A simple website at SJH Studio can start from £400 plus VAT, including the first year of hosting. At the current standard VAT rate of 20%, that is £480 including VAT. A complex website can run into the tens of thousands of pounds when it involves substantial development, integrations, infrastructure or ongoing services.
Those figures describe very different projects. The useful question is which parts your business needs now, which can wait and what the finished website must help someone do. This guide explains the decisions behind the price, so you can ask for a meaningful quote rather than compare unrelated totals.
What does “a simple website” mean?
Think of a straightforward online home for a small business: a clear explanation of the service, useful business information and an easy way to enquire. The price depends on an agreed scope. A starting price does not mean every design, page count, booking system or content task fits into the same package.
Before accepting any quote, ask what is actually included: the number and type of pages, who supplies the words and photographs, how revisions work, whether you can edit the site and what happens at renewal. A short written scope is far more useful than a vague promise of a “complete website”.
Our website design service starts with these practical requirements. A new sole trader with one main service may need a much smaller first release than an established company replacing a website with years of content and search traffic.
The decisions that change the build cost
Content and page structure
Five short, supplied pages require a different amount of work from researching and writing twenty detailed service pages. Product photography, case studies, diagrams and video also need time to create or prepare. If your existing content is accurate and useful, reusing it may be sensible. If it is dated or unclear, transferring it unchanged can simply carry the problem into a new design.
Design and editing needs
A clear, restrained website can be very effective. A highly bespoke visual system with complex responsive layouts and motion requires more design and testing. Decide which elements help a customer understand your business. An animation should justify its place through the experience it creates, rather than exist because another website has one.
Functionality and integrations
A basic enquiry form is different from a quotation tool that calculates prices, sends data to a CRM and starts a follow-up process. Trade pricing, customer accounts, subscriptions, booking availability and stock synchronisation each introduce rules and exceptions. Our web development work covers the logic behind those journeys, as well as the interface people see.
Migration and existing search visibility
A replacement website needs a plan for existing URLs, useful content, incoming links and measurement. A business with hundreds of product pages cannot safely treat migration as copying a few screens. The time needed to protect and test those routes belongs in the budget.
Why an online shop needs its own scope
An e-commerce website has work beyond a product grid. How are products supplied? Do they have sizes, finishes or other variations? Are delivery prices based on weight, postcode or order value? What happens when an item is unavailable? Who handles returns, payment disputes and catalogue updates?
For example, a shop selling ten simple products with one delivery rule is a different proposition from a trade catalogue with customer-specific prices and warehouse integration. The number of products is only one part of the estimate. Data quality and business rules often matter just as much.
Allow for the costs after launch
The build is one cost; operating the website is another. At SJH Studio, website and email hosting is £120 per year plus VAT. Our WordPress maintenance plan is £75 per month plus VAT and includes annual hosting. That is £900 plus VAT over twelve months; you would not add the separate £120 hosting charge to that plan.
At 20% VAT, those figures are £144 including VAT for annual hosting, or £90 including VAT per month for maintenance. The first year of hosting is included in the £400 starting website price. Confirm the chosen arrangement, renewal date and maintenance scope in your proposal.
Hosting and WordPress maintenance serve different purposes. You may also need a domain renewal, premium software licences, payment processing, third-party services, content work or marketing. Ask which costs are included, which are optional and which are paid directly to another provider. Do not assume a maintenance plan means unlimited new development or every commercial plugin licence.
Compare quotations using the same brief
Give each prospective supplier the same requirements. Ask them to identify assumptions and exclusions, then compare the scope as well as the price. A lower total can be excellent value when the work matches your needs. It can become expensive if essential tasks only emerge after the project starts.
- Deliverables: pages, templates, features and supplied content.
- Ownership and access: domain registration, website accounts and handover.
- Quality checks: mobile use, accessibility, enquiry routes and relevant integrations.
- Commercial terms: payment stages, revisions, ongoing charges and cancellation.
- Launch and support: who approves release and who helps afterwards.
Include one or two examples of sites you like, with reasons. “The service information is easy to scan” tells a designer more than “make it modern”. Explain what you dislike about your current process too: repeated phone questions, poor enquiries or manual order entry can reveal where the investment would be most useful.
Choose a sensible first release
You do not need to buy every feature on day one. A new business might launch with its core services, genuine photographs, clear contact details and a manageable enquiry route. Add a more sophisticated booking or account system when there is a defined reason for it.
Keep the foundations in view: a domain the business controls, accurate content, usable mobile layouts and a clear path for future changes. Spending more only helps when it solves a useful problem. Spending less is sensible when you understand the trade-offs.
For Web Design Wigan, send us what you want the website to achieve, your essential features and an honest budget range. We can discuss a proportionate scope and explain the build and ongoing costs separately.
Prices stated are SJH Studio figures confirmed for this article in October 2026, subject to an agreed project scope. VAT calculations use the current UK standard rate of 20%.