Ask five people what a website costs and you'll get five answers, anywhere from "free" to "twenty grand." All five can be technically true, which is exactly why the question feels impossible to answer. The real answer depends on who does the work and what happens after launch — and the second part is where most service businesses get surprised.
The four ways to get a website
1. Do it yourself with a site builder
Platforms like Wix, Squarespace, and GoDaddy's builder typically run somewhere between $15 and $50 a month. The software is cheap. The real cost is your time: writing the copy, picking the layout, sourcing photos, setting up the domain, and figuring out why the contact form isn't sending. For a busy roofer or plumber, those evenings add up fast — and the result usually looks like what it is.
2. Hire a freelancer
A solid freelancer generally charges a one-time fee that lands in the low-to-mid four figures for a small business site. Quality varies enormously, and the bigger issue is what happens in month six: the freelancer has moved on, the site needs an update, and you're back to searching for help. Hosting, security updates, and content changes become your problem.
3. Hire an agency
Agencies bring strategy, design, and copywriting under one roof, and their pricing reflects it — small-business projects commonly start around five figures. For a multi-location company that can pay off. For a one-crew operation, it's usually more website than the business needs.
4. Use a productized website service
The newer model: a fixed build fee plus a flat monthly rate that covers everything — design, copywriting, hosting, SSL, backups, and ongoing changes. Sauce Sites, for example, builds a custom one-page site for $1,000 and manages everything for $495 a month. You never touch the website; you just send what changed.
The costs nobody puts on the quote
Whatever route you choose, the sticker price is rarely the whole price. Budget for these from day one:
- Hosting and SSL. Usually $10–50 a month if it's not bundled. A site without SSL shows "Not secure" in the browser — a conversion killer for a trades business.
- Copywriting. The words sell the job. If nobody is writing them for you, you're writing them yourself — or shipping a site full of placeholder text.
- Updates and maintenance. Plugins break, phone numbers change, new photos need adding. Unmanaged sites rot quietly until they embarrass you.
- Your own hours. Every hour spent fiddling with a website is an hour not spent quoting, invoicing, or on the tools.
So what should a service business actually spend?
A useful way to frame it: what is one new job worth to you? If your average job is worth a few hundred dollars or more, a website that brings in even one extra job a month pays for professional help several times over. The goal isn't the cheapest site — it's the site that makes a homeowner pick up the phone.
The cheapest website is the one that wins work. Everything else is an expense.
If you'd rather not become a part-time webmaster, that's exactly the gap we built Sauce Sites to fill: one price, everything handled, and a site that makes you look as established as you are. Curious how we compare for your trade? See how we handle local SEO for contractors next.