( Guides )
What websites cost, and how to decide what to build
No gated PDFs and no “it depends”. Real numbers, the trade-offs behind them, and the cases where we’d tell you not to spend the money.
Website Cost by Industry: What Six Kinds of Small Business Actually Pay in 2026
Six industries, one table. The same eight pages cost $1,000 for a plumber and $12,000 for a dental practice — here is why, with the feature that moves the price in each one.
How Much Does a Contractor Website Cost in 2026?
Roofers, HVAC, plumbers, GCs: what the site costs at each tier, what the booking and review tools add every month, and the four pages that actually book jobs.
How Much Does a Restaurant Website Cost in 2026?
The site is the cheap part. Ordering and reservation platforms cost more every year than the build did — here is what each one charges, and the one design decision that matters more than all of them.
Dental Website Design Cost in 2026: What Practices Actually Pay
The specialist-agency premium is steepest in dentistry. What the site actually costs to build, what HIPAA forms and scheduling add per month, and the 83% of patients who read your reviews first.
Real Estate Website Cost in 2026: Agents, Teams and Brokerages
The site is a shell around the listings feed. What agents, teams and brokerages pay to build one, what IDX costs every month, and why the design tier matters less than the integration.
Medical Practice Website Cost in 2026 (HIPAA Included)
Most of the cost is compliance. What the site itself costs, what HIPAA hosting, intake forms and portals add, and why a builder without a BAA cannot legally take a patient's name.
Law Firm Website Cost in 2026: What Solo and Small Firms Pay
The widest price range of any small business site, and the one where content is the whole cost. What firms of each size pay, what intake tools charge, and the advertising rules the site has to follow.
Website Maintenance Cost: What Small Businesses Pay Per Month in 2026
The bill that never stops. What maintenance costs per month at each tier, what a plan has to include, what an unmaintained WordPress site is exposed to, and when it is cheaper to do it yourself.
How Long Does It Take to Build a Small Business Website?
Quotes say six weeks. Projects take six months. The difference is almost never the developer — here is what each build type really takes, where the time goes, and how to get it back.
Custom Website vs Squarespace: The Real 3-Year Cost for a Service Business
Squarespace's real 2026 prices and fees, the limits its own help centre documents, what you can actually take with you if you leave, and the three-year totals side by side.
Website Redesign: The Complete Guide for Small Businesses
Most redesigns fail before they start — by fixing a site that wasn't the problem, or by rebuilding it so thoroughly that Google forgets it existed. Here is the whole process, in the order that avoids both.
How to Choose a Web Design Company: 15 Questions to Ask First
Every list of questions to ask a web designer has twenty items and no priorities. These fifteen are in the order that eliminates the wrong agencies fastest — and the first four do most of the work.
Small Business Website Cost: What $500, $1,500 and $5,000 Actually Buy
Three sites at three prices, and what each one actually includes. Plus the running costs nobody puts in the quote, and the four things that make one $3,000 site outperform another.
Who Owns Your Website? Domain, Code, Hosting and Content, Explained
Paying for a website does not make it yours. Here is what the law says by default, the four things ownership actually breaks down into, and the one clause that settles it.
12 Signs Your Website Needs a Redesign (and 3 That Don't Mean Anything)
Every list of 'signs you need a redesign' is written by someone who sells redesigns. This one includes the three reasons that don't hold up — and puts a price on the nine that do.
WordPress vs a Custom-Coded Website: Which Should You Pay For?
Half the internet says 95% of small businesses should use WordPress. The other half says custom for anything under fifteen pages. Both are selling something. Here are the numbers, and the question underneath them.
E-Commerce Website Cost in 2026: What a Store Really Costs to Build and Run
A store is the one kind of website where the build is not the biggest cost. Here is what each build tier includes — and the monthly line items that decide whether it ever pays for itself.
Web Design Hourly Rate vs Fixed Price: Which Actually Costs Less?
$85 an hour sounds cheaper than $4,000. It usually isn't. Here is why hourly billing costs more for a defined build, when it's the right model anyway, and the hybrid that keeps both sides honest.
Website Redesign SEO Checklist: Rebuilding Without Losing Your Rankings
Most ranking drops after a redesign are preventable, and they are caused by the same handful of omissions every time. This is the list, in the order you need it.
How Much Does a Website Cost in 2026? Real Prices by Business Type
Every answer to this question is a range so wide it's useless. Here are the actual numbers by who builds it, what you get at each tier, and what nobody quotes for.
Wix vs a Custom Website: The Real 3-Year Cost for a Service Business
Wix looks cheaper until you run the numbers past year one. Here is the actual three-year total for both, and the four questions that settle it.