If you’re looking to build a website for your business, you may be trying to estimate the cost. Maybe you’ve asked one or two web design agencies for estimates or looked at different options for building a website yourself and been left wondering by the wide range of choices.
- What features will you need?
- What about a domain name and web hosting?
- How much does a website really cost?
In this post, we’ll cover the basics of choosing the right type of website for your venture and estimating the web design costs to build it.
Getting a website doesn’t have to be expensive or complicated. Tell GoDaddy Airo about your idea and it will generate a domain name, logo, website, social media handles, professional email and more — all for the price of your domain name.* Check it out now.
A small business website may cost as little as $170 per year, depending on the domain name you choose and the content you require.
A very large, complex website made for gaming or e-commerce could cost $30,000 or more in web design and development costs.
The costs cited in this post are estimates only and, as AI continues to speed many previously manual processes, are subject to change. All prices are shown in CAD.
The basic building blocks of every website
Every website is formed of five basic elements: a domain name, hosting, web design & build, website security and marketing. The table below provides a rough guide to pricing for each of them:
Website building blocks and their cost
| Website feature | Cost upfront |
| Domain name | $0.01-$20 unless you have your eye on a Premium Domain. |
| Web hosting | $65-700+ |
| Web design & build | $0-10,000+ |
| Website security | $0-325+ |
| Search engine optimisation (SEO) | $1,700-5,000 Source |
Domain name
Buying the right domain name is vital because it will form the cornerstone of your business identity.
In terms of price, the cost of your domain name will depend on the domain extension you pick — for example, .com, .ca, .shop, .net.
But as an estimate, expect to pay around $20 a year for your domain.
At GoDaddy, you can register a .ca or .com domain for as little as $0.01 for the first year (with a three-year term). Choices like .world or .site start from as low as $1.36 for the first year.
On the other end of the spectrum, .inc domains, popular as they are with larger organisations, can be more costly.
The snappier and more memorable .com domains tend to come with premium price tags, too.
Then there are premium domains - keyword rich domains that are highly desirable.
For example, creditcards.ca reportedly sold for $650,000.
Nevertheless, there are plenty of good .ca and .com domains still to be found out there. Check current domain prices here.
Web Hosting
A website consists of computer files and all those files need to be stored somewhere. That place is a web server.
Of course, you could buy your own server, but this is too costly for most people. So they “rent” space on a hosting company’s server instead.
Web hosting prices vary so much because of the diverse types of plans on offer. The hosting plan you need will depend on your business requirements.
For many small businesses, shared hosting is the place to start. As its name suggests, you share space on a single server with other websites. So at some point you or one of your neighbours may grow to a point where you need more but you can easily upgrade your hosting plan.
At GoDaddy, shared hosting plans range from $5.49/month up to $12.99/month.
Good web hosting is important because it keeps your website online and available to customers around the world. The quality of your hosting plan can also impact how quickly your website loads for customers.
Related: What’s the difference between a domain name and hosting?
Web design & build
Today, you can use a website builder tool to design your own website, without any technical knowledge, in minutes.
These website builders typically cost between $170 and $336 a year, depending on the features you want on your site.
It's possible to create everything from simple one page websites to ecommerce sites using these tools.
Plus, inbuilt AI tools now give you help with copy and images, meaning you don't need to pay out for copywriters or photographers,
If you don't want to go down the website builder route, you may need to hire someone to:
- Write text for your website
- Take photos
- Shoot videos
Ready to give writing a go? Read Copywriting tips for your small business (10-minute read) to start strong.
Website security
You need to keep your site safe. You will want to use an SSL certificate on your site to encrypt exchanges flowing to and from your site. As your website grows, you may want to invest in additional website security software.
Related: How hackers can tell if your website is a good target
Search engine optimization
Search engine optimization (SEO) is a well-documented series of tweaks that will make it easy for search engines to find and index a website. This can make it more likely that your website will appear in search results whenever anyone searches for products or services like yours.
There may be some upfront costs relating to SEO when setting up your website, particularly if you use a web designer. Alternately, you can manage the basics yourself by reading posts like this to start.
What type of website do you need?
Before you can begin estimating the cost of web design, you’ll need to decide what type of website you need for your venture or business.
The type and size of your website will be a major factor in the overall cost of your website design.
Here are some of the common types of websites you can consider.
Brochure-style website
One of the most common types of websites is the brochure-style website, which can be used by:
- Businesses that don’t plan to sell online
- Professional services
- Nonprofit organizations
This style of website will usually display the basics about your business and what you have to offer, along with your social media and hours of business. A brochure website has less than 15 pages, so it costs less to design than a larger website.
This is attractive to anyone who may not have a lot of money for web design.
For a brochure website in Canada, you can expect to pay between $170 for an AI-built site to $5,000 for a bespoke website.
