How Much Does a Small Business Website Cost in Illinois?

Most Illinois small businesses pay between $447 and $1,497 for a custom website build, plus $37 to $97 per month for hosting and ongoing care. That covers a 5 to 10 page site built by a solo developer. Agencies in Chicago or Springfield typically charge $3,000 to $8,000 for the same scope. The difference is overhead, not quality.

I get asked about price more than anything else. Business owners have been burned by quotes that range from "free" to "we'll need a retainer" and they want a straight answer. This post gives you the actual numbers I charge, what is included, what costs extra, and why a solo developer can do this for a fraction of what an agency charges.

See pricing for the packages, or use the contact page to talk about your project.

The actual cost breakdown

A small business website has three cost layers: the build, the ongoing hosting and care, and the extras. Here is what each one actually costs.

Domain

A domain name (yourbusiness.com) runs about $15 per year. Some registrars charge $10 for the first year and $20 after that. I do not mark up domains. You register it in your own name and you own it. If someone else registered your domain for you and holds it in their account, that is a problem. I cover that in my post on website ownership.

Hosting and ongoing care

Hosting alone costs $5 to $15 per month on a shared host. But hosting alone does not keep your site secure, updated, or backed up. My care plans bundle hosting, SSL, security monitoring, backups, and small content updates:

• Starter care: $37/month
• Growth care: $67/month
• Premium care: $97/month

The difference is how many content updates are included and how many pages the site has. You are not locked in. You can cancel anytime and I will help you migrate.

The build

This is the one-time cost to design and build the site. My package pricing:

A Site Refresh is $597 if you already have a site and just need it rebuilt or updated.

What costs extra

• Copywriting: If you do not have text for your pages, I charge $65/hour or we scope it as a separate project. Most businesses write their own copy and I edit it.
• Stock photography: I use free licensed images by default. Custom photography or paid stock is billed at cost.
• Logo design: I can do a simple text-based logo. A full brand identity is a separate project.
• E-commerce: A full store with payment processing is not included in the packages above. That is scoped separately.
• Ongoing marketing: SEO campaigns, Google Ads management, and content marketing are separate from care plans.

How this compares to agency pricing

I am not going to tell you agencies are bad. They are not. They serve a real market. But you should know what you are paying for when you hire one.

A typical agency in Illinois charges $3,000 to $8,000 for a 5 to 10 page small business website. Some charge more. Here is where that money goes:

The agency is not overcharging for what they deliver. They have payroll, office costs, software licenses, and a sales process. You are paying for that infrastructure. If you need a team of people, a complex project, or ongoing marketing support, an agency makes sense. I talk about when that is the right call in my post on freelancer vs agency.

If you need a clean, fast, professional website and you want to talk to the person building it, a solo developer is the cheaper path.

Why a solo developer is cheaper

The math is simple. I do not have a project manager, a sales team, an office lease, or a marketing budget. I do not have a Monday standup meeting about your project. I just build it. The cost savings from not carrying that overhead get passed to you.

That does not mean you get less. You get the same technical output: a responsive site, clean code, proper SEO setup, fast load times, and a contact form that works. What you do not get is the agency process around it. For most small businesses, the process is not what they need. They need a website that works.

What you actually get for $447

I want to be specific because "custom website" means nothing at this point. Here is what the Starter package includes:

• A custom design built on Gatsby, not a Wix or Squarespace template
• Mobile responsive layout tested on real devices
• Up to 5 pages (typically Home, About, Services, Contact, and one more)
• Contact form with spam protection
• SSL certificate
• Basic on-page SEO: title tags, meta descriptions, heading structure, alt text
• Google Analytics setup
• Submission to Google Search Console
• 30 days of post-launch support included

What it does not include: a blog, e-commerce, custom integrations, or ongoing SEO. If you need those, look at the Growth or Premium packages.

The total first-year cost

Here is what a real Illinois small business pays in the first 12 months:

Compare that to an agency's $3,000 to $8,000 build fee alone, before any monthly retainer.

Is the cheapest option always right?

