How Much Does a Small Business Website Cost in North Carolina?

Most local service businesses we talk to, from contractors and veterinary practices to consultants and shops, need five to ten pages: a homepage, a page for each main service, an about page and a contact page. For that kind of site, here is what we charge at SS Design Media. We publish it so you can compare:

When we reviewed the published pricing of web design studios in the Statesville, Lake Norman, Hickory and Charlotte area in October 2026, starting prices ranged from under $1,000 for template sites to $2,500 to $4,500 for a typical small business build. Large custom projects ran $8,000 to $15,000 and up. Most local studios don't publish prices at all. That's why the same project can get quotes that differ by thousands of dollars.

A lower price usually means a template with your logo dropped in and little planning. A higher price should buy you strategy: a page plan, writing that answers what your customers ask, search setup and a site that is fast on a phone. Ask any studio which of those is included. If the answer is vague, the price doesn't tell you much.

Almost every website quote is built from the same four decisions. Knowing them makes quotes easier to compare.

The right platform depends on how you sell, not on which one sounds most impressive. A few typical fits:

Say you're a consultant in Mooresville who mostly gets referrals. You need a clean, credible site that explains what you do and makes it easy to book a call. A drag-and-drop site covers that, and you can change text yourself.

Say you run a roofing or remodeling company in Statesville and want homeowners to get a rough price before they call. A custom AI-built site can include an interactive quote tool, which a basic template can't. Our contractor websites page covers what those sites usually need.

Say you manage a veterinary practice with many services, staff bios and a library of pet care articles. WordPress handles a large, growing content library well, and many practices already have one. If yours is struggling, our WordPress services start with a diagnosis before any quote.

Say you own a shop near Lake Norman and want to sell online. You need an online store with cart, checkout and shipping, and you should budget for the store platform's own fees on top of the build.

If you're stuck between two options, WordPress vs GoHighLevel walks through the trade-offs.

Here is how the math works for a hypothetical contractor who needs eight pages: a homepage, five service pages, an about page and a contact page. That's three pages beyond the five included. These are starting prices. A fully custom design, copywriting or extra features add to them, and the estimate tool shows you how much.

A website isn't a one-time purchase. Plan for at least one of these ongoing costs.

Hosting and maintenance keeps the site online, secure and backed up. For WordPress that typically means hosting, plugin updates and backups. Our plan is $75 a month. Online stores pay $150 a month for store care, plus the store platform's own fees.

A CRM and follow-up system is what turns a visit into a customer. The Savvy Sales System is an all-in-one platform of this kind. It handles texting, email, online booking and reminders, missed-call text-back and review requests in one place. Plans start with Foundation at $297 a month plus a $597 setup fee. The Growth System is $497 a month plus a $1,500 setup fee and includes a fully built website or funnel and automated follow-up. Our drag-and-drop and custom AI-built sites are hosted inside the Savvy Sales System plan, so there's no separate hosting bill.

Ongoing marketing, such as local SEO work or managed support hours, is optional and priced separately.

The build price is only part of what you'll spend. Add twelve months of monthly costs to see the real number.

Take the eight-page WordPress example above. The starting build is $3,550, and twelve months of managed hosting at $75 a month is $900. That's $4,450 for the first year before any extras.

For a site hosted in the Savvy Sales System, add the plan to your budget. Foundation at $297 a month is $3,564 over twelve months, plus the $597 setup fee. That plan isn't just hosting. It replaces separate tools for texting, booking, email and review requests, so compare it against what you pay for those today.

The point isn't that one option is cheaper. It's that two quotes with the same build price can cost very different amounts by the end of the year.

These items often sit outside a website quote. Ask whether each one is included so they don't surprise you later.

For a five-page site, expect three to four weeks for a drag-and-drop or custom AI-built site, four to five weeks for WordPress and five to seven weeks for an online store. The clock starts when the studio has your content and logins. Waiting on those is the most common cause of delays. More pages, custom design and copywriting add time.

To keep your project on schedule, gather your logo, photos, service list, service area and any existing logins (domain, hosting, Google Business Profile) before kickoff. Decide who on your team approves designs, so feedback doesn't stall.

A low number can hide high costs, and a high number can hide thin work. Watch for these:

Put the quotes side by side and ask each studio the same questions. The answers tell you more than the totals. You can see examples of finished sites on our work page to judge what a given price buys.

The fastest way to get a real number is the instant website estimate. Answer a few questions about pages, design, content and features, and you'll see a price range, a monthly cost and a timeline in about two minutes, with no call required. If you'd rather talk it through, book a call. We reply within one business day and we'll look at your current site first.