The price, explained

Why is there a monthly fee?

Fair question. The thing trades complain about most with web designers is a bill every month and nothing to show for it. So here's exactly what yours pays for, and how to stop it.

A website is like your van

Your van needs tax, insurance, a service, and someone to sort it when a warning light comes on.

A website is the same. It needs somewhere to live, a web address that's renewed every year, a padlock so browsers don't warn people off, and someone to fix it when something stops working.

To be straight with you: hosting itself is cheap these days. Most of your fee pays for my time, keeping on top of your site and making the changes you ask for, so you never have to think about it.

Not tied in. Not even for a month.

No contract, no minimum term, no exit fee. Tell me you want to stop and nothing more is taken. I look after the site to the end of the month you've paid for, then send you the files and help point your web address wherever you like.

Your web address is in your company's name from day one, so there's nothing to get back off me.

Don't want a monthly fee at all?

Got a site already? A Snag Fix might be all you need: £195, one payment, no monthly fee. I fix up to 5 snags on the site you've got, and you pay once they're fixed and you've checked them. It's for a site you own and can log in to yourself.

Having a new site? Stop the monthly fee whenever you like and look after it yourself. You'd need to:

• renew your web address every year
• pay for hosting somewhere and set it up
• keep the quote form working
• fix things when they go wrong, or pay someone to
• make your own changes

Happy doing that? Great. If you'd rather not think about it, that's what the monthly fee is for.

If a payment's missed

I send reminders for a month. If it's still unpaid after that, the site goes offline and I send you its files. When you get in touch, you choose: I look after it again once you're paid up, or you take it over yourself.

Am I paying more than I would elsewhere?

It depends who you compare me with. In October I read the prices of 18 UK web designers who build sites for trades. Here's what three years costs:

• Monthly only, no build fee (often £45 a month)about £1,620
• Me, small site: £750, then £40 a month£2,190
• A build of around £650, then about £40 a month, with VAT on topabout £2,500

So I'm not the cheapest, and I'm not trying to be. Some firms want paying before you've seen anything, some tie you in for a year, and some keep the site until your contract's up. Here's what you get with me instead.

Ask any web designer these before you sign

• Do I pay anything before I've seen it working?

  Me: No. You pay when it's finished and you're happy with it. Not happy? You owe nothing.

• Am I tied in?

  Me: No. No contract, stop any time.

• If I leave, do I keep the site?

  Me: Yes. Once the build's paid, the site is yours, and I hand over the files.

• Whose name is the web address in?

  Me: Your company's. Renewing it is in the monthly fee.

• Do changes cost extra?

  Me: Not changes to the site you've got. New pages, payments or booking I price first, and nothing's charged without your yes.

• Who do I talk to when something breaks?

  Me: Me. No ticket number, no chatbot.

• Is VAT added on top?

  Me: No. The price you see is the price you pay.

What the monthly fee doesn't cover

• Upgrades: new pages, online payments, booking, a shop. I price them first.
• Email at your web address (like [email protected]). It runs on your own Google account, paid straight to Google, so it keeps working whatever happens with me. I set it up for you free.
• Adverts, like Google Ads.

And the build price?

The £750 for a small site pays for making it: designed around your trade and your area, made for the phone, with your photos, your words and a quote form that lands in your emails. One round of changes and putting it live on your web address are included. No setup fee on top. You pay it once, when the site's finished and you're happy with it.