A professional website costs anywhere from $2,500 to $25,000+ depending on complexity, functionality, and who builds it. Most small business websites in the $5,000–$10,000 range include custom design, 5–15 pages, mobile optimization, basic SEO setup, and a content management system like WordPress. Simple brochure sites with minimal custom work can start around $2,500–$3,500. E-commerce sites with payment integration, product catalogs, and inventory management typically start at $8,000 and easily climb past $15,000 for stores with custom features or complex shipping logic. The price breaks down into design, development, content, and setup. Custom design work accounts for 30–40% of the budget, front-end and back-end development another 40–50%, and content creation, SEO configuration, and testing make up the rest. Template-based builds using pre-made themes cost significantly less, often $1,500–$4,000, but sacrifice originality and flexibility. You get what you pay for in load speed, code quality, and how well the site ranks. Ongoing costs matter as much as the build. Expect $50–$150 monthly for shared hosting, SSL, and basic maintenance, or $150–$300 for managed WordPress hosting with performance optimization and security monitoring. Domain registration runs $15–$50 annually depending on the extension. At Ottawa SEO, we price sites based on strategic value, not just page count. A 10-page site optimized to rank for high-intent local keywords and convert visitors delivers far more ROI than a 30-page site built without search or conversion strategy. We include foundational on-page SEO, schema markup, and Google Search Console setup in every build because a site that doesn't get found is just an expensive business card. Budget $5,000–$12,000 for a site that actually drives business, and remember the initial cost is minor compared to what you lose by launching something cheap that needs a full rebuild in 18 months.