How much does a website cost for a small business in the UK in 2026?

Swift7 / Blog / Cost Guide

Pricing

Swift7

· 8 min read

TL;DR

• A basic business website in the UK costs between £0 and £300 per year.
• DIY builders charge £9-£17/month. Done-for-you services charge £700 one-off with free hosting.
• With free hosting and no renewal fees, a £700 one-off site gives you complete peace of mind.
• You do not need to spend thousands. A simple, fast site beats an expensive slow one.

If you run a small business in the UK, you have probably Googled "how much does a website cost" and been hit with answers ranging from free to £10,000. The truth is simpler than that. For most small businesses, a professional website costs between £0 and £300 per year — and the cheapest option is not always the best value.

This guide breaks down the real costs, no jargon, no upselling. Whether you are a plumber in Hull, an accountant in Nottingham, or a decorator in Sheffield, this applies to you.

There are only three realistic options for a small business website in 2026:

1. Build it yourself with a website builder (Wix, Squarespace, GoDaddy)

This is the most common approach. You pick a template, drag and drop blocks, write your own content, and publish. The upside is control. The downside is time — and most business owners underestimate how long it takes to write good content and make a site look professional.

2. Hire a freelancer or agency

A local freelancer charges £500-£2,000 for a basic business site. An agency charges £2,000-£10,000+. You get a custom design, professional copywriting, and ongoing support. But for a 5-page business site, most of what you are paying for is project management and meetings.

3. Use a done-for-you service (like Swift7)

You fill in a short form. Someone else writes the content, designs the site, and launches it for you. Swift7 charges £700 for this — design, copywriting, free hosting, SSL, domain setup, email, and Google setup included.

Real cost breakdown

Here is what each option actually costs over 1, 2, and 3 years:

DIY Website Builder (Wix/Squarespace)

Monthly plan: £9-£17/month = £108-£204/year. Domain: £12/year extra. Total year 1: £120-£216. Total over 3 years: £360-£648.

But you also need to factor in your time. Writing content, choosing images, fixing layout issues, learning the builder — most business owners spend 20-40 hours on their first site. At even £15/hour, that is £300-£600 of your time.

Freelancer

One-off: £500-£2,000. Hosting: £100-£200/year. Domain: £12/year. Total year 1: £612-£2,212. Total over 3 years: £812-£2,612.

Swift7 Done-for-You

One-off: £700. Hosting: Free (no renewal fees). Domain setup included. Total over 3 years: £700 + your standard domain registration.

You spend 10 minutes filling in a form. Someone else does everything.

What you actually get for £700

This is not a template you customise yourself. Swift7 builds a complete business website from scratch:

• Custom design based on your brand and industry
• All content written for you — homepage, about, services, contact
• Mobile-friendly, tested across browsers
• Google Search Console setup with local SEO targeting
• Free hosting and SSL certificate included (no renewal fees)
• Professional email addresses (hello@yourbusiness.co.uk)
• Contact forms wired to your inbox
• WhatsApp button setup
• 5 SEO blog posts targeting local search terms
• Live in 7 days, guaranteed

Hosting is free with no renewal fees. No surprises, no recurring host costs.

When you should spend more

A £700 site is not right for everyone. You should spend more if:

• You need e-commerce (online shop with payment processing)
• You need a booking system integrated
• You have 20+ pages of complex content
• You need custom functionality (member areas, databases, APIs)

For most trades, service businesses, and sole traders — plumbers, roofers, electricians, accountants, cleaners, decorators — a simple 5-7 page site is all you need. The goal is to show up on Google, look professional, and make it easy for customers to contact you.

The hidden cost most people forget

The biggest cost of a website is not the build — it is the time it sits unfinished. Every week your site is "in progress" is a week your competitors are showing up in search results and you are not.

A £700 site live in 7 days will bring in more work than a £2,000 site that takes 3 months to launch. Speed beats perfection every time.

Bottom line

You do not need to spend thousands on a business website. You do not need to spend months building it yourself. For £700, you can have a professional, mobile-friendly, Google-optimised website live in 7 days — written, designed, and launched for you.

The question is not "how much does a website cost?" The question is "how much work am I losing by not having one?"

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Frequently asked questions

A basic business website in the UK costs between £0 and £300 per year. DIY builders like Wix and Squarespace charge £9-£17 per month. Done-for-you services like Swift7 charge a one-off £700 with free hosting included.

Yes. A £700 website from Swift7 includes design, copywriting, free hosting, SSL, domain setup, email setup, and Google Search Console configuration — everything a small business needs to go live. No hidden costs.

The cheapest option is a free Wix or WordPress.com plan, but these show ads and have limited features. For a professional site without ads, paid plans start at £9/month. A one-off £700 payment with free hosting is often cheaper over time than recurring builder subscriptions or agencies.

DIY builders take 1-4 weeks depending on your experience. Swift7 delivers a complete website in 7 days — designed, written, and launched for you.

Most website builders include hosting in their monthly price, but domain names typically cost £10-£15 per year extra. Swift7 includes free hosting, SSL, domain setup, and email in the £700 price, with no renewal fees for hosting.