How to choose a web designer.

Published 14 April 2026 · PageLaunch Team · 11 min read

UK web design pricing reality

You can pay anything from £50 to £100,000 for a website in the UK. The market is genuinely that wide. Here's the honest 2026 spread for a small-business 5-page site:

• £50-£250 (Fiverr / overseas): Template sites, weak SEO, no UK support
• £120-£480 (PageLaunch and similar): Fixed-price modern builds, UK-based, fast turnaround
• £500-£2,500 (UK freelancer): Custom design, bespoke SEO, longer timeline
• £2,500-£8,000 (small agency): Strategy, project management, account handler
• £8,000-£25,000 (mid agency): Multiple stakeholders, formal process, slower delivery
• £25,000+: Big agencies, enterprise CMS, multi-month projects

Freelancer vs agency vs DIY builder

DIY (Wix, Squarespace, WordPress.com): Cheapest in cash, most expensive in time. 20-40 hours of your weekend, ongoing monthly fees, no professional polish unless you're design-savvy.

Freelancer: Best for bespoke work where you have specific requirements. Variable quality, depends on individual. Often fast and personal.

Agency: Best for complex projects with multiple stakeholders. Usually slower, definitely pricier. The right call for £10m+ businesses, often overkill for smaller ones.

Productised service (PageLaunch and similar): Fixed scope, fixed price, fixed timeline. Best for small businesses who want a proper site without negotiating scope. Sweet spot for sole traders and SMEs under ~£500k turnover.

Red flags and scams

• No physical address or phone number on the designer's own website
• Pricing in dollars from a "UK" agency
• Promises of "guaranteed page 1 Google" — nobody can promise this
• Required upfront payment with no contract or scope document
• Stock photos used as their "examples" of work
• Vague delivery timeline ("a few weeks")
• Pressure tactics ("this offer is only available today")
• No ownership clarity over domain, hosting, or source code
• Communication only via WhatsApp from a personal number
• Reviews on the designer's own site only — none on Google or Trustpilot

Contract essentials

Even on small builds, get the basics in writing. A proper contract or scope document should cover:

• Exact deliverables (page count, features, integrations)
• Timeline and milestones
• Payment terms and amounts (50/50 is standard for small builds)
• Number of revisions included
• Domain ownership (must be in your name)
• Hosting arrangement and ongoing fees
• What happens if the relationship ends
• IP ownership of the final site
• Cancellation terms

Questions to ask before hiring

1. Will the domain be registered in my name?
2. Who owns the source code if I leave?
3. What's included in the price, and what's extra?
4. How many revisions are included?
5. What's the realistic timeline (not best case)?
6. Can I see three examples of similar work?
7. How do I edit content myself afterwards?
8. What's the ongoing cost — hosting, maintenance, updates?
9. How do I get hold of you if something breaks?
10. What happens if I want to cancel?

Ownership of domain and hosting

The single most important question: is the domain in my name? Some shady operators register it in their own name and effectively hold your business hostage when you want to leave. The domain should always be in YOUR name from day one — even if your designer manages it for you.

Hosting is more flexible. It's fine if your designer hosts the site as part of a package — that's our model. But you should always have the right to take a copy of the site and move it elsewhere if you want.

Ongoing costs to expect

Even after the build, expect ongoing costs:

• Domain renewal: £10-£15/year (or via designer)
• Hosting: £4-£30/month depending on package
• SSL certificate: Should be free (Let's Encrypt) — be wary of designers charging for this
• Email hosting: £4-£12/month if using business email like Google Workspace
• Optional maintenance retainer: £20-£200/month — totally optional, avoid if you don't need it

How PageLaunch fits

We're a productised service — fixed scope, fixed price, no retainers. £120-£480 build cost, £4.99-£29.99/mo hosting, no minimum hosting term. Domain in your name. Source code yours if you ever leave.

Best fit for: sole traders, small service businesses, trades, salons, cafés, photographers, PTs. Not the right fit for: large e-commerce stores, complex SaaS apps, enterprise sites — there are good UK agencies for those and we'll point you to one.

See pricing page for full breakdown, or industry-specific pages: plumber websites, salon websites, café websites, photographer websites.

Buyer checklist

• Get at least three quotes for comparison
• Ask all 10 questions above before hiring
• Read the contract carefully
• Check designer's own website for professionalism
• Look for reviews on Google or Trustpilot, not just their site
• Confirm domain will be in your name
• Understand the ongoing costs
• Have a rough idea of what you want before contacting designers
• Don't pay 100% upfront for any small project
• Trust your gut on communication style — you'll be working together

Bottom line

There's no single right answer — the right designer depends on your budget, timeline and complexity. For most UK small businesses on a sensible budget who want a proper site quickly, a productised service like ours is the best value option.

For very simple needs, DIY can work but expect to spend the time. For complex bespoke needs, an agency is worth the money. Anything in between, ask the questions above and pick the team you'd rather be on a call with.

Related reading: do you still need a website?, GDPR checklist, Google Business Profile guide.