Guide

The hidden costs of a cheap website

Nobody sets out to overpay. But the cheapest quote on the table is often the one that costs the most by the second year, because the price you were shown was only part of the picture.

Renewals you did not budget for

Domain renewal, hosting, SSL, email hosting and paid plugins all renew on their own schedule. Individually they are small. Together they can quietly total more than the original build.

Ask for the full first year and second year cost in writing, not just the build price. A good supplier will have it ready.

Change requests

If every small edit is billable, the real cost of the site depends on how often your business changes. For a trade that is often, because prices move and you take on new work.

Get the change policy in plain language. How much for a text change, how much for a new page, and how quickly it gets done.

The rebuild you end up paying for

The most expensive hidden cost is a site nobody can work on. Sites built on abandoned page builders or locked platforms often cannot be moved, so the next agency quotes a fresh build.

Before you buy, ask what the site is built on and whether it can be moved to another supplier. The answer tells you a lot.

Being invisible

The quietest cost of all is a site that never gets found. If there is no local setup, no service pages and no ongoing work, you have bought a brochure that nobody opens.

Money spent on a site that never appears in search is not a cheap website. It is a slow one.

The questions that save you

Run any quote through these before signing.

  • What will I pay in total in year one and year two
  • Who owns the domain and the site files
  • What does a text change cost and how fast is it done
  • Is local SEO included or extra
  • Can another supplier take this site over

Common questions

Why do cheap websites cost more later?

The build price often excludes hosting, renewals, edits and maintenance. Those charges appear over the following year, and a poorly built site can need replacing sooner.

What should I ask before buying a website?

Ask for the total cost across two years, who owns the domain and files, what edits cost, and whether local SEO is included.

Where to go next

Want us to sort this for you?

We build the site for free and look after the hosting, the updates and the local SEO for €59.99 a month on a 12 month minimum. Have a chat with us and see if it suits.

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