Pricing
Project budget. What you should expect.
Most people asking what a website costs get one of two answers. A number pulled from nowhere, or 'it depends' and a calendar link.
Here's a third option. This page tells you what the market charges and how to size a budget against your own business. It isn't my price sheet. It's what you should walk into any conversation expecting, with me or with anyone else.
What kind of site are you buying
- 01
Brochure site
Who you are, what you do, how to reach you. A handful of pages that make you look legitimate when someone checks you out before calling.
What moves the number: Page count and how much content has to be written from scratch.
- 02
Portfolio site
For work that sells by being seen. Painters, contractors, remodelers. Project galleries with real stories behind them, organized so the work does the convincing.
What moves the number: How many projects get showcased and how much story each one carries.
- 03
Lead-generation engine
What I build most. Service pages that rank, content that answers what customers actually search, and every page pointed at the phone ringing.
What moves the number: How many services and towns you are targeting, how much content is involved, and whether ongoing SEO is part of it.
- 04
E-commerce
A store, not a site. Products, payments, shipping, tax, email flows. Different animal, different economics.
What moves the number: Catalog size, integrations, and how much of your operation runs through it.
Starting out
If you're a new venture or in your first year, you're not buying a lead-generation engine. You're buying credibility. Something that looks real when a customer checks you out, loads fast, and has one obvious way to get hold of you.
That's $1,500 to $3,000.
It's a glow-up, not a growth engine. It gets you looking legitimate so you can go win work the way you're already winning it, through people who know you. When the phone is ringing enough that you want it ringing more, that's when the conversation changes.
Already running
Once you have revenue, budget against it instead of guessing.
Take your annual revenue. Five percent of that is a reasonable total marketing budget for a business your size. Ten percent of that five is what a website project should cost.
| Annual revenue | Project budget |
|---|---|
| $250,000 | $2,500 |
| $400,000 | $2,500 |
| $750,000 | $3,750 |
| $1,500,000 | $7,500 |
| $3,000,000 | $15,000 |
That's a ceiling, not a target. Plenty of businesses spend less and get what they need.
Why there's a floor at $2,500. The math can put a smaller business under $2,000, and at that point the number stops being useful. Most developers worth hiring won't take a build below $2,000. Below that you're looking at a template, a subscription site builder, or someone who won't be answering the phone in six months. If your number comes out under the floor, that's not a signal to shop harder. It's a signal that a modest build done properly is the right move.
Project budget for your size
$7,500
Five percent of $1,500,000 is $75,000, a reasonable total marketing budget for your size. A tenth of that is the website. It's a ceiling, not a target.
3 jobs
At $2,500 a job, that's what it takes to pay for itself. Total, not per month.
8×
Two extra jobs a month after that is $60,000 a year against a one-time $7,500.
Notice what's missing: me asking for your budget. Run your own numbers and bring them.
Why a percentage instead of a price list
Because a $300,000 plumbing company and a $2 million excavation outfit shouldn't buy the same website, and a flat price list pushes both toward the wrong one.
You already bid this way. You size a job to what's in front of you, not off a single rate for every project. Marketing works the same. Sizing to revenue keeps the spend proportional to what a new customer is actually worth to you.
Does it pay for itself
Skip the percentages for a second and do the version you'd do in your head.
Take what an average job is worth. Divide the project budget by it. That's how many jobs the site has to bring in before it's paid for. Not per month. Total.
At $2,500 a job, a $7,500 site pays for itself in three. If it brings in two extra jobs a month after that, it returns $60,000 a year against a one-time $7,500.
If those numbers don't work for your business, the site isn't the right spend right now, and you should hear that from someone before you spend it rather than after.
What this page isn't
It isn't a quote. I haven't seen your site, your market, or what you're trying to fix.
What it does is put you in the right range before anyone starts talking. Bring your number to the conversation. If what you need costs more than what you budgeted, I'll tell you and explain why. If your current site needs fixes instead of a rebuild, that's the answer you'll get, and it's cheaper for you.
Tell me what you're working with
One conversation, one itemized proposal, no pressure either way.
Questions
- Is this what you charge?
- It's what the market charges. My proposals land inside these ranges, but I'll price against what your project actually needs, and you'll get it itemized.
- Why not just list your prices?
- Because I'd be listing a number for a job I haven't seen. What I can tell you honestly is how to size the budget, which is what you actually need before we talk.
- What if my number comes out at the floor?
- Then you buy a smaller build done properly instead of a bigger one done badly. Fewer pages, tighter focus, the same standard of work. That is a real option and it is often the right one.
- What about ongoing costs?
- Hosting and care is a flat monthly rate. Infrastructure, backups, monitoring, updates, and a set amount of my time. If we are doing SEO and content on top, that is separate and sized to how hard you want to push. Both itemized, both cancelable.
- Someone quoted me per page. Is that cheaper?
- It looks cheaper and usually is not. Paying per page means the seller gets paid for adding pages, so you get twenty thin ones that Google ignores and that drag down the pages doing real work. Price the outcome, not the page count.