Almost nobody in this industry publishes prices, which makes it very hard to tell whether you are being quoted fairly. So here are real numbers from real local shops, including mine.
If you have called around for a website quote you already know the pattern. Nobody will tell you a number until you get on a call. Then the number arrives with no context and you have nothing to compare it to.
Here is what is actually published, right now, by shops serving small businesses in this area.
| Who | What | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Brimar, San Jose | 5 page site | $1,500 |
| Brimar, San Jose | 10 page site | $2,000 |
| Bay Pulse | Packages start at | $1,299 |
| Solutionarian, Campbell | Small business tier | $1,900 to $5,000 |
| ThrillX, San Jose | Basic, 5 to 10 pages | $1,200 to $3,500 |
| ThrillX, San Jose | Professional | $3,500 to $7,500 |
| KO Websites | 5 to 10 page WordPress | $3,895 |
| Agencies listed on Clutch | Minimum project size | $5,000 to $75,000 |
| Fouro Digital | 5 page site | $1,500 |
A few things jump out. The range is enormous, roughly $1,200 to $75,000 for what a small business owner would describe with the same three words. And the shops that publish prices are the ones selling to trades and restaurants, while the ones that hide them are selling to funded companies. So the published market is skewed low and it is still higher than most people expect.
The national average for a web designer runs around $950 to $1,000 for a project. California runs roughly 15 to 30 percent above national. That is not local shops being greedy, it is what it costs to live here. Anybody quoting you $400 for a custom site is either offshore, using a template, or planning to disappear.
More pages costs more because more pages is more writing and more research, not because Google rewards page count. It does not. Google ranks individual pages against individual searches. Twelve pages that each target something real beats twelve pages of filler, and twelve pages of filler can actively hurt you because near-identical pages get collapsed.
The useful question is not how many pages, it is whether there is a page for each thing you sell. If you do water heaters, drain cleaning and repiping, that is three searches by three different people and it wants three pages.
This is the quiet one. A lot of quotes assume you will write the copy. If you have ever tried to write about your own business you know how that goes. Ask specifically.
Some of the packaged agencies build your site on a platform they control, and the contract says they own the copy and the photos. Stop paying and the site goes offline, and you leave with your domain and nothing else. That is not a small print detail, it is the whole deal. Ask for it in writing before you sign anything.
Almost every quote has a monthly attached. It is worth understanding which kind you are being offered, because they are two very different products wearing the same label.
Maintenance is hosting, your SSL certificate, your domain renewal, business email, and someone making changes when you ask. Those are real recurring bills and the fee covers them.
Financing is a lower build price with a mandatory monthly that repays the difference, usually on a one year minimum, often with a clause that takes the site offline if you miss a payment. There is nothing illegal about it and for some businesses the cash flow works. Just know which one you are buying.
The question that separates them: what happens if I stop paying? If the answer is "you keep your site," it is maintenance. If the answer is "your site goes offline," it is financing.
$900 for a single landing page, $1,500 for five pages, $2,100 for eight, $3,200 for twelve, plus a monthly from $49 that covers hosting, your domain renewal every year, SSL, business email and your changes. Every number is on the pricing page so you never have to sit through a call to find out.
That puts me level with Brimar and under everybody else in town. I am one person with no sales team and no office, which is most of the difference. I am not better than the agencies charging triple. I just have a much smaller number to cover before I make anything.
More posts on the blog. If you want to know whether Google and AI assistants can currently find your business, there is a free ten minute check. Every price is on the pricing page.
I will look at it and tell you what I find, free, whether or not you hire me.
Mándame tu sitio y te digo qué encontré. Hablamos español.
Get a free look