There is no single price for a website in Aberdeen. The cost depends on what the site has to do: a simple site with a few pages costs less than one with online booking, a shop, or lots of written content. What matters most is the number of pages, the design, the features, and who writes the content.
If you run a small business in Aberdeen and are budgeting for a website, here is what pushes the cost up or down, the kind of site you need, and how to get a fair quote.
What decides the cost of a website?
Every website is priced on the work involved — five things.
How many pages it has. A home page, an about page, a services page and a contact page is a smaller job than a separate page for every service and area you cover. Each page needs writing, layout and checking, so page count is the simplest reason one quote is higher than another.
How custom the design is. A ready-made layout with your colours and logo is quicker to build than a site designed from scratch. Custom design makes sense when customers compare you side by side with competitors — otherwise a clean standard layout does the job.
Who writes the content. Someone has to write the words and find the photos. Write it yourself and it costs your time; have the designer write it and it usually reads and ranks better, because it is written with Google in mind.
What the site has to do. A site that just says who you are and how to contact you is straightforward. Add booking, a quote form, a shop or a login and the work grows — each feature must be built, tested and connected to your email, calendar or payment provider.
Whether it is set up to be found. Basic search setup — sensible page titles, the right words on each page, a site Google can read — should be part of any build. It is the difference between a site that sits there and one that brings in enquiries.
The three kinds of website most Aberdeen businesses need
Most small businesses in Aberdeen — trades, hospitality, professional services, energy supply chain firms, shops and cafes — need one of three things.
A simple presence site. The online version of a business card with more room: who you are, what you do, where you work, how to get in touch. It suits businesses that get most work by word of mouth and just need to look credible online.
A lead-generation site. The most common choice, and the one our website design service builds most often. It is structured around winning enquiries: a page for each service, clear calls to action, a contact form, your number where people can see it, and pages written so people searching in Aberdeen find you.
A shop or booking site. If you sell online or take bookings — a restaurant, a salon, a hire firm, a retailer — the site must take orders or reservations and handle payments. That is more work than a brochure site, because every step has to work first time, on a phone as well as on a computer.
Not sure which you need? Ask what you want a visitor to do. “Ring me” means a lead-generation site; “buy something” or “book a slot” means a shop or booking site; “check we are real” means a presence site is enough.
Should you build it yourself or hire a web designer?
Website builders let anyone put a site together, and for a very simple site that can be a reasonable start. The trade-off is your time: learning the tool, writing every page, finding images, fixing things when they break. Most owners find it takes far longer than expected, and the result often looks like a template rather than their business.
A web designer does all of that for you and brings judgement about what goes where: where the phone number sits, what the home page says in the first few seconds, which pages Google needs to see. Those decisions turn a site that exists into one that brings in work. Or hire a designer for the build and learn small changes yourself afterwards — any decent designer should show you how.
The ongoing costs people forget
The build is only part of the cost — every site has smaller ongoing costs:
- A domain name — the address people type in. This renews every year.
- Hosting — the space on a server where the site lives, usually paid monthly or yearly.
- Updates and care — software updates, backups, and fixing things when they go wrong. Some handle this themselves; others pay for a care plan.
- Content — a blog or news section needs new material now and then, or it goes stale. A site nobody updates still works, but it stops winning work.
None is large on its own, but ask for them to be listed in any quote — a good quote shows build and ongoing costs separately.
How to get a fair quote
When comparing quotes, compare like with like. A low quote may leave out the writing, the photos, the search setup or the first year of hosting; a high one may include all of it.
Ask every designer the same questions:
- What is included — how many pages, who writes the content, is basic search setup included?
- What happens after launch — who updates the site, and what does that cost?
- Can I see other sites you have built for businesses like mine?
- What do you need from me, and when do you need it?
One warning sign: be wary of anyone who promises a particular Google ranking or a set number of enquiries — nobody can promise that. What a good designer can promise is a well-built site, written and structured to have the best chance of being found.
Before you spend anything on a new site, our free Visibility Audit shows where you rank on Google, whether AI tools like ChatGPT cite you, and whether you win AI answers — with what to fix first. Free, with no obligation.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a website cost in Aberdeen?
There is no fixed price — it depends on the number of pages, the design, the features, and who writes the content. A simple presence site costs less than a lead-generation site, which costs less than a shop or booking site. Get an itemised quote.
Do I have to pay every month for a website?
Yes, in a small way. Every website needs a domain name and hosting, which renew regularly, and many businesses pay for ongoing care — updates, backups, small changes. Ask for build and ongoing costs to be shown separately.
Should my Aberdeen website mention Aberdeen?
Yes. If you want customers in Aberdeen to find you, say so clearly: Aberdeen in page titles, service pages naming the areas you cover, and your location on the contact page. That is how Google shows your business to people searching locally.