Ask five agencies to quote for "a new website" and you can get five answers between £500 and £25,000. That isn't because four of them are wrong — it's because "a website" can mean very different things. This guide explains what drives the cost of a website in the UK, what you should expect at each budget, and the ongoing costs that rarely appear on the first quote.
The short answer
For a professionally built website from a UK agency, typical ranges look like this:
| Type of website | Typical one-off cost |
|---|---|
| Single landing page for a campaign | £500 – £1,500 |
| Small company website (up to ~6 pages) | £2,000 – £4,000 |
| Established business website (10–20 pages, CMS, SEO pages) | £4,000 – £8,000 |
| Online store on Shopify or WooCommerce | £4,000 – £10,000 |
| Custom or high-volume e-commerce, portals, multi-language | £10,000 – £25,000+ |
| Redesign of an existing site that already works | £750 – £2,500 |
Those are the bands we price within at weeo — you can see our company website and e-commerce packages in full. Freelancers can be cheaper; large digital agencies are usually more expensive. What matters is understanding what you are paying for.
What actually drives the price
1. Number of unique page templates — not just pages
A site with 30 service pages that all share one layout can cost less than a site with eight pages that each need a different design. Agencies price the design and build of templates, then the time to populate them. When comparing quotes, ask how many templates are included.
2. Custom design vs a customised theme
A theme adapted to your colours and logo is quick and affordable. A bespoke design — where layouts, typography and components are created around your brand and audience — takes longer but tends to convert better and look less like your competitors. Neither is wrong; just make sure you know which one you are buying.
3. Content: who writes it?
Copywriting, photography and product data are often the biggest hidden cost. If the agency is expected to write or restructure your content, that time needs to be in the quote. If you're supplying content, agree a deadline — late content is the most common reason website projects overrun.
4. Functionality and integrations
Contact forms and a blog are standard. Things that add cost include:
- Online booking or quote calculators
- Client logins and portals
- Multi-language or multi-location content
- Integrations with a CRM, accounting software or ERP
- For stores: stock synchronisation, trade pricing, subscriptions and marketplace feeds
5. SEO and tracking set-up
A website that can't be found is an expensive brochure. Good builds include clean page structure, metadata, structured data, an XML sitemap, Google Search Console, GA4 analytics with cookie consent, and redirects from any old URLs. Cheap quotes often skip these — and the redirects in particular. Missing redirects after a rebuild are one of the fastest ways to lose rankings you already had.
6. Accessibility and performance
UK businesses increasingly need to meet accessibility expectations (WCAG 2.2 AA is the usual benchmark), and page speed affects both conversions and search visibility. Building for both from the start costs far less than fixing them later.
Company website vs online store
The two are priced differently for a reason.
A company website exists to explain what you do and turn visitors into enquiries — calls, forms and bookings. Its cost is driven by design, content and SEO structure.
An e-commerce website also needs a product catalogue, basket, checkout, payments, shipping rules, VAT, order emails, stock management and often integrations with accounting or warehouse systems. Even on a platform like Shopify, setting all of that up properly takes considerably more time — which is why a solid store usually starts around £4,000. If you're weighing up platforms, our Shopify vs WooCommerce guide goes into the detail.
The running costs most quotes leave out
Budget for these every year, whoever builds your site:
- Domain name — usually a small annual fee for a .co.uk or .com.
- Hosting — from around £20 a month for a managed business site, more for busy stores.
- Platform subscriptions — Shopify plans, premium plugins or apps are monthly or annual.
- Maintenance and security updates — CMS and plugin updates, backups and monitoring.
- Payment processing fees — for online stores, a percentage of each transaction.
- Content and improvements — the best websites are never "finished"; new pages, case studies and conversion improvements keep them working.
A useful rule of thumb: if a quote doesn't mention hosting, updates or who to call when something breaks, ask.
Do you need a new website or a redesign?
Not every tired website needs rebuilding. If your current platform is sound, your pages are indexed and the main problem is that the site looks dated or doesn't convert, a focused website redesign can modernise the design, speed and on-page SEO for a fraction of the cost of a rebuild. If the platform itself is holding you back — you can't edit it, it's slow, or it can't do what you need — a new build is usually better value over three to five years.
How to compare website quotes fairly
Before you sign, make sure every quote answers the same questions:
- How many page templates and pages are included?
- Is the design bespoke or based on a theme?
- Who provides the content, and is copywriting included?
- Which integrations are included, and which are extra?
- Is SEO set-up included — metadata, schema, sitemap, analytics and redirects?
- Who owns the website, the domain and the hosting account?
- What does support cost after launch?
Summary
In the UK, a well-built company website typically costs £2,000–£8,000 and a properly set-up online store starts around £4,000, with ongoing costs for hosting, updates and improvements. The price is driven less by the number of pages than by templates, content, functionality and the quality of the SEO and tracking set-up.
If you'd like a fixed quote for your project, book a free strategy call — we'll recommend the right package, or tell you honestly if a redesign is all you need.