Small business website guides. Straight answers, real prices.

It depends on who builds it and how you pay, which is why the cost guide above gives ranges rather than one number. Our own plan is £99 to set up and then £29.99 a month, with bespoke design, UK hosting, SSL, a .co.uk domain in your name, business email, 3 content edits a month and support all inside that figure; an online shop is £49.98 a month all-in, with card fees only and no commission on sales. Whatever you're quoted elsewhere, ask what the hosting, domain, security updates and edits will cost once the site is live - that's the part most quotes leave out.

Worth it if you'd rather one number covered the build, hosting, domain, email, security and every future edit, and you don't want to run the site yourself. Less so if you're hands-on and would genuinely enjoy looking after your own site - paying once and owning it outright can make more sense, and the pay-monthly guide says so. The catches to check on any pay-monthly deal are who owns the domain, what happens when you leave and whether edits are really included. On ours the domain is registered in your name from day one, you can cancel any time with 30 days' notice and no exit fee, and the website is yours to keep once you've completed 12 months.

The short version: a clear line on the home page saying what you do and where, a page for each main service, real photos of your work, your contact details on every page, a contact form that actually reaches you, a privacy policy and cookie notice, SSL, and a layout that works on a phone first. Underneath that sits the local search groundwork - a Google Business Profile that matches the site, and pages that name the towns you serve. The checklist guide walks through every item; if you'd rather we handled the Google side, our local SEO service is £99.99 a month, month to month, no contract.