How to Get a Business Website (5 Options Compared)
Five honest paths to a live business website — from a weekend DIY build to a fully managed done-for-you site — with the real trade-offs in time, control, and cost for each.
To get a business website, choose one of five paths: 1) build it yourself on a website builder like Squarespace or Wix, 2) build it yourself on WordPress, 3) hire a freelancer, 4) hire an agency, or 5) use a done-for-you managed service. Each one gets you online — they differ in how much time you spend, how much control you keep, and what it costs. Pick by how involved you want to be, then register a domain, add your content, and launch.
What do you actually need to get a website?
No matter which of the five paths you pick, every business website needs the same four ingredients. Sort these before you choose a route and the decision gets a lot clearer:
- A domain name. Your address online — ideally your business name ending in .com. You rent it yearly from a registrar.
- Hosting. The server that serves your site to visitors. Builders include it; WordPress needs it bought separately.
- Pages and content. For most businesses: home, services, about, and contact — plus real photos and clear copy. Gathering this is usually the slow part, not the tech.
- A way to be reached. A contact form, phone number, or booking link that actually lands in your inbox.
The five options below are really just five different ways to assemble those same ingredients. Still deciding whether you need one at all? Start with do I need a website for my business.
What are the five ways to get a business website?
Here’s the honest breakdown — what each path is best at, and where it costs you.
DIY website builder
Squarespace, Wix, or similar. Drag-and-drop editing, hosting built in, polished templates. Fastest way to get online on your own. Trade-off: you’re renting inside their platform, monthly forever, and heavy customization or moving out later can be painful. Best when you want a clean site fast and won’t need anything unusual.
DIY WordPress
You own everything, it scales with your business, and there’s a plugin for almost any need. Trade-off: more moving parts — you (or someone) handle hosting, updates, security, and backups. Best when the site is core to the business and you want full control and are willing to learn.
Hire a freelancer
A single designer or developer builds it to your brief. More custom than a template, cheaper than an agency, and you deal with one person. Trade-off: quality and reliability vary widely, and support after launch is often thin or ends when the invoice is paid. Best when you have a clear brief and can vet the person.
Hire an agency
A team handles strategy, design, build, and often marketing. The most hands-off custom route, with process and accountability behind it. Trade-off: it’s the most expensive up front — typically a mid-four-figure project or more — and timelines run several weeks. Best when the website is central to revenue and the budget supports it.
Done-for-you managed
A professional builds your site and keeps it running — hosting, updates, security, and edits all handled on one flat monthly plan. You never touch the software or a builder’s dashboard. Best when you’d rather run your business than manage a website. That’s what our web design service covers, end to end.
Which option is right for your business?
There’s no single best answer — there’s the one that matches your time, your budget, and how involved you want to stay. Use these honest cues:
Pick DIY if…
You enjoy tinkering, have time on your hands, and your needs are simple. A builder gets you a respectable site for the cost of a subscription plus your weekend. WordPress makes sense if you want ownership and expect to grow into it.
Pick a freelancer or agency if…
You want something custom and don’t want to build it yourself. A freelancer fits a tight budget and a clear brief; an agency fits when the site drives serious revenue and you want a team and a process behind it.
Pick done-for-you if…
Your time is worth more spent on customers than on software, and you want the site built and maintained without becoming a project you manage. One flat monthly bill, nothing to configure, ever.
Still not sure?
Weigh the numbers before you commit a weekend or a budget. Our full breakdown of DIY, freelance, and agency pricing is in how much does a website cost.
New Business Website
A professional website built for your business — design, hosting, security, and reviews handled for you.
- Custom professional design
- Hosting & security included
- Mobile-first & fast
- Live review widget built in
Website Support
Already have a website? We keep it updated, secure, fast — and make your changes for you.
- Updates, backups & security
- Content edits done for you
- Speed & uptime monitoring
- Works with sites we didn’t build
What does each option really cost — in money and time?
Price is only half the picture. The other half is your time, and that’s where most people underestimate the true cost. Here’s the honest shape of it:
- DIY builders cost a low monthly subscription plus your domain. The real price is the hours you spend building and, forever after, maintaining it.
- DIY WordPress adds hosting on top, and a steeper learning curve. Cheap in dollars, expensive in time and troubleshooting if you’re new to it.
- Freelancers vary enormously — a simple site can be modest, a custom one climbs quickly. Get the scope and post-launch support in writing.
- Agencies are typically a mid-four-figure project up front, sometimes well beyond, plus ongoing fees. You’re buying a team and a process.
- Done-for-you managed spreads the build and ongoing upkeep into one predictable monthly payment, so there’s no large lump sum and no maintenance landing on you.
Whatever route you pick, the biggest hidden cost is the same: the time it takes to gather photos, write copy, and keep the site current. A site is never truly “done.” For the full numbers across every path, see how much does a website cost, or compare it against a professionally built site.
How do you actually get the website live once you’ve chosen?
Whichever path you pick, going live follows the same shape. Work top-down:
Secure the domain
Register a short, memorable .com in your own account — not your web person’s. It’s your front door; keep the keys. Turn on auto-renew so it never lapses.
Set up hosting
Included with builders and done-for-you plans; bought separately for WordPress. Whoever provides it should also cover the SSL padlock (https) — most do, free.
Build the core pages
Home, services, about, contact. Say what you do, who you do it for, and add one clear call to action repeated as visitors scroll.
Test and launch
Open every page on a phone, submit the contact form to confirm it reaches you, connect analytics, then publish and claim your Google Business Profile.
Launch isn’t the finish line — a live site needs updates, backups, security patches, and content changes as the business shifts. If keeping up with that isn’t how you want to spend your time, our website support and maintenance plan handles it for you, even on a site somebody else built.
Getting a business website — FAQ
What is the cheapest way to get a business website?
Building it yourself on a website builder is the lowest out-of-pocket cost — a small monthly subscription plus your domain. But “cheapest in dollars” isn’t “cheapest overall”: you pay in the hours it takes to build and maintain it. If your time is scarce, a done-for-you plan can work out cheaper once you count that time.
Can I get a business website for free?
Some builders offer free tiers, but they typically put ads on your site, give you a clunky sub-domain instead of your own .com, and limit key features. For anything you’d show a paying customer, you’ll want your own domain and an ad-free plan. Truly free rarely looks professional.
How long does it take to get a business website online?
A focused DIY site of five to eight pages takes a weekend to a couple of weeks — mostly gathering photos and writing copy, not the technical part. A custom freelance or agency build usually runs a few weeks from kickoff. In every case the biggest delay is waiting on content from the business owner.
Should I build my business website myself or hire someone?
Build it yourself if you enjoy the work, have the time, and your needs are simple. Hire out if the site drives real revenue, you want it custom, or your hours are better spent running the business. There’s no wrong answer — just the honest trade of your time against your budget.
Do I need a domain and hosting to get a website?
You need a domain either way — it’s your address. Hosting is included automatically with website builders and done-for-you plans, so you never touch it. With WordPress you buy hosting separately. So yes, both are required, but two of the five paths handle hosting for you.
What’s the easiest way to get a business website without doing it myself?
A done-for-you managed service is the most hands-off route: someone builds the site and keeps it running on a flat monthly plan, so you never open a dashboard or worry about updates. Hiring an agency is similar but usually a large up-front project rather than a simple monthly arrangement.
Related guides
- Do I need a website for my business? — decide before you pick a build path.
- How much does a website cost? — the full pricing breakdown across DIY, freelance, and agency.
- How to choose a web designer — how to vet a freelancer or agency before you hire.
Ready to skip the DIY route entirely? See what a done-for-you site includes on our web design page.