Website copywriting typically costs 3-4 hours per page at professional rates. If your agency charges $100/hour, that's $300-400 per page. For a 10-page site, that's $3,000-4,000 in copywriting. Some agencies include basic copywriting in their fee. Others charge separately. Ask upfront what's included and what costs extra.

Website maintenance typically costs $150-350/month for hosting, security, backups, updates, and monitoring. Add $300-1,500/month if you're actively creating content and updating products. That's $1,800-21,000 per year. Budget for maintenance as part of your total cost of ownership. Prevention is much cheaper than fixing a hacked or broken site.

The cheapest options are DIY platforms like Wix, Squarespace, or WordPress.com ($10-30/month). You can build a basic site yourself for a fraction of the cost of a website design from a professional. The trade-off: limited customization, limited features, limited ability to integrate other tools, and you’re doing all the work yourself. For a business, cheap websites often cost more in lost opportunity and frustration than professional websites. [...]