This depends on the features you want and how many pages you need on your website. You’ll also need to:
- Register a domain name (be sure it’s registered in your name, not the designer or developer’s name)
- Pay for hosting every month to make your website visible on the web
- Possibly pay for a web designer to make updates
Small e-commerce store
Another common type of website is the e-commerce store, which allows you to sell your products or services online.
A small to medium-sized e-commerce store will have anywhere from 10 to 100 products, and a blog that allows customers to follow your business and gain more information about your products.
The cost depends on how many products you’d like to have in your shop, and what features you want to use. You’ll also need a secure credit card payment processing method so that your customers are safe while they’re submitting banking details to your site.
If you hire someone to build an e-commerce website for you, the website design cost may be between $5,000 and $10,000.
You’ll also have to pay for a domain name, monthly hosting costs, plugins for processing payments, and recurring costs for updates.
While it can be costly to build an e-commerce website, it doesn’t have to be. With GoDaddy Online Store, anyone can design a professional e-commerce website for as little as $27.99 per month.
Prefer WordPress and have a few tech skills (or are willing to learn)?
GoDaddy's Managed WordPress Ecommerce plans start at $36.99 per month, come with WooCommerce installed and take care of the routine updates and security patches for you.
Large e-commerce store
Some people want to move their entire store online so that they can begin selling their products to customers everywhere. A large e-commerce store will have:
- 100+ products
- Tutorial videos for products
- An active blog to inform their customers about their products or promos
With a large e-commerce store, you’ll need to pay for:
- A domain name
- A more powerful hosting plan
- Plugins or apps for payments and security
- Recurring maintenance fees for updating the website and product listings
Expect to pay $10,000 - $50,000+ for a large e-commerce website, with about $1,000 in yearly costs.
If you were to build a massive online store (like Amazon), this could cost hundreds of thousands.
Large custom website
There are also large websites that are content-heavy (e.g. gaming, lots of high-resolution photography, etc) and have custom features that make them difficult to code. The complexity of these larger websites will require more time to build, which makes them more expensive.
A large website may be built for a custom purpose like banking or social media, or perhaps it’s designed to display a lot of content such as an online magazine or news channel.
These websites are custom built for robustness and are designed to handle hundreds of thousands of visitors daily.
With a large website, the cost will be quoted on a per-job basis depending on your business's needs.
You'll need to budget between $10,000 and $100,000 for a large custom website.
You’ll also have higher hosting fees and more update fees, which will add to the annual cost of owning a large website.
How much does it cost to build a website in Canada?
| Website type | Total cost of building your website | Website builder cost | Cost of hosting/domain |
| Brochure website (built by web designer) | $10 - $5,000 | N/A | Starting at $110 annually |
| Brochure website (built with Godaddy Website Builder) | Free | Free | Included |
| Small-medium e-commerce store (Built by web designer) | $5,000 - $10,000 | N/A | Starting at $145 annually |
| Large e-commerce store (built by web designer) | $10,000 - $50,000+ | N/A | Starting at $720 annually |
| e-commerce store (built with Godaddy Website Builder) | $27.99 / month | Free | Included |
| Large custom website | $10,000 - $75,000+ | N/A | $1,200+ annually |
The above table provides a breakdown of website design costs in Canada.
**Please note that these website design costs are approximate and may vary by province or from agency to agency. You should always shop around when you’re building a website and compare pricing to see which option is the most cost-friendly.
Additional costs of building a website
Whilst elements like domain names, web hosting, web design, web security and – if you want your site to show up well in the Google Search listings – SEO are non-negotiables when it comes to building a website, there’s another optional costs that may crop up, too. These costs concern content.
Website content
When we talk about content, we’re referring to text, images, and videos.
Exactly what content you need will vary depending on the kind of business you’re running and the functionality you want for your site.
For simple sites, you may be able to create all the content yourself. But for more complex sites, you might need to hire someone to write copy for your website, and perhaps even create images and videos.
The emergence of AI tools can drastically simplify this process, either by generating all the content you need or helping with ideas or outlines to get you started.
It’s a good idea to plan what content you need for your website before deciding on the type of site you’ll be creating, as knowing what you need will help you understand the best option for you.
Tips to avoid overspending when building your website
Building a website can be a significant investment, but there are several strategies you can employ to keep costs under control:
Start small
Begin with a basic website that includes the essential features your business needs. As your business grows, you can expand and add more functionalities. This approach helps you manage your budget more effectively and prevents unnecessary expenditures from the outset.
Try GoDaddy Airo AI Builder
If you want a simple way to start, GoDaddy Airo AI Builder can generate a basic version of your website using AI. Just describe your business and goals, and it helps create a starting layout and content you can customize as your site grows.
Use free themes and plugins
Take advantage of free themes and plugins available on platforms like WordPress. These tools can provide the functionality and design you need without the added costs of premium options. Ensure that the free themes and plugins you choose are reliable and regularly updated to maintain your website’s security and performance.
