A first website for a new business: build small, add later

en 2026-09-28 7 min read

For a business that has just started, the smallest sensible first website we build is a single page at step 01, EUR 600-900, or a mini-site of two to three pages at step 02, EUR 900-1.500. Booking, payments, a blog and a page for every service can wait until the business shows you which of them it needs, and then bolt on as add-ons.

A new business knows less about its customers now than it will later. A site built for what you know today costs less and leaves money for the parts you cannot see yet.

What a first site has to do

When someone looks you up after hearing your name from a friend, seeing your van or picking up your card, the first site has three jobs.

1. Confirm who you are. The business name, what you do, where you work and the person behind it, in words a stranger understands.
2. Make contact easy. A form that reaches an inbox you read, plus the phone number or email address you actually answer.
3. Be found by name. A page title and description that match what people type when they already know you exist.

Anything beyond that list should answer a question you can point to, not a feeling that a real business has more pages.

Step 01 or step 02

Both are small builds. The difference is how many separate things you need to say, and whether you want to edit the text yourself.

A single page works when one scroll can hold the whole story: what you do, for whom, the proof you can show, and how to get in touch. Two offers for two kinds of customer are better on separate pages, which is what step 02 gives you. The comparison of single-page and multi-page sites goes further into that choice.

Where your price lands inside the range is set at scoping, and it moves with things you can already see: how much of the text is written, whether you have your own photos, and how much custom design the page carries. A fixed quote always follows scoping. Every step is on the price list.

What to leave for later

Each of these makes sense once the business gives you a reason. Until then it is cost and upkeep. Added later, most are add-ons, with the quote confirming the scope and the price.

• Online booking. Booking and smart forms are an add-on at EUR 350-750. Taking payment at booking adds payments at EUR 600-1.500, and reading availability from another system through an API adds an integration at EUR 750-2.500.
• Selling online. Checkout and payments bolt on as an add-on at EUR 600-1.500, and a shop built as a new site is step 04 on any platform.
• A page for every service. Each extra simple page is an add-on at EUR 150-250. Write them once your own enquiries show which services people ask about.
• A blog. A blog module is an add-on at EUR 300-600, and posts need someone writing them. Leave it until you have things to say and time to say them, because an abandoned blog puts a date on your own silence.
• A customer login or dashboard. An add-on at EUR 1.500-4.000. A new business needs one on day one only if the product itself is software.
• A chatbot. An add-on at EUR 750-2.000, and on a site this small its answers fit on the page itself.
• Monthly SEO growth. EUR 500-800 a month for service and location pages, on-page work and reporting. It needs a site with something to measure, so it follows the business rather than leading it.

What not to skip, even on one page

• Analytics from launch. Step 01 includes it. Your early numbers are what tell you which item on the list above to add first.
• A tested form. Send a real message through it before launch and confirm where it lands.
• A privacy statement. A contact form collects personal data, so GDPR applies from the first submission. Analytics can bring cookie consent with it too, depending on the tool and how it is set up.
• Your own words. A small site has nowhere to hide generic copy. What to prepare is set out in what content you need to provide.

Build it so later does not mean starting again

A small first site should be the first version of your website, not a throwaway. Ask any studio, us included, two questions before you sign.

• Who owns what? With us, the client owns the code, the repository and the database. We can host the site too, and that is agreed per project.
• What happens when you add pages? Ask whether new pages are added to the existing build or whether growing means replacing it. The answer tells you whether the first invoice buys a foundation or a placeholder.

We build in code, with Next.js. How design and build work together here is on design and engineering.

How the build runs

1. Scoping. What the site must say, who it is for, and which step it fits. A fixed quote follows.
2. Content. Your text, photos and logo. This is the part that waits on you.
3. Design and build. Step 01 runs 1-2 weeks and step 02 runs 2-3 weeks.
4. Launch. Domain connected, form tested, analytics checked.

When to spend less

• You are still testing whether anyone will buy. If a profile on a platform your customers already use is bringing enquiries, keep using it until it stops being enough. That case needs nothing from a studio, so do not hire us yet.
• You have one offer. Choose step 01 over step 02. A second page with little on it does not make a better site.
• You want to look established. Pages with nothing specific to say do not make a business look bigger. Buy step 01 or step 02, and do not buy a bigger build yet.
• Care and SEO can wait for a decision. Care at EUR 100-300 a month covers updates, monitoring, backups and small fixes. Decide on it once the site exists and you know how much it will change. For search, read SEO for a new website before paying monthly for anything.

Questions about a first website

Can I start with one page and add pages later?

Yes. Adding to the site later is new work, scoped and quoted like any other. What you add decides the price: an extra simple page is an add-on at EUR 150-250, booking at EUR 350-750, and payments at EUR 600-1.500.

Should I use a website builder instead?

If your budget is below EUR 600, or you enjoy doing it yourself, a builder is a reasonable first site. Check first what the platform lets you export, because that decides what moving later involves.

How soon will the site show up on Google?

Nobody can honestly give you a date. Being indexed and ranking are different things: Search Console lets you check whether a page is indexed and request indexing, while ranking for searches beyond your own name depends on what else competes for them.

What keeps costing money after launch?

Your domain renewal, hosting, which we can provide and agree per project, and Care at EUR 100-300 a month if you want updates, monitoring, backups and small fixes handled. Care does not cover a redesign or new features. Those are scoped as new work when you need them.

Tell us what the business does and who it is for, and we will tell you which step fits: start the conversation.