How much does a website cost in Northern Ireland?
Ask this question and you'll get answers from "free" to "£10,000" — and annoyingly, all of them are true. The real answer depends on who builds it and what your business actually needs. Here are the real numbers, including the ones that make us look expensive and the ones that make us look cheap.
The quick answer
| Option | Upfront | Ongoing | The catch |
|---|---|---|---|
| DIY builder (Wix, Squarespace) | £0 | £10–30/mo | Your evenings, and it usually shows |
| Cheap freelancer (Fiverr etc.) | £100–400 | varies | Quality lottery; support vanishes |
| Local freelancer / small studio | £450–3,000 | £40–120/mo | Quality varies — ask the questions below |
| Agency | £3,000–10,000+ | £100–500/mo | You're part-paying for their office |
Industry surveys put the average professional small-business website in the UK at £750–£3,500, with maintenance plans typically £40–£120 per month. Northern Ireland runs slightly cheaper than GB, but not dramatically.
What actually drives the price up
- Number of pages. A one-page site is a day's work; a ten-page site with a page per service and per area is a week's.
- Who writes the words. "Send us your content" is how cheap projects stall for months. Copywriting included costs more and is worth it.
- Booking, payments, e-commerce. Each adds real complexity. Most local service businesses need none of them — a phone number and a form outperform a booking system you'll ignore.
- Google work. A site that looks nice and a site that ranks are different products. Proper local SEO setup (structure, speed, Google Business Profile) is the difference between decoration and a lead machine.
What a local business actually needs
For a trade, garage, gym, salon or café in Northern Ireland, the honest checklist is short: loads fast on a phone, says what you do and where, shows real photos of real work, displays your Google reviews, and makes calling you effortless. That's it. Every pound beyond that list should have a reason.
Rule of thumb: if one extra job a month would pay for the website several times over — and for most trades it would — the website isn't an expense, it's the cheapest employee you'll ever hire.
The monthly costs, decoded
Whoever builds your site, something ongoing is unavoidable: a domain (~£10–15/year) and hosting. "Care plans" bundle hosting with updates, security and support — fair value at £40–120/month if they include actual work (content updates, reports), poor value if it's just hosting with a markup. Ask specifically: "what do I get each month for this?"
Five questions to ask anyone quoting you
- "Who owns the domain and the site?" The only correct answer is you do. Walk away from anyone who registers your domain in their name — it's a hostage situation waiting to happen.
- "What happens if I want to leave?" You want files and access handed over, no drama, no fee.
- "Can I see it before I commit?" Mock-ups before money is the fairest arrangement going.
- "What exactly is included monthly?" See above.
- "Will it rank on Google?" Anyone promising #1 quickly is lying. The honest answer mentions your Google Business Profile, reviews, and months — not magic.
Where we fit, transparently
Nisio Web Studio is currently at launch pricing: £450 for a professional one-page site, £950 for a multi-page site built for local search, and an optional care plan at £45/month — deliberately at the bottom of the professional range while we build our portfolio, for work at the level you see on this site. Every project starts with a free homepage mock-up, so you see your actual site before paying anything. Those launch rates rise as spots fill.
See your website before you spend a penny
Tell us about your business and we'll design your homepage free within 48 hours. If it's not clearly better than what you have, that's the end of it.
Get my free mock-up →