A professional small business website costs between $2,000 and $8,000 CAD in most Canadian markets. This assumes a 5–15 page site with custom design, mobile responsiveness, basic SEO setup, contact forms, and CMS integration like WordPress. Template-based builds with minimal customization can start around $1,000–$1,500, while custom-coded sites with e-commerce, advanced integrations, or brand-specific design work easily push past $10,000–$15,000. Your pricing should account for these factors: discovery and strategy time, design rounds, development hours, content creation or migration, SEO foundation work, and post-launch support. A $3,500 website might include two design concepts, three revision rounds, on-page SEO for ten pages, Google Analytics setup, and 30 days of tweaks. A $7,000 build adds custom functionality, copywriting for key pages, conversion rate optimization, and more involved brand positioning. Many agencies underprice because they quote only design and dev hours, ignoring strategy, project management, QA, and the ongoing relationship. At Ottawa SEO Inc., we've seen too many $1,200 websites that look fine but convert poorly because no one planned the user journey or optimized for search intent. Price for the outcome, not just the artifact. Avoid flat-rate commoditization unless you're running a productized service with tight scope. Charge enough to include proper discovery, so you understand the client's customer acquisition model and can build a site that actually generates leads or sales. If you're freelancing, $75–$150/hour CAD is reasonable depending on your market and expertise. For agencies, effective rates often land between $100–$200/hour when you back out the project price. Watch out for scope creep. Define what's included upfront: number of pages, revision rounds, stock photo budget, hosting setup, training sessions. Small business owners often expect unlimited changes or ongoing updates within the base price. Separate initial build from monthly retainers for updates, security, or content work. That keeps projects profitable and relationships healthy.