The honest answer is "it depends," but that is useless when you are trying to budget. Here are the real ranges for a Louisiana small-business website in 2026, what each tier actually buys you, and the recurring costs that catch people off guard.
If you ask ten web designers what a website costs, you will get ten different answers between $0 and $50,000. That is not because anyone is lying — it is because "a website" can mean a free template you fill in yourself or a custom platform that runs your whole operation. Here is how to think about it for a normal Louisiana small business: a plumber, a salon, a restaurant, a contractor.
The four real options, and what they cost
- DIY builders (Wix, Squarespace, GoDaddy): $0–$30/month. You build it. Fast to start, but you are the designer, copywriter, and SEO person — and it shows. Fine for a placeholder, weak at getting calls.
- Overseas freelancer or Fiverr: $100–$500 one-time. Cheap, but usually a template, little local SEO, no ongoing support, and communication friction. You often pay again to fix it.
- Local freelancer / small studio: $700–$3,000 to launch, sometimes plus a monthly. The sweet spot for most local businesses — custom enough to convert, local enough to actually answer the phone.
- Full agency: $5,000–$25,000+. Great for larger budgets and complex needs; overkill (and slow) for a 3-page local site.
What the price should actually include
Price means nothing without scope. A $700 site and a $7,000 site can both be "a website." Before you compare numbers, make sure you are comparing the same things: who writes the copy, who provides photos, how many pages, is hosting included, who handles updates, and is local SEO part of it or an upsell.
The recurring costs nobody mentions
- Hosting: $0–$50/month depending on the platform.
- Domain: $12–$20/year.
- Maintenance and updates: either you do it, or you pay someone. Sites that never get touched slowly break and slide down Google.
- SSL, backups, security: should be included, but ask — these are common surprise line items.
What we charge, and why
For transparency: GatorByte builds a custom local-business site for $700 to launch plus $100/month. The monthly covers managed hosting, maintenance, security, and small updates, so the site keeps working instead of slowly rotting. Photography, a logo, extra pages, and marketing material are clear add-ons, quoted up front — never a surprise. We picked this model because most local owners do not want a big one-time bill and then radio silence; they want the site handled.
The real question is not price, it is return
A $700 site that brings in two extra jobs a month pays for itself almost immediately. A free site that never shows up on Google costs you every call it failed to capture. Before you optimize for the lowest sticker price, ask what the site needs to do — get found locally, load fast on a phone, and make it easy to call you — and then buy the cheapest option that actually does that.