What affects the cost of a small business website?

Ask three developers to quote on the same website and you can get three very different numbers. That isn't always because someone is overcharging. Usually, they're quoting on different things.

So there's no honest single answer to "how much does a website cost?" We won't give you a price list here, because a number without the details behind it doesn't tell you much. Instead, here's what actually moves the cost, so you can read a quote and know what you're paying for.

The short answer: it depends on three things

Almost every website cost comes down to:

• How it's built: a website builder, a content management system you set up, or a developer building it for you.
• What it needs to do: show information, or do work like taking bookings, payments and logins.
• What it takes to keep running: the domain, hosting, updates and changes after launch.

When two quotes are far apart, they usually differ on at least one of these.

How will it be built?

There are a few ways to set up a business website, and each one puts the cost in a different place:

• A website builder. A paid subscription that usually includes hosting, design templates and optional extras like an online store. It's quick to start, but you keep paying for as long as you use it, and it's less flexible than the other options.
• A content management system you host yourself. More flexible and customisable, but it takes more work to set up and maintain. You can use a ready-made template or pay a designer for a custom design.
• A developer builds it for you. The Queensland Government notes this can be expensive, and there's often a charge for edits after the site goes live. What you get in return is a site built around how your business works, rather than around a template.

A builder isn't a bad choice. If it does everything you need, it's often the sensible one.

What does it need to do?

This is usually the biggest difference between quotes. A website that shows information is mostly about what's on the screen: your pages, words and photos.

Features that do work are different. A booking button looks small, but when someone presses it, the site may need to save the booking, send a confirmation and keep a record. That happens behind the screen, where the website stores data and sends notifications like emails or text messages. Visitors never see it, but someone has to build it.

Things that usually add work behind the screen:

• Booking or enquiry forms that save details
• Online payments or a shop
• Customer logins and accounts

Online stores also bring their own running costs. Ecommerce platforms usually have ongoing subscription costs and may charge a fee for each transaction. For a more complex online store, business.gov.au recommends hiring a web developer to build a custom solution.

What does a website cost to run?

The build is only part of the cost. Every website has running costs too. Some are monthly, like hosting and platform subscriptions. Others, like the domain name, renew less often:

• Domain name. It needs renewing. Some less common endings can cost much more to renew.
• Hosting. Monthly fees can vary depending on how big your website is and how many visits it gets, along with the storage and security you need.
• Updates and security. If your site runs on a content management system you host, it needs the latest security patches applied as they come out.
• Changes after launch. If a developer built it, ask how edits are charged before you start.

Compare these as well as the build price. A cheaper build with higher running costs can end up costing more over a few years.

How do you compare quotes?

The Small Business Development Corporation in Western Australia has practical advice on choosing a website provider. Put together with the three questions above, here's a checklist:

1. What's included? Pages, features, design and content, and what isn't.
2. What happens behind the screen? Which features save data, take payments or send messages.
3. What are the running costs? Hosting, domain, subscriptions and transaction fees, and who pays them.
4. How are changes and support charged? An hourly rate, a monthly fee or something else. Make sure it's clearly written down.
5. How is payment staged? Try to avoid paying in full upfront. A deposit and payments tied to milestones are safer.
6. Whose name is the domain in, and who can manage it? If you ever change developers, you should be able to take it with you.

The same guide points out that cheaper options can lead to problems later if support or features are limited. The lowest quote isn't always the cheapest website.

Our honest take

Start with what the site needs to do now, not everything it might do one day. Many features can be added later, once you know your customers actually want them.

If a website builder covers what you need, use it. A custom build earns its cost when a builder starts getting in the way of how your business works.

On the websites we build, a monthly care plan covers hosting and small changes after launch, and bigger requests get a clear quote first. If speed is on your list too, see how fast a small business website should load.