Yes, making a website costs money. There's no truly free path if you want a functional business presence. At minimum, you need a domain name and hosting. A .com or .ca domain costs $15–50 annually depending on the registrar. Shared hosting starts around $5–10/month, while managed WordPress hosting suitable for a business site runs $20–80/month. DIY website builders like Wix, Squarespace, or Shopify let you skip separate hosting, but their business plans cost $15–40/month plus transaction fees on e-commerce. The templates are free, but you're locked into their ecosystem and limited on SEO control. For a sole proprietor testing an idea, this works. For a growing business, you'll likely migrate later—which costs more than building properly the first time. Professional web design varies widely. A freelancer installing a WordPress theme and customizing it might charge $500–2,000. A small agency building a custom 8–12 page site with original design, copywriting, and on-page SEO typically quotes $5,000–15,000. Enterprise builds with custom functionality, integrations, and content strategy go $20,000–100,000+. At Ottawa SEO, most of our client projects land in the $6,000–12,000 range because we bundle technical SEO and conversion optimization into the build—it costs less than retrofitting later. Ongoing costs matter too. Maintenance, security updates, and backups run $50–300/month depending on complexity. Content updates and SEO work are separate line items. Hosting, plugins, and tools add up to $500–2,000/year for a typical business site. The biggest hidden cost is doing it wrong. A $500 site that doesn't convert or rank wastes more money than a $10,000 site that brings in leads. Budget for the outcome you need, not the lowest sticker price. Free website builders exist, but they plaster ads on your site, restrict your domain, and kill credibility. If you're serious about business, plan for real costs.