A professional website for a UK tradesperson typically costs from £1,500 to £3,500 as a one-off build, or £40 to £150 per month on a subscription. Where you land in that range depends on pages, copywriting, and who does the thinking. Here is how the pricing actually works.
The three price bands, honestly compared
DIY builders like Wix or Squarespace charge £10 to £30 a month. The tool is cheap because you are the labour: the layout, the words, the SEO, and the upkeep are all on you. For a busy trade, that usually means a half-finished site that quietly undersells the business.
Freelancers typically charge £500 to £1,500 for a small site. Quality varies enormously. Some are excellent. Others hand over a template with your logo swapped in and disappear when it breaks.
Studios and agencies run from about £1,500 to £5,000 and beyond. What you are paying for at this level is the thinking: who your customers are, what makes them call, and how the site earns its keep. At KGStudio a five-page build with copywriting included starts from £1,750.
What actually moves the price
Page count matters less than people expect. Going from five pages to eight adds a few hundred pounds, not thousands. The expensive parts are the ones that take skill: writing copy that sells, photography direction, booking systems, and local SEO groundwork.
Copywriting is the one most trades skip, and it shows. A website with weak words is a brochure nobody reads. If a quote does not mention who writes the words, assume the answer is you.
Why the cheapest quote is usually the dearest
A £400 website that never generates an enquiry costs £400 plus every job it failed to win. A £2,000 website that books one extra bathroom refit a month pays for itself before the invoice clears.
Judge quotes by expected return, not sticker price. Ask each builder: what will this site do to my enquiries, and how will we measure it? The ones with a real answer are the ones worth shortlisting.
The ongoing costs nobody mentions up front
Every website has running costs: domain (£10 to £20 a year), hosting (£5 to £30 a month), and maintenance. WordPress sites in particular need updates, backups, and security patching, which is why care plans exist, typically £30 to £100 a month.
A static build like Astro needs almost no upkeep, which is why we default to it for trades that want a hands-off site. Ask any builder what the site costs in year two, not just year one.
Five questions to ask before you pay anyone
One: what exactly is included, itemised? Two: who writes the copy? Three: what does it cost to run in year two? Four: do I own the domain and the site outright? Five: what happens if I need changes after launch?
Any builder worth hiring answers all five without flinching. If the answers are vague, the invoice will not be.
- DIY builders cost £10 to £30 a month but cost you the time and skill needed to make them convert
- Freelancer builds usually run £500 to £1,500, agencies £1,500 to £5,000 and up
- Copywriting, page count, and booking features move the price more than design does
- A cheap site that never rings is more expensive than a dear one that books jobs
- Ask any quote to be itemised: build, content, hosting, and ongoing care are separate jobs
Questions, answered
Can I get a decent trade website for under £500?
Sometimes, if you write your own copy and your needs are simple. But most sub-£500 builds are templates with no thought behind them, and they rarely generate enquiries. Budget £1,500 to £3,500 for a site built to win work.
Is a monthly payment website a bad idea?
Not always, but read the contract. Many pay-monthly deals mean you never own the site, so stopping payment means losing everything. Over three years you often pay more than a one-off build would have cost.
Should VAT be included in website quotes?
Ask. Smaller freelancers under the VAT threshold will not charge it; agencies usually add 20%. A £2,000 quote can really be £2,400, so confirm before comparing.
How much does KGStudio charge?
Astro builds start from £1,750 and WordPress builds from £2,000, both including copywriting. The instant estimate tool on this site gives you a full range in about two minutes, no email required.
