Quick answer
A website for a small UK trades business can cost anything from a DIY builder subscription of around £10 to £30 a month, to roughly £500 to £3,000 from a freelancer, to several thousand pounds from an agency. Running costs (domain, hosting, updates) come on top. The right choice depends on your time, how much help you want and who owns what at the end.
What are the main ways to get a website?
There are four common routes. The price ranges below are rounded from published UK price guides from 2026 (listed in the sources). They are a rough guide to help you budget, not a survey, and real quotes vary a lot.
| Option | Typical cost | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| DIY website builder | About £10 to £30 a month (often shown before VAT), plus your time | Very small budgets, if you have time to build and update it yourself |
| Freelance web designer | About £500 to £3,000 one-off for a small brochure site | A simple site built for you, if you find someone reliable |
| Web design agency | From about £3,000, often much more | Bigger sites, custom features, more support |
| Monthly website plan | A fixed monthly fee, usually with a minimum term | Spreading the cost, with hosting and changes included |
What running costs should you budget for?
The build is only part of the cost. Ask every provider what happens after launch.
- Domain name: a .co.uk domain is usually around £10 to £15 a year.
- Hosting: roughly £5 to £15 a month for basic hosting at renewal prices, more for managed hosting.
- Maintenance and updates: software updates, security fixes and backups. Published guides put basic maintenance at roughly £25 to £150 a month.
- Changes: new photos, prices or services. Some providers include them, others charge by the hour.
- Email on your own domain, often charged per user per month.
Why do quotes vary so much?
Two quotes for "a five-page website" can mean very different things. The usual differences are:
- Who writes the words and sources the photos.
- Whether it is built on a template or designed from scratch.
- Whether local SEO basics, structured data and tracking are included.
- How fast and secure the finished site is.
- What support you get after launch, and how quickly.
- Who owns the domain, the design and the content at the end.
A cheap site that loads slowly, has no clear way to call you and can't be updated may cost more in lost jobs than it saved.
What should you ask before you pay?
- Will the domain be registered in my business's name?
- What exactly is included: pages, words, photos, forms, SEO basics?
- What does it cost per month or per year after launch?
- How do I ask for changes, and what do they cost?
- Is there a minimum term, and what happens when it ends?
- Can I take my website and content with me if I leave?
- Can I see sites you've built that are live now?
What does LBX Digital charge?
We are one option among many, so here are our prices plainly. LBX Digital is the trading name of LBX GROUP sp. z o.o., a company registered in Poland. No VAT added: LBX Digital is not VAT-registered. UK VAT-registered businesses may need to account for VAT under the reverse charge.
- Website plan: £179 a month with a 12-month minimum term. Design, hosting, security and small changes are included.
- Complete plan (website and social media): £599 a month plus a £239 one-off setup fee. The website has the same 12-month minimum term; you can stop social media at the end of any month and keep your website.
- Website bought outright: £1,190 one-off, with optional hosting and care for £49 a month.
- Social media only: £429 a month, or £790 a month for the bigger plan, month to month.
Your domain is always registered in your business's name. After the 12-month minimum term the website plan runs month to month with 30 days' notice. If you leave, you can take your content with you; if you also want the website files, the handover price is set in your written quote. A website bought outright is yours once it is paid for.
Full details are on our pricing page and in our terms, and you can see what's included on our websites page.
A monthly plan isn't automatically cheaper or more expensive than a one-off build. Add up the full cost over two or three years, including hosting and changes, and compare like with like.
What should a trades website include for the money?
Whatever you pay, a small trades website should do the basics well. If a quote doesn't cover these, ask why.
- A tap-to-call phone number and a short quote form on every page.
- A page for each main service and a clear list of the areas you cover.
- Real photos of your work and your genuine reviews.
- Fast loading on a phone, HTTPS and a short privacy notice.
- Your company details, insurance and any accreditations you genuinely hold.
Our roofing website checklist goes through each of these in more detail, and most of it applies to any trade.
Is a monthly plan or a one-off build better?
A one-off build usually costs more upfront and less later, but you pay separately for hosting, updates and changes. A monthly plan spreads the cost and bundles the upkeep, but you are committed for the minimum term. Check what you own at the end of either option, and how easy it is to move.
If you rarely change anything and are happy managing hosting yourself, a one-off build can make sense. If you want someone else to handle updates, security and changes, a monthly plan is often simpler.