Website pricing breaks into three tiers. DIY website builders like Wix or Squarespace cost $15–$40/month plus your time—effective for solopreneurs testing ideas, but limited for SEO and custom features. Template-based WordPress sites built by a freelancer or small agency run $1,500–$5,000, covering design customization, basic plugins, and initial content setup. Custom-designed business websites with original layouts, integrations, and strategic UX typically cost $5,000–$25,000 depending on page count, e-commerce requirements, and backend complexity. At Ottawa SEO Inc., we've seen the biggest cost drivers are scope creep, content production, and ongoing maintenance. A ten-page service site is straightforward; adding member portals, booking systems, or multilingual content multiplies hours. Copywriting and professional photography often add $2,000–$8,000 if not handled in-house. Hosting and domain registration add $200–$800 annually for quality managed WordPress hosting—cheap shared hosting saves money upfront but costs you in speed and security later. Enterprise builds—custom CMS platforms, headless architectures, or multi-site networks—start at $50,000 and climb into six figures. These make sense when you need proprietary features, strict compliance, or expect millions of sessions annually. For most SMBs, the sweet spot is $8,000–$15,000: custom WordPress with a performant theme, essential integrations, mobile optimization, and basic on-page SEO baked in. Watch out for agencies quoting rock-bottom prices then upselling every revision, or conversely, those charging premium rates for templated work. Ask what's included: revisions, training, post-launch support, SSL, backups. A $3,000 site that needs $500/month in fixes isn't cheaper than a $10,000 build you can manage yourself. We structure projects with fixed scope and transparent add-on pricing so clients know exactly what they're paying for before we write a line of code.