- Your pages, designed around your brand
- Built for phones and desktops
- Checked before launch
- Your live hours report
An estimate, not a quote. Yours comes in hours after a free consultation.
Key takeaways
- Starter sites begin at about 20 hours of work.
- $800 with a 20โhour block, or $1,500 pay as you go.
- Bigger sites take more; many are live in 1 to 2 weeks.
- You own the site and the domain once it is paid in full.
Chapter 01What sets the price
What decides the price of a website?
Time. Every site is billed by the hours it takes, so the price follows the work.
Four things move the number more than anything else. Knowing them before the free consultation makes the estimate quicker and clearer.
- Pages and sections
A focused five-page site takes far less time than a forty-page catalog.
- What it has to do
Booking, forms, galleries, a store or member areas each add their own hours.
- Your content
Logo, photos, text and price lists that are ready to go keep the hours down.
- The platform
Hand-coded or WordPress, both can look exactly how you want. The right one depends on who will edit the site.
What moves the number
- More pages and sections
- Booking, a store or member areas
- Content still to write or find
- Content ready on day one keeps it down
Chapter 02Where it starts
Where does a starter site begin?
Starter sites begin at about 20 hours of design and development.
That covers a focused site for a small business: your pages designed around your brand, built for phones and desktops, and checked before launch. Bigger sites take more. Many are live in 1 to 2 weeks, and some take as little as 2 days.
Chapter 03Ways to pay
Should you pay as you go or buy a prepaid block?
Both use the same rate. A prepaid block lowers the cost per hour.
20 hours of work, three ways to pay
Blocks are billed in 15โminute increments, so you only use what the work takes. Prepaying brings the rate down from $75 to $55 or $40 an hour.
Prepaid hours stay on your account until you use them, for this project or the next one.
Chapter 04Yearly costs
What does a website cost to run each year?
After launch, the costs are small and yearly.
You run your own hosting with real support behind it. Care is there if you would rather hand it off.
- Hosting for an HTML/CSS site
- from $50 / year
- Hosting for a WordPress site
- from $150 / year
- Elementor Pro license, on WordPress sites I build
- $50 / year
- Website Tune-Up: full backup, everything updated and checked
- $150 each time
- Full-service care, optional: updates, backups and fixes handled for you
- from $35 / month
Chapter 05How it runs
How does a website project run?
Six steps, start to finish.
- 1Free consultation
- 2Estimate in hours
- 3Choose how to pay
- 4Design and build
- 5Review and launch
- 6Keep going
- 1Free consultation
Tell me what you need. I reply within one business day, and we talk it through.
- 2Estimate in hours
You get an estimate in hours for the whole project, before anything is billed.
- 3Choose how to pay
Prepay a block, or pay as you go. One block covers any service.
- 4Design and build
I design, build and test, and you see every task on your live report as it is done.
- 5Review and launch
You check it and ask for changes. Nothing goes live without your OK.
- 6Keep going
Hours left over never expire. Use them for SEO, updates or your next project.
Chapter 06What to have ready
What should you have ready before the project starts?
The more of this is ready on day one, the fewer hours the site needs.
You provide your own logo, photos, text and price lists, unless you hire the studio to help with them.
- Your logo, in the best file you have.
- Photos of your work, your space or your team.
- Your text, even rough notes per page.
- Services and prices, as you want them shown.
Website kickoff checklist
Tick it off before your free consultation.- Your logo in the best file you have
- Photos of your work, your space or your team
- Your text even rough notes per page
- Services and prices as you want them shown
- Pages you want a simple list is fine
- Sites you like and what you like about them
Rough notes are fine. I would rather start with your words than a blank page.
Free estimate
Want a number for your site?
Tell me what you need. I reply within one business day, then we talk it through on a free call before any estimate.
Chapter 07Who owns it
Who owns the website when it is done?
You do.
Once the project is paid in full, you own your website and your domain, and you can move them to any host. Working files stay with the studio.
Questions
Straight answers.
More of what people ask about website cost and timing.
Updated
How much does a small business website cost?
It depends on the hours the site takes. Starter sites begin at about 20 hours: $800 with a 20‑hour block, or $1,500 pay as you go.
How long does it take to build a website?
Many websites take 1 to 2 weeks, and some take as little as 2 days. Bigger sites with stores or custom features take longer.
Is there a monthly contract?
No. You pay for the hours the work takes, as you go or with a prepaid block.
Do I need to write my own content?
You provide your logo, photos, text and price lists, unless you hire the studio to help with them.
Do I own my website?
Yes. Once it is paid in full you own the website and the domain, and you can move them to any host.
Do we need to be local to work together?
No. The studio is remote and works with small businesses across the United States and internationally.
