How much does a website cost for a small business in Mobile, AL? (2026)

The short answer

These are typical ranges for the Gulf Coast in 2026, not quotes. Any real number has to come in writing from whoever builds the site.

• Do it yourself on Wix, Squarespace or GoDaddy: roughly $16 to $50 a month, plus your own hours.
• A freelancer: roughly $1,500 to $8,000 to build. Most fair quotes land around $2,000 to $5,000.
• An agency: roughly $6,000 and up, often $10,000 or more, usually with a monthly retainer on top.
• Keeping it running: typically $95 to $195 a month in this market for hosting, the domain, updates, backups and small changes.
• Ongoing local SEO: roughly $300 to $800 a month at the low end from agencies.

The build price is only half the story. Ask what happens the month after launch. That's where the surprises live.

DIY builders: cheap up front, paid for in hours

Wix, Squarespace, GoDaddy and the rest charge roughly $16 to $50 a month for a plan that connects your own domain and removes their ads. With time and patience, you can have something online this weekend.

The money isn't the real cost. The hours are. Picking a template, writing every page, resizing photos, fighting the menu on your phone. It usually drags on for weeks, and time spent on that is time you're not quoting jobs.

What the builders don't do

• Research what people in Mobile actually type into Google when they need what you sell.
• Build a separate page for each service, which is what Google ranks.
• Write the page titles and descriptions that show up in search results.
• Connect your Google Business Profile and Search Console to the site.
• Take the photos, write the words, or answer the phone when something breaks.

You also rent the site for as long as you pay. Leave, and you usually can't take it with you. DIY makes sense if you're brand new and would rather spend hours than dollars. Just know $16 a month is the price of the tool, not of a finished website.

Freelancers: the widest range

This is where most small businesses in Mobile end up, and it's the hardest category to price. "Freelancer" covers everyone from a college kid with a template to a developer with fifteen years behind them.

Typical range: roughly $1,500 to $8,000 for a build. Most fair quotes for a normal local business site (five to ten pages, your photos, a contact form, set up for Google) land around $2,000 to $5,000.

Why the spread is so wide

• Template or hand-built. A template with your logo dropped in is cheap. A site built around your services and your area takes real hours.
• Is local SEO included? Some quotes cover keyword research and page setup. Some never mention Google.
• Who writes the words? If you're expected to send finished text, add your time or a copywriter.
• What happens after launch? Some hand over the files and disappear. Some offer a monthly plan. Some bill by the hour for every change.

A low quote isn't automatically a bad one. It's a signal to ask more questions. There's a list further down.

Agencies: more people, more overhead

Agencies typically start around $6,000 and often run $10,000 or more for a small business site, then add a monthly retainer for hosting, updates and marketing. You're paying for a project manager, a designer, a developer and an account rep.

That can be worth it if you have several locations, a store with hundreds of products, or want ads and email run for you. For a tree crew, a salon or a boat shop that needs a solid site and a phone that rings, you end up paying for the meetings.

What the monthly fee covers

Almost every option has a monthly cost. The question is what it buys. In this market, a fair monthly for a professionally built site typically runs $95 to $195 and covers:

• Hosting. The server your site lives on. It has to stay online and load fast on a phone.
• Domain and security certificate. Your web address and the padlock in the browser. Both expire and need renewing.
• Updates. Software that isn't patched eventually gets hacked.
• Backups. A copy kept somewhere else, so a bad day is a quick restore, not a rebuild.
• Monitoring. Somebody finds out the site is down before your customers do.
• Changes. New hours, a new service, new photos. Included on some plans, billed by the hour on others.

If a quote has no monthly, ask who does all of that. The honest answer is usually "you do."

A monthly that includes your changes is worth more than one that doesn't. Hourly change fees are how a cheap site turns expensive.

Ongoing local SEO

Getting set up right for Google is one thing. Keeping at it is another: posting to your Business Profile, asking for reviews, adding pages for new services and towns, fixing what Search Console flags.

Agencies typically charge roughly $300 to $800 a month at the low end for ongoing local SEO, more if it includes ads. Whatever the price, treat any promise of a specific ranking as a warning sign. Nobody controls Google.

Not every business needs it. In a small town with three competitors, a well-built site and a complete Business Profile may be enough. In Mobile against thirty other roofers, steady monthly work is what separates you. More on the local SEO page.

What changes the price

Whoever you hire, five things move the number the most.

• Pages. Each service should get its own page, so eight services cost more than three.
• Photos. Your own job photos are free and the best thing on the site. Without them, budget for a photographer or stock, and know that stock always looks like stock.
• Online booking. Connecting a scheduling tool and testing it is an add-on nearly everywhere.
• Selling online. Products, cart, payments, shipping, taxes. Expect it to add thousands, not hundreds.
• Copywriting. Somebody writes every page. If it's you, it's free but slow. If it's the designer, it should be in the quote. A copywriter usually runs a few hundred dollars a page.

Why cheap can cost more

Three ways a bargain becomes the most expensive site you'll ever own.

Lost calls

A site that loads slowly on a phone, buries the phone number, or has one page for everything won't show up for the searches that matter. You'll never know how many people searched, didn't find you, and called the next name down the list. That cost never shows up on an invoice.

Ownership

Some builders register the domain in their own name, or build on a platform you can't leave. Then they stop answering, and the site goes with them. Sometimes your domain does too.

Redesigns without redirects

If your old site already brings in calls, every page on it has an address Google knows. A redesign that changes those addresses without redirecting each old one to its new page throws that away overnight, and it takes months to earn back. Ask about the redirect map. If the answer is a blank look, keep looking.

Questions to ask any web designer

Take these to every quote, including mine.

• Is the domain registered in my name?
• Does each of my services get its own page?
• What exactly is included for Google: keyword research, titles and descriptions, Business Profile setup, Search Console?
• What's the monthly, and what happens if I stop paying it?
• How do I get changes made, and what do they cost?
• Do I see the finished site before I pay the balance?
• If this is a redesign, how do you handle the old page addresses?
• Can I call you, and will you answer?

A good designer will like these questions. A bad one will get vague.

Where Hall Dev Work fits

So you can hold me up against the ranges above: I'm one person in Mobile, and I quote everything in writing.

• Starter: from $1,500 to build plus $125 a month. Up to 5 pages, for someone working solo.
• Standard: from $2,700 plus $200 a month. Up to 10 pages, a page for every service. The one most businesses pick.
• Custom: from $4,200 plus $350 a month. Multiple locations, online booking, inventory.

Half up front, half when it's live, and you see the finished site before the second half. The monthly starts at launch with a 6-month minimum, then month to month. It covers hosting, domain and certificate, updates, backups, monitoring, your changes by email or text, and me answering the phone.

Add-ons are flat: extra pages $100 each, a logo $300, online booking $400, ongoing local SEO $250 a month. Every plan includes local SEO setup and a Google hookup on launch day. The full breakdown is on the pricing page, the quote builder gives you a ballpark, and the sample sites show the kind of site I mean.

Call or text me at 205-413-3135, or email [email protected].

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