The short version
- Pay-monthly websites usually cost £45 to £79 a month. Over two years that’s £1,080 to £1,896, and you often don’t own the site at the end.
- A directory profile like Checkatrade starts from £30 + VAT a month, but it’s a profile on their site, next to other trades, not a site of your own.
- A one-off build with cheap hosting afterwards is usually the lowest cost over time, as long as the site and domain are yours.
- My packages are £295, £495 and £795, with 12 months’ hosting included and £19 a month after that.
“How much is a website?” is a bit like “how much is an extension?”. It depends on the size, who does it and what’s included. But for a trade business the range is narrower than you might think, and the real differences are in how you pay and what you end up owning.
What you’re paying for
Whoever builds it, a trade website is made of the same few parts. When you compare quotes, check each one is covered:
- Design and build. The layout, how it looks on a phone, and making it load quickly.
- The words. What you do, where you work and why someone should pick you. This is the part most people underestimate, and the part that decides whether the site gets you work.
- Photos. Usually your own job photos, cropped and sized properly. Stock photos of someone else’s work don’t win jobs.
- Your domain. The address, like yourbusiness.co.uk. A small yearly fee, and it should be registered in your name.
- Hosting. The server that keeps the site online. Paid monthly or yearly.
- Changes and support. Swapping photos, adding a service, fixing something that breaks.
The main routes, and what they really cost
Doing it yourself on a website builder
Builders like Wix and Squarespace charge a monthly plan, and you do the rest. The money is the small part. The real cost is your evenings: picking a template, writing every word, sorting the photos and working out why it looks wrong on a phone. If you enjoy that, it can work. It’s very common to start one and never quite finish it.
Pay-monthly websites
A company builds the site and you pay a monthly fee, typically £45 to £79 a month, often with little or nothing upfront. It’s easy to start, but it adds up, and the site is often rented. Before you sign, ask what you keep if you stop paying. Sometimes the answer is nothing, not even the domain.
Directory profiles
Checkatrade, MyBuilder and similar sites can bring in leads, and the vetting badge carries weight with some customers. Checkatrade Approved starts from £30 + VAT a month. But your profile sits on their site, next to your competitors, and it goes when you stop paying. It works best alongside a website, not instead of one.
A one-off build from a freelancer or agency
You pay once for the build, then a smaller amount for hosting. Agencies with a bigger team tend to charge more. A freelancer who knows trades can be the sweet spot. You get a site built around your business, you own it, and the running cost after launch is low.
Two-year cost compared
What someone finds when they look you up, and what each option costs you over the first two years:
| Option | When someone looks you up, they find | Two-year cost |
|---|---|---|
| Word of mouth on its own | Maybe a Google listing, and little else | £0 |
| A Facebook or Instagram page | A feed to scroll through, not all of it visible without an account | £0 |
| Checkatrade Approved | A profile on Checkatrade’s site, not a site of your own | From £720 + VAT24 months at £30 + VAT |
| A typical pay-monthly website | Your own site, often rented | £1,080 to £1,89624 months at £45 to £79 |
| STONEXA Starter | Your work, services, areas and number on a site that’s yours to keep | £523£295, then £19 a month after the first 12 months |
Prices checked October 2026. Plans and terms vary, so check the latest before you sign up to anything.
Questions to ask before you pay anyone
Whoever you go with, these questions will tell you most of what you need to know:
- Whose name is the domain registered in? It should be yours.
- What happens if I stop paying? Do you get the files and the domain, or does the site just disappear?
- What does hosting cost after the first year? And can you cancel it, or are you tied in?
- Who writes the words? If the answer is you, you’re paying for a template.
- What do changes cost later? New photos and services come up all the time.
- How fast will it load on a phone? Ask for the Google PageSpeed score of a site they’ve built, then test it yourself. 90 or above is good.
- Do I pay before I’ve seen it? Some designers take a deposit or the full amount upfront. It’s worth knowing where you stand.
How many pages do you need?
Fewer than you’d think. A rough guide:
- One page is enough if most of your work comes from recommendations and you want somewhere smart to send people.
- Around five pages makes sense if you want a page for each main service. Separate service pages give you a better chance of turning up when people search for the jobs you do locally.
- Around ten pages suits firms with lots of services, or a wider area with pages for the main towns you cover.
What I charge
I build websites for trades, and I was on the tools in general building for over eight years before that. My prices are fixed:
- Starter, £295. A one-page site: what you do, photos of your work, the areas you cover and how to get in touch.
- Trade, £495. Up to 5 pages, with a page for each main service and a page about you.
- Pro, £795. Up to 10 pages, with room for more services, the towns you cover and project write-ups.
Every package includes the design, the words, your domain and 12 months’ hosting. After that it’s £19 a month, rolling, so you can cancel anytime and I’ll hand over the files and the domain. There’s nothing to pay upfront. You see the finished site first, and only pay once you’re happy with it.
See full pricing and what’s included, or read how I built Elite Interior’s site in 4 days.
