“How much does a website cost?” is the most common question in any intake, and the least honestly answered online. The real answer depends on what the site needs to do. A digital brochure and an online shop with an ERP integration are different products with different price tags.
Where the budget goes
For a professionally built site, the budget is roughly divided into design and UX (±30%), development (±40%), content and SEO foundations (±20%), and launch with measurement (±10%). Set one of those to zero and you usually pay for it later.
When spending more costs less
A cheap website that produces no enquiries is the most expensive site you can buy. Compare cost per enquiry, not build price: a €3,000 site generating two leads a month costs more than an €8,000 site generating fifteen.
At Novaw Pilates, the booking system paid for itself within months: +54% students and −72% no-shows, because the site became more useful, not merely prettier.
How to get an honest price
Ask for a proposal with a fixed scope, schedule and price, after an intake, not before. An agency quoting without a conversation is guessing, and you pay for that guess through change requests or a site that misses its goal.