No. If you are running an online store, need a custom booking system, or want a full marketing team behind your site, the cheapest build is not the right fit. That is why I scope every project before quoting. Sometimes I tell people to go elsewhere because what they need is bigger than what I do.

But if you are a plumber in Rockford, a salon in Springfield, or a consultant in Chicago who needs a professional site that shows up in local search and converts visitors into calls, the pricing above is what you should expect to pay.

The full cost breakdown for Illinois small businesses

Here is every line item, not just the build. This is what a real Illinois small business pays in the first year:

The SSL line is zero because modern hosting (Netlify, Vercel, most managed hosts) includes SSL for free. If a developer charges you extra for SSL, ask why. There is no reason to pay for a basic SSL certificate in 2026.

Hidden costs most businesses do not anticipate

The build price is not the total price. Here is what catches people off guard:

• Content writing. Most business owners assume they will write the text themselves. Then they do not have time, and the project stalls for three weeks. Budget for copywriting if you are busy running your business. At $65/hour, a five-page site takes 4-8 hours of writing time depending on how much you provide.
• Photography. Free stock photos work, but they look like stock photos. If you want real photos of your work, your team, or your location, you need to take them or hire someone. A local photographer in Illinois charges $200-500 for a half-day shoot.
• SEO beyond the basics. The build includes on-page SEO (title tags, meta descriptions, heading structure). It does not include ongoing SEO work like content creation, link building, or local citation management. That is a separate monthly engagement.
• Email hosting. If you want email at your domain (you@yourbusiness.com), that is separate from website hosting. Google Workspace is $6/user/month. Microsoft 365 is $6/user/month. This is not included in any website package.
• Logo design. A text-based logo is included. A full brand identity (logo, color palette, typography, brand guidelines) is a separate project that runs $300-800 depending on scope.
• Content updates after launch. The first 30 days are included. After that, updates are part of your care plan or billed at $65/hour.

How to budget for a website project

Start with the build. That is your one-time cost. Then add 12 months of hosting and care. Then add a buffer for extras.

For a Starter package: $447 build + $444 care + $15 domain = $906 year one. Add $200-300 if you need help writing content. Total budget: about $1,100-1,200.

For a Growth package: $797 build + $804 care + $15 domain = $1,616 year one. Add $300-500 for content and photography if needed. Total budget: about $1,900-2,100.

For a Premium package: $1,497 build + $1,164 care + $15 domain = $2,676 year one. Add $500-1,000 for content, photography, and initial SEO content. Total budget: about $3,200-3,700.

The buffer matters. Almost every project has something come up. A page you forgot about, a service you want to add, a photo that needs to be reshot. Plan for 15-20% over the base price.

DIY vs freelancer vs agency in the Illinois market

DIY is the right call if you have no budget and are willing to learn. The downside is that template builders produce slow sites with limited SEO control. I have rebuilt Wix sites for clients who could not get them to rank in local search.

A freelancer is the right call if you want a custom site, want to talk to the person building it, and do not need a team. You get the same technical output as an agency for a fraction of the cost.

An agency is the right call if you need a team, have a complex project (e-commerce, custom integrations, multi-location SEO), or want ongoing marketing support handled by a dedicated account manager. You pay for the infrastructure.

What you get at different price points

• $500: A template-based site on Wix or Squarespace, or a basic custom site from a new freelancer. Functional but limited. SEO is basic. Performance is often poor.
• $1,000: A custom 5-page site from an experienced solo developer. Mobile responsive, proper SEO setup, contact form, GA4. This is the sweet spot for most small service businesses.
• $2,500: A custom 8-15 page site with blog setup, local SEO landing pages, schema markup, and lead capture. This is for businesses that are competing in a crowded local market.
• $5,000+: Agency territory. You get a team, a project manager, design rounds, and ongoing support. The site itself is not 5x better than a $1,000 site. You are paying for the process and the team around it.

Next steps

See the full pricing breakdown at pricing. If you have a project in mind, use the contact page and tell me about your business. I respond within one business day. No sales calls, no pressure. You tell me what you need, I tell you what it costs.