Short answer: plan your website budget in two parts. The build is a one-off cost, typically £500 to £3,000 for a small UK business. The running costs are yearly: a domain, hosting, any premium plugin licences and, if you want it, maintenance. For a simple small business site, running costs of around £150 to £600 a year are realistic. Full management plans with regular SEO and content work cost far more.
Most website price guides focus on the build. That’s understandable, because it’s the biggest single invoice. But over three or four years, the running costs can add up to more than the build, especially if the first year was sold cheaply and the renewals weren’t mentioned. This guide shows every line, so you can plan properly.
If you want to know what the build itself should cost, start with our guide to how much a website costs in the UK. This one is about everything that comes after.
The yearly running costs, line by line
Domain name
A .co.uk or .com domain usually costs £10 to £20 a year to renew. Watch out for first-year offers: some registrars sell a .co.uk for 1p or £1, then charge the normal price at renewal. A comparison by 365i found .co.uk renewals ranging from about £12 to £27 a year including VAT at well-known UK registrars, with introductory prices that don’t apply to renewals.
Whatever you pay, make sure you know where your domain is registered and can log in. It’s the one part of your website you really can’t afford to lose.
Hosting
Basic shared hosting usually costs somewhere around £7 to £12 a month once the introductory offer ends, and managed WordPress hosting more, depending on the provider and the level of support. A small business brochure site doesn’t need anything expensive. It does need daily backups, an SSL certificate, decent speed and support that responds quickly when something goes wrong.
Email is often included with hosting. If it isn’t, a business email account typically costs a few pounds per user per month.
Premium plugin and theme licences
Many professional WordPress sites use paid tools: a page builder such as Elementor Pro, an SEO plugin such as Rank Math SEO Pro, a forms plugin, a backup tool. Each licence renews yearly. At list price, a single premium plugin licence can cost anything from a few tens of pounds to a couple of hundred a year. Ask your designer which licences your site depends on, who holds them, and what happens if you stop paying.
SSL certificate
The padlock in the browser. Most good hosts include a free SSL certificate, so you shouldn’t be paying extra for a small business site.
Maintenance
This is where prices vary the most. One UK developer’s breakdown puts basic managed hosting with automatic updates at £15 to £40 a month, and a standard small business plan covering updates, backups and security monitoring at £40 to £100. Plans that include regular content changes, SEO work or reporting can cost several hundred pounds a month or more.
Teaser prices and renewal traps
Low first-year prices are normal and not necessarily a problem. The trouble starts when nobody tells you the renewal price, or when everything renews on the same day at a much higher rate. Before you sign, ask for a written list of every yearly cost after the first year, and who you pay it to.
Also check what happens if you leave. Can you take your domain and website to another host? Is the site built on a platform only that provider can edit? A website you can’t move is a website you can’t negotiate on. Our guide to choosing a web design agency lists the ownership questions to ask before you sign.
Do you really need a maintenance plan?
It depends on what your site does.
- A simple brochure site that rarely changes needs regular updates and backups, but rarely a big monthly retainer. Many owners are happy to make small text changes themselves.
- A site with bookings, payments or lots of plugins needs closer care, because more can break and more is at stake when it does.
- A site that has to win new customers from Google benefits from ongoing work: new content, checking rankings and fixing problems. That’s marketing rather than maintenance, and it’s worth budgeting for separately.
What you shouldn’t do is nothing at all. An out-of-date WordPress site is an easy target. The same developer describes a plumber whose hacked WordPress site cost £650 to fix, and that’s before counting the enquiries lost while it was down.
Three-year cost: four ways to get a website
Here’s an illustration of what a small business site might cost over three years using typical UK prices. Your own quotes will differ, but the pattern is what matters.
| Route | Year one | Years two and three | Three-year total (approx.) |
|---|---|---|---|
| DIY builder at about £20 a month | £240 + your time | £480 | £720 + many hours of your time |
| Freelancer: £1,500 build, £300 a year hosting and care | £1,800 | £600 | £2,400 |
| Agency: £5,000 build, £75 a month care plan | £5,900 | £1,800 | £7,700 |
| Hit Craze Business package | £800 + VAT (domain, hosting and Pro plugins free) | £340 + VAT (£170 a year) | £1,140 + VAT |
Figures other than ours are examples built from typical UK price ranges, not quotes from any particular provider. VAT treatment varies by provider. Our figure covers the build, domain, hosting and the two Pro plugin licences; the freelancer and agency rows include a care plan, so compare like with like.
Our yearly £170 + VAT covers the domain (£20), hosting (£100), Elementor Pro (£25) and Rank Math SEO Pro (£25), and you can cancel any plugin you no longer need. See our pricing for the full breakdown.
How much should you spend on a website?
Forget percentage-of-turnover rules. A more useful way to set a budget is to work back from what a new customer is worth to you.
- Work out the value of one new customer. For a dental implant patient it might be thousands of pounds. For a therapist, a client who comes for ten sessions. For a café, much less.
- Estimate how many new customers a better website could bring in a year. Be cautious.
- Compare that with the three-year cost. If one or two extra customers pay for the website, the decision is easy. If you’d need fifty, start smaller.
Most small service businesses don’t need to spend agency money. They need a clear, fast website that answers customers’ questions and is easy to find. Spend the difference on good photos, collecting reviews and, if it suits you, some paid advertising.
Where to save, and where not to
Fine to save on: bespoke illustrations, animations, an expensive custom design for a five-page site, oversized hosting plans, and features you “might use one day”.
Don’t skimp on: the words on your pages, mobile speed, basic SEO set-up, security updates and backups, and owning your own domain.
Frequently asked questions
How much does website maintenance cost in the UK?
Basic plans typically cost somewhere between £15 and £100 a month, depending on what’s covered. Plans with SEO, content or reporting cost more. A simple brochure site may only need updates and backups.
How much does hosting cost for a small business website?
Typically £7 to £12 a month for shared hosting at renewal, and more for managed WordPress hosting with extra support.
How much does a .co.uk domain cost to renew?
Usually between about £10 and £20 a year, though some registrars charge more. Check the renewal price, not just the first-year offer.
Can I maintain my WordPress website myself?
Yes, if you’re comfortable running updates, checking backups and fixing the occasional conflict between plugins. Many owners handle text changes themselves and leave updates and security to someone else.
What are the hidden running costs of a website?
Renewal prices after a cheap first year, plugin licences nobody mentioned, business email, and charges for changes after launch. Ask for every yearly cost in writing before you sign.