# The True Cost of Building a Website: What Small Businesses Need to Know Canonical URL: Published: 2024-09-30 Source: FloLoop () Building a website is an important step for any business. It can help amplify your sales process and position you and your business as an expert source in your field. But whether you're a solopreneur or a growing small business, understanding the true cost behind it and what you are really looking for is essential. The tricky part is, not all website building methods are created equal, and what seems cheap upfront can balloon into hidden fees or require more time and effort than you initially expected. In this blog post, we’ll explore the four most common ways to build a website—from DIY platforms to hiring a full-time web designer. We’ll cover cost expectations, timelines, additional tools, and the effort required from you as a business owner to help you make the best decision. ### **Option 1: DIY Website Builders** If you're just starting and want to keep your budget as low as possible, DIY website builders like Squarespace, Wix, and WordPress (using themes and plugins) are popular choices. These platforms offer pre-designed templates, easy drag-and-drop tools, and no need for coding skills. **Where to source:** You can sign up directly with Squarespace, Wix, or WordPress.com and begin building immediately. **Cost benchmarks:** - [Squarespace](https://www.squarespace.com/): $12 to $40/month for plans, plus custom domain fees (starting at $20/year). - [Wix](https://www.wix.com/): $16 to $45/month, with additional costs for premium apps or plugins. - [WordPress.com](https://wordpress.com/): $8 to $45/month, depending on the plan. - [WordPress.org](https://wordpress.org/): you’ll need to purchase hosting separately, which can start as low as $3.95/month, but premium hosting can range up to $30/month or more. - Additional Tools: Custom domains, themes, plugins, and marketing can increase costs. At the bottom there will be a full breakdown of the tools you need to effectively automate your lead gen, sales, and marketing. *[If you'd like to read about the pros and cons of the most well known website building software platforms just click here.](https://floloop.com/blog/which-website-builder-is-right-for-you-breaking-down-the-best-options-for-2025) **Timeline:** You can build your site in as little as a few days to a couple of weeks, depending on your level of commitment and design requirements and most importantly technical & design skill. **Quality expectations:** DIY platforms are user-friendly and great for basic informational sites or blogs. However, for more complex or custom features, their limitations can become apparent and a little bit frustrating. **Management and labor:** As the business owner, you’ll be responsible for everything—design, updates, and any troubleshooting. Over time, you may find you need more technical skills than you anticipated. **Pro tip 1:** If you are planning to build your site by yourself, fill out as much of the layout, styling, and content as possible. Keep an ongoing and specific list of any technical issues or edits you were unable to solve on your own. Once you have added as much of the content and you've taken your site as far as you can on your own, go to a site like Fiverr or Upwork and hire a developer to resolve that list. You should be able to get this done for $50 - $500 depending on the amount and complexity of your changes. **Pro tip 2:** Check, double check, and triple check the actual costs of plugins, apps, and embedded or integrated tools. It may seem like a quick and low cost solution but many times there are additional monthly or annual fees that increase based on usage. The way these apps and plugins get you is they give you the tool for free until you get users, sales, or traffic. Once you are on the paid plan, it gets extremely expensive and quick. ### **Option 2: Hiring a Freelancer** Freelance web designers can create a more personalized, custom site for your business while keeping costs lower than a web agency. You can find freelancers on platforms like Upwork, Freelancer.com, Fiverr.com or through personal referrals. **Where to source:** - Upwork - Freelancer.com - Fiverr - Toptal (for higher-end talent) - Linkedin **Cost benchmarks:** - Entry-level freelancers: $500 to $1,500 for a simple site. - Mid-tier freelancers: $1,500 to $5,000 for a more custom design. - Expert freelancers: $5,000 to $10,000+ for highly custom or eCommerce websites. **Timeline:** Freelancers often take 2 to 6 weeks to deliver a website, but timelines can vary based on availability, the complexity of the site, and how clear your requirements are. In our experience you should add 1.5 - 2x padding on the timelines they give you. Freelancers are notoriously late on projects though it really depends on the individual freelancer. **Quality expectations:** Freelancers can range from beginners to seasoned experts, so quality can vary. A thorough vetting process is crucial. The final site can be highly customized but might lack the scalability and support of a larger team. **Management