Updated November 2026. Hello! We’re John and Brian, and we’ve been designing websites for small businesses from our office in Preston, Lancashire since 2009. “How much should a website cost?” is one of the questions we’re asked most, so here’s a straight answer, followed by a plain-English look at what changes the price.

How much does a website cost in the UK?

Here’s what we charge at Pumpkin Web Design:

A simple 2-page website: from £499 + VAT.
A typical startup or small business website of 5 to 8 pages: £499 to £999 + VAT.
Larger websites with many more pages and custom development: upwards of that, depending on what you need. Get in touch for a quote.

These prices are a one-off setup fee for designing and building your website. On top of that there’s a monthly support fee, which includes your hosting. We’ll confirm the monthly figure in your quote.

The biggest things that affect the price are how many pages you need, any extra features (such as an online shop, booking or a custom calculator), who provides the written content and images, and how much SEO work you’d like on top of the basics.

What’s included in a Pumpkin website?

We build every website in WordPress. Your one-off setup fee covers:

A tailored, responsive WordPress website that works on phones, tablets and computers
On-page SEO and submission to Google for indexing
Contact forms, with Google reCAPTCHA to help keep spam out
Wordfence security and LiteSpeed Cache for site performance

Your monthly support fee then covers hosting on our managed UK hosting platform with Catalyst2, plus ongoing updates, changes and advice (more on that below). We can also give you training if you’d like to make changes yourself.

Some things aren’t covered by the setup fee or support, and are quoted separately: professional video production, branding, photography, advanced SEO, Google Ads and additional content creation. Your quote will set out the one-off setup fee, the monthly support fee and any extras you’ve asked for.

What affects the cost of a website?

The number of pages

Most of the work goes into the first part of a project: getting to know your business, and designing the homepage and overall look so it fits your brand. Extra pages build on that design, so a 5 to 8 page site costs more than a 2-page site, but not several times more. Many of our clients start small and add pages, blog posts and new ideas over time as their business grows.

Features and functionality

A brochure-style website that tells people what you do and how to get in touch is the simplest kind of build. Prices rise when a website needs to do more, for example:

An online shop. We build shops with WooCommerce, and an online shop is often £999 + VAT. To keep costs down, we set the whole shop up with a handful of products across several categories so it starts to take shape, then we train you to add the rest of your catalogue. It’s something every shop owner really should know how to do anyway. If you’d rather we added every product for you, that will cost more. Our Avalana Design case study shows a WooCommerce shop we built for an interiors business.
Online ordering for takeaways. We set up online food ordering using the Orderable plugin for WordPress, so customers can order through your own website rather than a third-party app.
Custom development. Bespoke features take longer to plan and build. For The Storage Works, we built a bespoke price calculator so visitors can choose a location and unit size and see a price straight away.

Content: words, photos and video

We encourage you to provide your own written content and images where you can, because websites work best when the content is authentic and specific to your business. If you need a hand, we can create some basic content and use stock images to get you started. If you’d like more, our team includes a content writer, a commercial photographer and a videographer, and these are priced as extras.

SEO

Every website we build includes on-page SEO and submission to Google. That gives your site a solid, search-friendly starting point. If you want to push harder for more visibility in Google and AI search, we offer monthly SEO packages for our web design clients, covering things like blog content, new landing pages, backlinks, site speed and keyword monitoring. Google’s own SEO Starter Guide is a good free introduction if you’d like to understand the basics.

Hosting, domains and email

We host the websites we build with Catalyst2, a UK managed hosting provider. Hosting isn’t part of the one-off setup fee; it’s included in your monthly support fee. If you already have a website, we build your new one on our server while your current site stays live, then handle the technical switchover when you’re happy. After that, you’d only need to look after your domain name renewals and email hosting with your current provider.

Why ongoing support matters

A website isn’t something you build once and forget. It needs to be managed, updated, monitored and backed up, and occasionally something will need fixing. For most business owners that’s daunting stuff, which is why we offer support as standard. In fact, our business is built on it.

Support with us can cover things like:

Adding a blog post or a new page from content you send us
Changing a phone number, a homepage image or a contact form
Embedding a video
Running security updates, installing plugins and sorting out plugin issues
Organising backups
Updating content to target new search phrases, and advice on SEO

Your monthly support fee also covers your hosting, and we very rarely raise an additional invoice for this kind of work. We’ll also give you advice to help push your business forward, not just online. Support requests land in our help desk, and we work through them as our first job every working day. Sometimes, if we spot a request early, we’ll get to it the same day.

That’s why we’d always suggest looking beyond the build price when you compare quotes. Ask what happens after launch: who keeps the site secure and up to date, who makes changes, and how quickly. A website that’s looked after and keeps growing will do far more for your business over the years than one that’s left alone.

How we put a quote together

It’s hard to give an accurate price without understanding your business, so the best first step is a quick, informal chat. We’ll usually ask:

What does your business do?
What are you hoping your website will do for you?
Do you already have a website we can look at?
Are there any websites you really like?
What content do you already have (photos, videos, written text)?
Are you working to a budget?

It usually takes about 10 minutes to get a good overview, and we can often give you a quote while we’re on the phone. Once you’re ready to go, we’ll send a simple agreement, a link for payments, a short form about your preferences and the setup invoice. You’ll get a preview link of your homepage early on, and a new website is typically ready within 2 to 4 weeks, depending on the project and how quickly we receive your information.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a small business website cost?

With us, a typical startup or small business website of 5 to 8 pages costs £499 to £999 + VAT as a one-off setup fee. A simple 2-page site starts from £499 + VAT. There’s also a monthly support fee, which includes hosting, and we’ll confirm it in your quote.

How much does an online shop cost?

A WooCommerce online shop is often £999 + VAT with us. We set the shop up with a handful of products across several categories, then train you to add the rest of your products, which keeps costs down. If you’d like us to add your whole catalogue for you, it will cost more. The monthly support fee applies as with any of our websites.

How much does a large or custom website cost?

Larger websites with many more pages, or with custom features, cost more than £999 + VAT. The price depends on what’s involved, so get in touch and we’ll give you a quote.

Do I need to pay for support after my website is built?

Yes. Alongside the one-off setup fee there’s a monthly support fee, and it includes your hosting. A website needs ongoing care: updates, security, backups and changes as your business grows. We ask clients to work with us on a 12-month basis, and we’ll confirm the monthly figure in your quote. Find out more on our support page.

How long does it take to build a website?

Typically 2 to 4 weeks from when you’ve completed our brief form, signed the agreement and paid the setup invoice. It can vary with the size of the project and how quickly we receive your content.

Do I have to write the content myself?

Not necessarily. We encourage you to provide your own words and photos where possible, but we can create some basic content and use stock images to get you started. More in-depth content writing, photography and video are available as extras.

Can you work on my existing website?

We usually only support websites we’ve built ourselves, because we build on technology we know and trust. We’ll only take on a website someone else has built if we fully understand the technology and method used to build it, and that’s quite rare. If your current site isn’t working for you, we can build you a new one while your old site stays live.

Where are you based?

Our office is in Starkie Chambers on Lancaster Road, in Preston city centre. We work with businesses across Lancashire and the wider UK.

Ready to talk about your website?

If you’d like a price for your website, give John and Brian a call on 01772 822626 or get in touch online. You’re welcome to pop into our Preston office for a coffee too. Our office is on the first floor and there’s no lift, so if you find stairs difficult, please let us know and we’ll arrange to meet you somewhere more convenient. You can also see examples of our work in our case studies and read what clients say on our reviews page.

How much does a website cost in the UK? Our 2026 prices