How much does a web designer cost in the UK?

It depends on how the designer charges, and that matters more than the headline number. Our answer for a trade in Luton or Bedfordshire is £600, fixed and agreed in writing before we start, with no VAT on top, for a five-page site on a domain registered in your name.

The three ways designers charge

By the hour or the day. You find out the total when the work stops, and every change you ask for adds to it. Fine for a large project with a budget holder, hard on a sole trader who wants to know the number first.

By subscription. A monthly fee for as long as you want the site up. Read the terms before you sign: with some of these the site stays on the designer’s platform, so when the payments stop the site goes with them.

Fixed price. One figure for a defined set of pages, agreed before any work starts. This is how we work, because a tradesperson quotes a job the same way and expects the same courtesy back.

What £600 buys

• Up to five pages, written for your trade, your area and your own photos
• Your own domain, registered in your name
• Built for a phone first, because that is where your customers are
• A tappable phone number and a quote form that reaches you
• Live within ten working days of us having your photos and details
• One round of changes when you check it, and your first year of the care plan

What is not in the price

The domain renews at about £12 a year, paid by you. Email is not included, and your domain works with whichever email provider you prefer. A second round of changes is quoted before it is done. Anything beyond a website is a flat fee, agreed in writing before any work starts.

Three questions to ask before you pay anyone

• Whose name is the domain registered in? If it is not yours, you do not own your own address.
• What happens to the site if I stop paying? You want the answer to be that you keep it.
• Is the price fixed before the work starts, in writing? If not, it is an estimate.