How Much Does a Small Business Website Really Cost in 2025? (With Real Examples)

Your website is your #1 digital asset. Done right, it pays for itself exponentially by adapting to the needs of your growing business. But what should you actually budget in 2025, without getting upsold or hit with surprise fees? Here’s what owners can expect to spend for an agency-grade website for small business, why those numbers can vary, and where ongoing costs come from.

A Quick Look

• DIY builders: Usually around $19–$159/month, before add-ons. Fast to launch, but very limited performance and flexibility as you grow. Built for easy setup, not for your customers.
• Managed WordPress + a pro team: In 2025, serious small-business builds start at around $6,000–$8,000 and often land $7,500–$15,000 for 5–12 pages. Only more complex builds, with custom integrations and UX design, will put you in the $15,000–$25,000+ range.
• E-commerce: Add platform and processing (e.g., Shopify Basic starts at ~$39/month), and expect a higher build range for product data, checkout, taxes, and shipping logic.

Why these ranges? Credible industry reports and pricing guides show agency projects frequently sit above entry-level DIY and into custom, performance-driven territory. Lead conversion, Core Web Vitals, and tailored, structured content are a core focus and the keys to your online success.

Let’s look at some examples to quickly ballpark your website pricing, then compare quotes line by line.

Basic Ongoing Costs (Keep Your Website Humming)

Website Domain

Plan ~$11–$19/year for a .com depending on registrar and promos. (Cloudflare sells domains at cost. Namecheap often discounts year one.)

Website Hosting

• DIY Website Builders bundle hosting into plan pricing (see Wix tiers).
• Managed WordPress hosting (e.g., Kinsta, WP Engine) typically starts around $30–$35+/month for entry tiers with performance, backups, and security built-in.

Essential Website Security (SSL)

Most modern hosts provide free SSL via Let’s Encrypt. Auto-issued and renewed.

Website Maintenance & Small Updates

For a business-critical site, aim to budget around $100–$500+/month (backups, updates, uptime/security monitoring, minor content tweaks, and performance checks). Multiple 2024–2025 sources (Webstacks, StateWP) place small business website care plans in this band.

Which Approach Fits Your Goals And Budget?

DIY Website Builders (like Wix or Shopify)

Fast to start with predictable subscriptions. But, add-ons and app fees can creep on quickly. Website migrations later can be time-consuming and expensive.

Managed WordPress + Pro Team (agency-grade)

Your up-front investment pays off with lower long-term friction. You keep flexibility and SEO strength, and you own your entire platform. Typical small-business builds land $7.5k–$15k, rising with custom UX, integrations, and content strategy.

Real-World Example Budgets

1) “Get Me Found & Calling” Starter (5–7 pages)

Best for: Local services that need calls and quote requests from phones.
Includes: Strategy, concise content tuning, custom WordPress, mobile-first UX, structured data, and basic analytics.

• Build: $6,000–$9,500 (content readiness and any booking or reviews integrations)
• Domain: ~$11–$19/year
• Managed WP hosting: ~$30–$35+/month
• SSL: Free via Let’s Encrypt
• Care plan: $100–$200/month (backups, updates, minor edits, uptime/security)

Year 1 Total: ~$7,500–$11,800
Ongoing after Year 1: ~$1,300–$2,700/yr

2) “Office-Ready” Professional Site (8–15 pages)

Best for: Practices and pro services that need stronger automations, FAQs, reviews feed, analytics events, and reliability.
Includes: Page-level content strategy, structured data/FAQ, performance tuning, and accessibility checks.

• Build: $9,500–$15,000 (more pages, content, and compliance patterns)
• Domain: ~$11–$19/year
• Managed WP hosting: $35–$60+/month (scales with traffic/features)
• SSL: Free via Let’s Encrypt
• Care plan: $200–$350/month (proactive updates, reporting, and minor requests)

Year 1 Total: ~$12,200–$19,900
Ongoing after Year 1: ~$2,600–$4,900/yr

3) “Storefront to Checkout” E-commerce (10–30 products)

Option A: Shopify

• Platform: Basic ~$39/month (annual discounts common) and transaction/app fees.
• Build: $7,500–$12,000 (theme setup, product templates, tax/shipping, policies, and launch QA)
• Care: $150–$300/month (merch help and updates)

Option B: WordPress + WooCommerce

• Hosting: Consider higher-tier managed or Woo-optimized hosting for speed & support.
• Build: $12,000–$25,000+ (checkout, rules, integrations, performance & QA)
• Care: $250–$500+/month (more moving parts)

Typical Year-1 all-in:

• Shopify: ~$9,000–$16,500
• Woocommerce: ~$15,500–$31,500+

10-Second Budget Check

• Brochure or Lead-Gen Site: Plan ~1–2% of annual revenue for your initial build and ongoing maintenance.
• E-Commerce or Lead-Critical: Plan around 2–5% (remember, you’re funding a sales channel).
• Gut check: If one average job covers a month of care, your website pricing is on target.

Hidden Costs They Don’t Tell You Up-Front

Content (copy and photos)

Clear, on-brand content converts viewers into customers. Budget for writing and a focused photo session, if time is tight.

Local SEO + AI-readiness

Clean service pages, accurate NAP (Name, Address, Phone), structured data, and FAQs help Google and AI assistants understand and recommend your business. See our Guides for more practical steps and checklists.

Performance

Core Web Vitals correlate directly with conversions and search visibility. Premium managed WordPress hosts (e.g., WP Engine, Kinsta) provide the tooling to stay fast as you grow.

Red Flags To Avoid

🚩 Vague scope (promise “unlimited” with no specifics)
🚩 No plan for hosting, SSL, and maintenance after launch
🚩 No mobile demo (tap-to-call from the home page needs to be obvious)
🚩 Unclear ownership of your domain and site

What Fourth Coast Web Does Differently

At Fourth Coast Web, we keep it simple and results-driven:

• Transparent website pricing with clear scopes. No tech jargon, no surprises. See Packages & Pricing for details.
• Mobile-first, AI-ready WordPress and WooCommerce. Built to show up in Google and AI answers (like ChatGPT).
• Friendly, owner-led support in Wisconsin. On-time launches, mindful updates, and a single accountable team.

If you’re feeling boxed in by a builder, we explain the trade-offs here:
Why Many Home Service Businesses Are Ditching DIY Website Builders

FAQ