A website pays for itself once it has brought in enough new customers to cover its price. The sum is price of the site ÷ profit from one new customer. For a £300 site and a regular customer worth £150 a year in profit, that's two customers.
Below are the sums for three kinds of Surrey business, using my published prices so you can check the working. The customer figures are examples, so swap in your own.
How do I work out what one customer is worth?
Use what a customer is worth over a year, not what they spend on the first visit. A regular who comes back every six weeks is worth several times their first bill. Most owners underestimate this, which makes a website look more expensive than it is.
What does the sum look like for real businesses?
| Business | What one regular is worth a year (profit) | £300 website pays back after | £450 logo and website pays back after |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dog groomer in Woking | about £210 (7 grooms at £30 profit) | 2 regulars | 3 regulars |
| Mobile beautician in Guildford | about £300 (monthly treatments) | 1 regular | 2 regulars |
| Café in Dorking | about £2,900 (one extra table of two a day at £4 margin a head) | a few weeks | a few weeks |
The dog groomer. A full groom is around £50 and regulars come back every six to eight weeks. After three new regulars the site has paid for itself and keeps working. What decides it is whether people searching "dog groomer near me" find you, trust you and can book without ringing three times.
The mobile beautician. Clients are letting you into their home, so they want to see a real name, a real face, your prices and your reviews before they get in touch. Looking established is most of the job.
The café. Small tickets, lots of them. A site that shows the menu, answers "are you open, can I park" and loads quickly can plausibly add a table a day. For a café, though, a properly set up Google Business Profile does a lot of that work on its own, and I'd tell you that first.
Is renting a website builder cheaper?
In the first year, sometimes. Over three years, no. These are the published UK prices on annual billing, checked on 26 September 2026:
| Per year | Over 3 years | Do you own it? | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wix Light to Business | £108 to £300 | £324 to £900 | No, it can't be moved off Wix |
| Squarespace Basic to Plus | £144 to £348 | £432 to £1,044 | No |
| A £300 site you own | £10 to £15 for the domain | £330 to £345 | Yes |
The builder prices go up once you add apps, email or monthly billing. Hosting for a simple site like my £300 one is free in your own account. If you want me to handle changes and updates after launch, that's £20 a month and you can cancel any time.
When isn't a website worth it?
If nearly all your work comes by word of mouth and always will, and nobody searches for what you do, a website may not earn much yet. A good Google Business Profile and an Instagram page might be enough for now.
If you'd like me to run the sum on your own business, tell me about it. If you already have a site, start with a free website check, or see what's included in the £300 website.
Questions
- How long does it take a website to pay for itself?
- Divide the price of the site by the profit from one new regular customer. For a £300 site and a customer worth £150 a year in profit, that's two customers. How long it takes to find them depends on how often people search for what you do.
- Is a website worth it if I get work by word of mouth?
- Often yes, because people who hear about you still look you up before they get in touch. If nobody ever searches for what you do, a Google Business Profile may be enough for now.
- Is it cheaper to rent a Wix or Squarespace site?
- Only in the first year. On their published UK prices, the plans small businesses use cost about £108 to £348 a year, so £324 to £1,044 over three years. A £300 site you own costs a domain at about £10 to £15 a year after that.
Federica helps new businesses look established, get found and get enquiries, with branding and websites, from Woking, Surrey. She studied engineering at the University of Manchester and was a Lead UX Engineer at IBM before starting Made by Federica. More about her
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