Prioritize essential features
Focus on the features that are crucial for your business operations and user experience. Avoid adding unnecessary features that can inflate your costs and complicate your website. By prioritizing essential functionalities, you can create a streamlined and efficient website that meets your business needs without overspending.
Optimize user experience
A well-designed user experience can enhance your website’s effectiveness, leading to higher engagement and conversions. Invest in user-friendly design elements and ensure your website is easy to navigate. A good user experience can help you achieve your business goals without the need for expensive modifications or redesigns down the line.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to build a website from scratch?
If you’re looking to build a website from scratch, you can expect to pay between $170 and as high as $75,000+, depending on your website's size, the features you have coded into the website, and the method you use to build it.
There are several methods that you can use to build a website that will affect the website cost.
- You can learn to code and make the website yourself which will lower the cost of website design because you’re doing the work yourself. However, not everyone knows how to code, and it could take a long time to learn to code.
- You could hire a website designer to build a website for you, but this method will cost the most. So if you’re trying to lower website costs, you’ll want to use an alternative way of making a website than hiring a web design agency to build your website.
- You can use a website builder to DIY and create a website. This method is the easiest way to build a website and the most cost-friendly way to design a website. You can also design and launch your website faster with a website builder than coding a website yourself or hiring a website designer.
With a website builder, you’ll be in complete control of the website design, and you won’t need to know any code. All you’ll have to do is choose a template and replace the photos and text with your own, and the website builder will take care of everything else.
How much does it cost to build an online store?
If you want to have an e-commerce store built for your small business, you can expect to pay over $5,000 and as high as $10,000, depending on the website's size.
Many small businesses don’t have a lot of money to put towards a website, so a cost-friendly website is the best option. In addition, they need a website that looks professional and can grow their business while reducing website costs.
One of the ways that you can build a website for your small business is by using a website builder. A website builder can create a stunning website at an affordable price for your business. With a website builder, you can create an e-commerce website and begin selling products online without paying several thousand dollars to build a website with e-commerce functionality.
Can you build a website for free?
There’s no way to build a website for free because you’ll always need to pay for a domain name and hosting for the website. However, if you’re able to code the website, you can build a website without much cost.
Another way to build a website without a lot of costs is by using a website builder. With a website builder, you can design the website by yourself without knowing any code. This is one of the most affordable ways to build a website.
What are the monthly website maintenance costs?
After you’ve paid to have your website designed, you’ll have ongoing website costs every month.
You can expect to pay between $25 per month to several hundred dollars per month for operational costs.
You’ll need to pay for website hosting, which will cost you about $6 to $100 per month, depending on the type of website you have. The cost of website hosting varies and will be determined by the:
- Host company
- Hosting plan
- Number of visitors you expect to see monthly
- Amount of data that your website uses per month
You’ll also need to pay for your domain name, which will cost about $20 per year unless you have a premium domain name that costs more.
If you’re working with a web design agency, you can expect to pay a monthly retainer for website maintenance and ongoing upgrades to the website. This retainer may be several hundred dollars to over a thousand dollars per month, depending on the website's size.
What type of website do I need for business?
The type of website you’ll need will depend on the size of the business and the services or products you offer. For example, if you own a small business, your website needs will be very different from a corporate company's needs.
You’ll want to build a website while controlling website cost as a small business. You’ll want to use a business-themed website that provides an:
- Overview of your business
- The services you offer
- Pricing
- Contact information
- A blog to communicate with your customers
If you want to sell products online, you’ll need a website with e-commerce functionality so that you can safely list and sell products online.
How long does it take to build a website?
The amount of time that it takes to build a website can vary from a few minutes with an AI powered tool like Airo to several months, depending on the features you want in the website, the size and how many web designers are working to create the website.
If you’re looking to build a website quickly, you’ll want to use a website builder. A website builder will allow you to create a website in a matter of hours or days.
You can also continue modifying the website over time to add any features or pages that are required.
You could get a web design agency to build you a website, but this is a costly endeavour, and it requires more time to build your website. This is because they have to manually create your website instead of using pre-built themes that can be easily modified to meet your needs.
Unless you need custom features built into your website, a website builder will be the fastest and cheapest option.
Related: How to add keywords to your website
How much does a landing page cost?
A landing page can cost anywhere between $250 to $1,500, depending on the length of the page and the features added to the page. If you have custom code added to the page, it can cost even more. The landing page cost will also depend on the rate that the web designer is charging you for their services.
If you’re looking to add landing pages to your website without having to pay a steep web design bill, you may want to use a website builder. With a website builder, you can add as many landing pages as you want without having to pay extra. You can also build the pages as quickly as you want without having to consult a web design agency and waiting for them to fit you into their busy schedule.
*Premium features like business email and e-commerce available for an added cost.