and labor:** You’ll still need to manage the project, provide content, and ensure the freelancer stays on schedule. Regular communication is key, but expect less hand-holding compared to an agency. Freelancers are by nature... Freelance. Which means they have a lot of clients. Unless you find a really great one, you should expect a degree of babysitting when it comes to the execution of your vision. You can reduce the amount of management and time it takes you to get your final output by spending time planning and creating reference sites to what you are looking for. **Pro tip 1:** Freelancers tend to overpromise and underdeliver. Many times they will tell you a low price to convince you to work with them and then start introducing fees that will increase your budget sometimes 10x hire than you expected. Most of the time they will use off the shelf templates, themes, and plugins that they purchased for other clients on your site. This can cause compatibility issues and make your site and brand look run of the mill. Make sure you vet really well. *You can grab our "Web designer / developer vetting checklist" by clicking here. **Pro tip 2:** Freelancers take advantage in gaps in your technical knowledge. Do your own research any time they make a suggestion to use a specific tool or platform. Many times they suggest Wordpress because they are the most comfortable with it but Wordpress is very well known to be unstable and have a large learning curve. ### **Option 3: Hiring a Web Design Agency** A web design agency brings a team of designers, developers, and project managers to the table. This is a great option if you’re looking for a high-quality site with complex features and ongoing support. Just be careful when hiring an agency because just with freelancers they tend to add many hidden fees and sometimes overpromise and under deliver. **Where to source:** You can find reputable agencies through Google searches, reviews on Clutch.co, or platforms like 99designs. Be very careful with sites like Bark.com. In general Bark.com is reputable but they do no vetting or pre-qualification for the vendors that reach out to you. Far too many FloLoop customers come to us after being scammed by tens of thousands of dollars from under qualified web agencies on Bark.com who simply don't and can't deliver. *If you want to read a specific story about "How One Cheap Web Designer Almost Cost a Business Everything (Until FloLoop Stepped In)" click here. **Cost benchmarks:** - Small local agencies: $5,000 to $15,000 for small business sites. - Mid-size agencies: $15,000 to $50,000 for a fully customized design with advanced functionality. - Large or specialized agencies: $50,000+ for highly complex projects or full branding packages. **Timeline:** Web agencies typically take 6 to 12 weeks to deliver a fully functional site, depending on complexity and client revisions. **Quality expectations:** Agencies usually deliver the highest-quality sites with full customizations, responsive design, and optimized user experiences. You’ll also benefit from long-term support and regular updates. **Management and labor:** Most agencies manage the entire process, from design to development, meaning less hands-on work for you. However, clear communication is essential to ensure the final product matches your vision. **Pro tip 1:** Just like with freelancers, there are alot of bad actors. Vet, vet, and then vet again. Make sure you ask for references to clients you can speak with. Make sure they aren't listing fake client logos on their site. Make sure their portfolio is real. If the price they quote you at first seems low compared to a national or international brand they claim to work with then it probably really is too good to be true and run. **Pro tip 2:** If they are talking too technically it is a red flag many times. This could represent that they are trying to confuse you and position themselves as experts. When you hire an agency you are paying for a project manager and an interface between you (the client) and the designers and developers who are there to execute your vision. ### **Option 4: Hiring an In-House Web Designer** For larger businesses with frequent website needs, hiring an in-house designer or developer might make sense. **This option is often overkill for small businesses or solopreneurs due to the ongoing costs.