A simple, affordable website for your business
The cheapest website that works is a small one: a few pages that load fast on a phone, say what you do and where, show your hours, and make it easy to call or book. Here are the ways to get one, from doing it yourself to having it built for you, and what each one costs.
Ways to get a simple website
| Way | Who does the work | What it costs | Good to know |
|---|---|---|---|
| A website builder (Squarespace, Wix and others) | You | Squarespace's pricing page listed plans from $19 a month paid yearly, or $25 month to month, on October 18, 2026 | You pay every month, and your site stays on their system. |
| Hiring another local web designer | Them | Local designers we checked publish starting prices from $399 paid once to about $2,500, and monthly plans from $39 to $325 (checked October 2026) | Ask who owns the domain and logins, and what the monthly fee covers. |
These are the prices each business published on its own site when we checked. Prices change, so confirm with them before you buy.
What every small business site needs
- Your business name, what you do, and the areas you serve, in plain words near the top.
- Your hours, phone number or email, and one clear next step (call, book or get a quote).
- Pages that load fast on a phone and work for people using screen readers.
- A Google listing that matches the site: the same name, phone and hours.
Try it first
See how your current site does on a phone with our free website check.
Check your website freeQuestions
Is a cheap website bad for SEO?
No. Google looks at whether a page works, loads on a phone and answers the search, not at what it cost. Plenty of expensive sites fail on phones: of the 11 web design and marketing businesses' own sites that came up in local searches we checked on October 16, 2026, 9 scored under 90 out of 100 for speed on Google's phone test (Lighthouse), where Google's "Good" starts.
Do I need a website if I have a Google listing?
The listing gets you on the map. A website holds what the listing can't: your full services, your prices and answers to common questions. In local searches we ran on October 16, 2026, Google's AI answers for cheap, affordable and simple websites named at least 9 businesses. Of the 7 whose sites we checked, 6 publish prices on their own sites, and every price Google quoted matched the business's own page.
What does a website cost after it's built?
A domain name each year; hosting, which is free for simple sites on services like Cloudflare Pages; and email on your own domain if you want it. A monthly care plan is optional.
Updated October 18, 2026.
Got a question about your business?
Local shops can start with a free look. For websites, AI or how your business runs, we talk it through and put a plan in writing.