There isn’t one sensible price for every trades website. A short site for a sole trader and a business with several teams, online payments and complex booking rules are different jobs.
The better starting question is: what needs doing, and who will do it? That lets you compare a DIY subscription, a one-off build and an ongoing managed service on something closer to equal terms.
This isn’t a market price survey. Prices and offers change, and the scope can vary enormously. Instead, here’s how to read a quote and spot the work hiding behind the headline figure.
Start with the job the website needs to do
For many tradespeople, the brief is straightforward: explain the services, show credible examples, say where you work and make it easy to enquire. A site with those basics does not necessarily need a customer portal or a system that takes payments.
Write down your must-haves before comparing suppliers. Include the information you already have, such as a logo, photographs and service descriptions, and the things you need help creating. “Build me a website” can mean anything from arranging supplied content in a template to researching, writing and managing the whole site.
Also separate a website from ongoing marketing. Being online does not automatically mean customers will find you. Search work, advertising and regular content may be separate services, so ask what a quote actually covers.
The costs behind a website
Your domain is the address people type to find you. It normally needs renewing. Ask who manages that renewal, whether the cost is included and what happens to the domain if you leave.
Hosting is the service that makes the site available online. Some platforms bundle it into a subscription; other arrangements separate it from the build. A low hosting cost doesn’t remove the work of setting up and maintaining the site.
Design and content cover how the pages look and what they say. Check whether writing, image preparation and mobile layout are included, and how feedback is handled. It helps to know how many pages and rounds of changes the quote allows.
Ongoing care includes keeping contact details current, making agreed changes and dealing with technical issues. Different websites require different maintenance. Ask what “maintenance” means in that particular offer rather than assuming it includes every future request.
Extras might include business email, booking tools, call handling, reporting or paid imagery. A website subscription isn’t automatically a subscription to all of those things.
DIY: cheaper invoices, more of your time
A self-service builder can be a reasonable choice if you like working on the site yourself. You can try layouts, change wording and move things around without waiting for someone else.
But you’re also taking responsibility for the decisions. Someone still needs to choose the structure, write the pages, prepare photos, connect the domain and check that forms work. Later, someone needs to make updates and work out what has happened if something breaks.
There is nothing wrong with doing that yourself. Just count the time as part of the decision. For a useful comparison, estimate the hours you’ll spend getting started and maintaining it, then ask what else you would otherwise do with those hours. Don’t assume every hour would have been paid work, but don’t treat all your evenings as free either.
A one-off build: check what happens afterwards
Paying someone to build a site can give you a clear initial project and a defined handover. It may suit a business with someone ready to manage the finished result.
The important bit is the boundary between the project and ongoing support. After launch, can you make changes yourself? Is hosting included for a period? What would it cost to add a service, replace photos or fix a form? Who has the necessary access?
A good comparison asks those questions before the work starts. A low build price with paid changes afterwards may still be good value, provided it matches how you want to run the site.
A managed service: paying to have it handled
With a managed website, the service continues after the build. The attraction is having someone responsible for looking after it, rather than giving you a tool and leaving you to operate it.
That doesn’t mean every managed package includes unlimited changes. Ask about the scope, response times, contact person and any limits. A small text edit and a new booking system are very different requests.
For no bother, the point is that you provide the initial business details and come back to us when something needs changing. We handle the website work. You can read how our managed service works and decide whether that suits you better than self-service.
Compare the full commitment
Use the same period for every option. Add the setup charge, subscriptions over that period and any known required extras. Then note what happens on renewal and cancellation.
For a deliberately fictional example, a £300 setup charge plus £20 a month totals £540 over twelve months. A £45 monthly package with no setup charge also totals £540 over twelve months. The totals match, but the included work, ownership and flexibility could be quite different. These figures illustrate the calculation; they are not market prices or no bother offers.
At the time of writing, no bother’s proposed early-bird website offer is £29 a month with no setup fee and a twelve-month initial term: £348 over that term, before any agreed extras or tax treatment. Final scope, availability and terms need confirming before signup. Check the current pricing page rather than relying on an older article.
Seven questions to ask before agreeing
- What pages, writing and images are included?
- Who manages the domain and renewals?
- What changes can I request after launch?
- Who do I contact when I need something?
- What is the total initial commitment, including required extras and any applicable tax?
- What can I take with me if I leave, and what does handover involve?
- Which results are being promised, and which services are genuinely included?
The right answer isn’t always the lowest invoice. It’s the arrangement that gets the job done at a cost and level of involvement you’re comfortable with. If you want the website handled for you, let’s talk about your business.