** We included it in this blog post to show you all of your options but it is recommended not to hire an in-house designer or developer until the cost of outsourcing or doing it yourself is more expensive and lower quality than hiring a full time contractor or employee. **Where to source:** Job boards like Indeed, LinkedIn, or We Work Remotely are common places to find in-house web designers. **Cost benchmarks:** The average salary for an in-house web designer ranges from $50,000 to $80,000 per year, not including benefits and overhead. If you're in a country or state where cost of living is much higher you can assume to spend upwards of $150,000 per year. **Timeline:** The time to launch a site will depend on the individual’s expertise and your business’s needs. Since they are part of your team, expect ongoing iterations and support. **Quality expectations:** With an in-house designer, you have complete control over quality and changes, and their knowledge of your business will grow over time. However, you’ll be limited by the capabilities of a single person. You will get the best performance out of someone if you understand that this will be a much longer term relationship with much more iteration. They may not deliver exactly what you are seeking until they learn about you and your brand a little more, but to be totally honest the same goes for freelancers and agencies too. **Management and labor:** You’ll need to manage this individual as you would any other employee, which includes ongoing training, salary, and benefits management. **Pro tip 1:** Don't hire a full time staff member until you absolutely need to. You will feel the pain of operating without them and that's when it's the right time. Most likely you will already have your site and funnel running so you will not be hiring them to build from scratch. **Pro tip 2:** Before hiring them, give them a paid small technical and design task to test their skill, quality of work, and how you like working with them in the first place. Hire very slowly. The rush and pressure is in your head more so than the reality of the opportunity to "move fast". ### **Tools and Estimated Costs** No matter which option you choose, there are essential tools that add to your website’s overall cost: **The Basics:** - Domain name: $10 to $20 per year. - Hosting: $3 to $30 per month. If you are using a platform like FloLoop, Wix, or Squarespace hosting will be included. - SSL certificates: $50 to $150/year for premium certificates. FloLoop, Wix, Squarespace and platforms like it include SSL in the monthly fees. - Premium themes: $30 to $100+ for platforms like WordPress, Wix, Squarespace, and others. Many times the design you want will not be included for free. - Plugins and add-ons: Vary widely, from $5 to $200+ depending on the functionality you need. - Credit card & payment processing: 2.3-3.0% + $0.30 per transaction (there's no getting around this fee). Some payment processors will charge a small monthly fee too. **The Actual Tools You Will Want:** (As a sidenote... FloLoop includes all of this in a single transparent price per month). - Email marketing: $25-$1,000+ per month - Calendar and Scheduling: $15-$50 per user per month - CRM: $50-$250 per month (many times per user per month) - Loyalty and points: $100+ per month - Reviews & testimonials: $25-$1,000+ per month - Affiliate & referral tracking: $59-$299 per month + 1.5-3.5% commission fees *If you'd like a complete list of the tools you will need for your website and funnel read "The Long List of Tools You’ll Need to Have a High Impact Website & Funnel" by clicking here. **Total Monthly Costs** - **At the low end:** $138.50/month (with basic hosting, low-cost plugins, and essential tools). - **At the high end:** $3,899+/month (with premium themes, all-inclusive tools, and higher-tier services). ### **Comparing the Options: The True Cost of a Website** Realistically there is no right or wrong answer because it all depends on where you are moving from. If you are excited about building your business, serving clients, and continuing product and service development then building a website by yourself may not actually be the best fit for you. If you have low to know budget than hiring a freelancer or web design agency may not be the best fit for you. There's another very important factor too when it comes to budgets. While a DIY website builder may seem like the cheapest option, hidden costs in tools, templates, and plugins can quickly add up. Freelancers and agencies offer more customization but also bring the risk of hidden fees, extra charges for revisions, and potential for delayed timelines. Hiring an in-house employee, while the most expensive, is rarely necessary for small businesses and will be overkill 99% of the time. But there is another way... ### **Why FloLoop Is the Better Option** At FloLoop, we understand that solopreneurs and small businesses need more than just a website—they need a complete funnel that’s designed to convert visitors into customers. With FloLoop, you’re not just getting a site; you’re getting an entire business builder platform that includes hosting, tech, and marketing tools in one seamless package. Unlike freelancers and agencies that hit you with hidden fees or charge extra for hosting and plugins, FloLoop offers transparent, no-hidden-fee pricing with a satisfaction guarantee that freelancers and agencies simply cannot offer. Our all-in-one platform saves you time, money, and stress, ensuring that your website and funnel are set up for success from day one. FloLoop includes all the features & apps listed above (hosting, SSL, email marketing, CRM, etc.) in one transparent price, removing the complexity and unpredictable costs from third-party apps and services. This makes it a cost-effective solution, especially for solopreneurs and small businesses.