Intro

Most website pricing pages skip the explanation and jump straight to the number.

This one won’t.

We charge $99/month for small business websites, and that price isn’t arbitrary. It reflects the difference between owning a website and maintaining a system that stays fast, readable, and trustworthy over time.

This post breaks down what that monthly cost actually covers — and when a cheaper DIY builder like Wix or WordPress is genuinely the better choice.

When a $25/month builder is the right fit

Let’s get this out of the way first.

DIY builders can be a good option if:

You enjoy designing and tweaking websites
You have time to test layouts, performance, and mobile behavior
You’re comfortable managing updates, plugins, and occasional breakage
Accessibility and performance aren’t critical yet

For many businesses, that’s a perfectly reasonable starting point.

Our work is for teams who don’t want their website to become another ongoing project.

What $99/month actually pays for

A professional website isn’t just “pages on the internet.” It’s a stack of decisions and ongoing care that most people never see.

Here’s what’s included — in plain language.

Design that prioritizes comprehension

Most templates look fine at first glance but fail where it matters: hierarchy.

We design around:

What the eye should notice first, second, and third
Clear service explanation within the first few seconds
Typography and spacing tuned for mobile reading
Layouts that reduce friction instead of adding decoration

This is the difference between a site that exists and a site that communicates.

Performance work (not just “fast hosting”)

Speed isn’t a checkbox — it’s the result of restraint.

We handle:

Lightweight page structure (no page builders)
Image sizing and delivery
Real-device performance checks
Avoiding plugin and script bloat

This matters most on mobile networks, where real customers actually are.

SEO fundamentals baked into the structure

SEO isn’t just blog posts and keywords.

Every site includes:

Clean, semantic HTML
Logical heading structure
Page-level titles and descriptions
Sitemap and crawl-ready routing
Internal linking that makes sense

This gives your site a foundation to rank without needing gimmicks.

Scalability without rebuilding from scratch

Most small businesses don’t plan to become complex overnight — but many eventually do.

A common problem with DIY platforms is that content and presentation are tightly coupled. Pages, layout, and data all live in the same place. That works early on, but it becomes a liability as soon as you want to grow.

Our stack separates:

Content (what you say)
Presentation (how it looks)
Data (how it can evolve later)

This means you can start with a simple 10-page site and scale to:

dozens of service pages
hundreds of articles, projects, or locations
more complex data (members, inventory, events)

…without throwing the site away and starting over.

Front end and back end are intentionally decoupled

We use a headless CMS for content and a modern front end for presentation. In practice, that means:

You can change how the site looks without rewriting content
You can expand your data model without redesigning pages
You’re not locked into a theme, plugin, or page builder

If your business eventually needs:

a relational database
advanced search
custom admin tools
integrations with other systems

…the website doesn’t get in the way. It becomes a foundation, not a constraint.

Built to scale from 10 pages to 100+

Scalability isn’t just about traffic — it’s about structure.

This approach supports:

clean routing for large sites
repeatable page patterns
collections and dynamic pages
consistent internal linking

So whether you stay small or grow significantly, the site remains:

readable
navigable
maintainable

Most DIY sites work fine at 5–10 pages and quietly collapse at 40–50.

Better habits from day one

Starting with a more intentional setup also teaches better practices early:

thinking in terms of structure, not just pages
separating content from design
understanding how SEO, performance, and accessibility fit together

Instead of “we’ll fix it later,” you’re building something that can mature naturally as the business grows.

For many teams, that learning curve pays off faster than constantly reworking a DIY site that was never meant to scale.

Accessibility & quality assurance

Accessibility isn’t an add-on — it’s part of building responsibly.

We account for:

Keyboard navigation
Focus states
Contrast and readable text sizes
Screen-reader-friendly markup

Before launch, we also QA:

Forms
Links
Layout edge cases
Mobile breakpoints

Most “cheap” sites skip this entirely.

Hosting, updates, and ongoing care

The monthly plan includes:

Managed hosting
SSL
Backups
Monitoring
Small updates and fixes as your business evolves

You don’t have to reopen “the website project” every time something changes.

Which path fits your business?

Different businesses need different structures. We break this down further depending on how you operate.

Small businesses & professional services
If you need a clean, credible site that’s easy to maintain and grows with you, start here:
→ Websites for Small Businesses
/websites-for-small-business
Trades & contractors
If calls, quotes, and local trust signals matter most, this page explains how we structure those sites:
→ Websites for Trades & Contractors
/websites-for-trades

Each page goes deeper into structure, examples, and what’s included.

Final thought

The question isn’t whether $99/month is “cheap” or “expensive.”

It’s whether your website:

stays fast
stays readable
stays accurate
and keeps doing its job without constant attention

If that matters, the pricing usually makes sense.
If not, a DIY builder might genuinely be the better choice — and that’s okay.

Why We Charge $99/Month for Small Business Websites