Websites for local businesses · Guide

How much does a small business website cost in Dallas–Fort Worth?

A plain-English guide for DFW business owners: what a website really costs, what you should get for the money, and how to avoid paying for things you don't need.

By Adam McLaughlin, Elm Fork Digital · Highland Village, TX · Updated November 2026

Why website prices vary so much

If you've asked around, you've probably heard everything from "free" to five figures. The price usually comes down to three things:

1. Who builds it. Doing it yourself on a website builder costs the least up front but takes your time. A local designer costs more but does the work for you. A large agency adds account managers and meetings, and the price goes up with them.
2. How many pages you need. A salon with three services needs far less than a contractor serving ten towns with eight kinds of work.
3. What's included. Two quotes for "a 5-page website" can be very different. One might include your Google Business Profile, a contact form that texts your phone and search setup. The other might just hand you a login.

Your three options

1. Build it yourself

Website builders like Wix and Squarespace let you build a site with no upfront design fee. You pay a monthly subscription, and the real cost is your time: learning the editor, writing the pages and fixing things when the layout breaks on a phone. It's a fair choice if you enjoy it and have the hours. Most owners we talk to have started one and never finished it.

2. Hire a local designer

This is the middle ground and what most small businesses choose. You get a professional site without agency overhead, and someone local you can call. Look for a flat price in writing, clear page counts, and who owns the site when it's done.

3. Hire an agency

Agencies make sense for larger companies that need ongoing marketing, ads and content teams. For a local plumber, dentist or bakery, you'll often pay for more than you'll use.

What a good small business website should include

Whatever you pay, make sure these are part of the deal:

• A phone number customers can tap to call, on every page. Most of your visitors are on their phones.
• A clear list of what you do and the towns you serve, such as Lewisville, Flower Mound, Highland Village or Denton.
• A contact or quote form that actually reaches you, ideally on your phone.
• Your Google reviews and real photos of your work.
• Google setup: your Google Business Profile linked, plus the basics so Google can find and list your pages.
• Fast loading on phones. If it takes more than a few seconds, people go back to the search results.
• You own it. Your domain and your site should be yours, not rented month to month.

Hidden costs to ask about

• Monthly fees: what's included, and can you cancel without losing your site?
• Edits: who updates your hours, prices or photos, and what does that cost?
• Domain and email: who registers your domain, and in whose name?
• Extra pages: what does it cost to add one later? (Ours are $150 each.)

A simple way to decide

If you're just starting out or sell one main service, a $600 landing page gets you found and gets the phone ringing. If you're an established local business, the $1,250 Starter site covers what customers look for. If you serve many towns or offer lots of services, the $3,000 Business site gives each one its own page, which helps you show up in more searches.

See a few examples in our sample sites for local businesses, or compare everything on the pricing page.