with your website, and your first two months of Full Service are free. After that, you can choose the care plan that suits you, and upgrade, downgrade or cancel at any time.
If you'd like a website that looks professional, helps customers find you and doesn't cost a fortune, I'd love to help. Get in touch and tell me about your business.
Get in touchFrequently asked questions
Why is your website so much cheaper than an agency?
I work only with sole traders and small trades businesses, so I've built a set of proven website designs around what those businesses need. Customising one of these is much faster than starting from a blank page, and as a small business myself I don't have agency overheads to cover. You get the same essentials - mobile design, fast pages and SEO foundations - without paying for things you don't need.
Do I have to pay anything upfront?
No. I'll build your website first, and you only pay the one-off build fee once you're happy with the finished result. Your first two months of Full Service are also free.
Are there any hidden costs?
No. Your domain renewal, hosting, SSL certificate, backups, security monitoring and software updates are all included in every care plan. The only extras are content updates on the Basic Care plan, which start from £10 and are listed clearly on my pricing page. On Care Plus and Full Service, updates are free of charge - up to 3 or 5 a month, depending on your plan.
Is a cheaper website worse quality?
Not necessarily. A website's quality depends on how well it's built, how fast it loads and how easy it makes it for customers to contact you - not on how much it cost. Many expensive websites are slow and hard to use on phones, while a well-built website for a sole trader can perform brilliantly on Google.
Can I cancel my care plan?
Yes. You can pay monthly or annually, and upgrade, downgrade or cancel your plan at any time. A care plan is what keeps your website online, so cancelling it means your website will no longer be hosted and maintained.
