How to choose a website designer for your small business

A good website designer for a small business puts the three-year price in writing, registers the domain in your name, lets you leave with your site, and never promises you the top of Google. Ask the twelve questions below before you pay anyone, whichever kind of designer you’re talking to: a freelancer, an agency, a monthly plan or a service like ours.

Website designers for small businesses: your four options

Website designers and developers for small businesses come in three broad kinds, and there is a fourth option that isn’t a designer at all. None is always right; it depends on what your site has to do.

A freelance web designer

One person, usually local, building a site to your brief. You get their attention and a bespoke design. ExpertSure’s UK guide (updated 13 September 2026) puts a freelancer at £1,500 to £3,000 for a site of five to ten pages. See 3 Wee Pages vs hiring a freelance web designer.

A web design agency

A team, with meetings, design rounds and project management. Right for a shop, bookings, many pages or a brand built from scratch. The same guide puts a regional agency at £3,000 to £8,000.

A monthly website plan

A low or no setup fee, then a monthly subscription. The done-for-you plans we checked in August 2026 were £19 to £59 a month. Read what happens when you stop paying: monthly website plans compared.

A done-with-you service (not a designer)

You answer questions, the site is built from your answers, and a person checks it. Cheaper, because you supply the facts and nobody holds meetings. That’s what 3 Wee Pages is.

Twelve questions to ask a website designer

1. Whose name will the domain be registered in? The only right answer is yours, as the registrant. Why it matters.
2. What will it cost over three years, in writing? The build, the hosting, the domain renewal and any monthly fee, added up.
3. What does the monthly or yearly fee cover? Hosting, the padlock (SSL), renewals, changes? Get the list.
4. Can I leave, and what do I take with me? Your domain, a copy of your site, and the cost of leaving.
5. Who writes the words? If it’s you, say so up front and budget the time. If it’s them, ask to see what they’ve written for others.
6. Where do the photos come from, and can we use them? Your own are best. Ask who holds the rights to any they supply.
7. How many changes are included after launch? And what does one cost after that?
8. Can I change my hours and prices myself? You shouldn’t have to email someone to change a phone number.
9. Can I see sites you’ve built that are live today? Open them on your phone, and ask if you can speak to one of the owners.
10. Will it work properly on a phone? Most of your customers will see it there first.
11. Who hosts it, and who do I call when it’s down? A name and a way to reach them, not just “support”.
12. What happens if you stop trading, or stop replying? You want the answer before it matters. Here’s what to do if your web designer disappears.

Red flags: when to walk away

• A guaranteed first page, or number one, on Google. Google’s own guidance says: “No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google.”
• The domain in their name, “to make things easier”.
• No written price for year two, or a monthly fee with no end date.
• A long minimum term you only find in the small print.
• No copy of your site if you leave, or a design you’re not allowed to take with you.
• Pressure to sign today to keep a discount.
• No live examples you can open for yourself.

Source: Google Search Central, Do you need an SEO? (last updated 5 June 2026, read 27 September 2026). The same page suggests asking for examples of previous work and how results will be measured.

What a website designer costs a small business in the UK

For a bespoke site, ExpertSure’s UK guide (updated 13 September 2026) gives £1,500 to £3,000 for a freelancer and £3,000 to £8,000 for a regional agency, plus £50 to £300 a month if they look after it for you. The done-for-you monthly plans we checked in August 2026 came to £864 to £2,183 over three years. 3 Wee Pages is £149 to launch and £49 a year from year two: £247 over three years.

Whatever the quote, compare the three-year total, not the first bill. Every figure, with its source and date, is in our guide to what a small business website costs in the UK.

Do you need a website designer at all?

For a site of three pages that says what you do, where, and how to reach you, maybe not. You can build it yourself (here’s how to make a website for a small business), or use a done-with-you service. You do need a designer if you want an online shop with a checkout, bookings on the site, lots of pages, or a brand designed from scratch. Then pay for it properly, and ask the twelve questions above.

How 3 Wee Pages answers those questions

• Your domain: once you’ve paid, we register your .co.uk with Nominet in your name, as the registrant. Connecting it to your site isn’t switched on yet, so for now your site shows at a 3weepages.co.uk address.
• The price: £149 to launch, which covers the first year, then £49 a year. £247 over three years. Everything that’s included.
• Leaving: £25, and you can download your whole site whenever you like.
• The words: you answer questions in eight short steps and your three pages build from your answers; a person checks it before it goes live.
• Changes: you change your hours, services and contact details yourself from your account, and two reviews a year by your Pal are included.
• What we don’t do: more than three pages, an online shop, bookings, a blog or logo design.
• Right now: we’re not taking payments yet, so you can build your site and send it to us, and nothing is charged.

If that fits, it’s the simplest kind of small business website design there is. Start building yours, free, and see all three pages before you decide anything.