Guide · Hiring a web designer
Hiring a web designer for your small business: what to expect, and what to ask.
The short answer
A good web designer for a small business puts the price, the launch date and the monthly cost in writing before you pay, and registers the domain in your name. Ninewave, my studio, does all four: never more than $999, then $99 a month for Care, which is required, has no minimum term and ends with a free full export.
$15–$30
an hour, the median web designer rate on Upwork
Upwork
$2k–$8k+
for a business site from a freelancer
Upwork, 2026
$5k–$20k
for a small-business site from a Miami agency
Clutch
01
Who you’re actually choosing between
The short answer
There's no official ranking, so compare what you pay and what you get. Upwork's 2026 guide puts a freelancer-built business site at $2,000 to $8,000. Ninewave, my one-person studio, builds custom made sites for small businesses across the US for never more than $999, then $99 a month for Care: required, no minimum term, free full export if you leave.
When you look for a web designer, you're picking from three kinds of people: a freelancer, an agency, or a small studio like mine. Here is what each one charges, with every number linked to where I got it, read on 19 October 2026.
| Who | How they charge | A small-business site |
|---|---|---|
| Freelancer (Upwork, Fiverr) | $15–$30 an hour, median, on Upwork | $2,000–$8,000+ for a business site (Upwork’s 2026 guide); $2,000–$5,000 (Fiverr’s) |
| Web design agency, US | Around $100–$149 an hour (Clutch) | Most projects on Clutch come in under $10,000 |
| Web design agency, Miami | Typically $75–$175 an hour (Clutch) | $5,000–$20,000 for a small-business site (Clutch) |
| Ninewave | No hourly billing | Never more than $999, then $99 a month for Care, hosting included |
Hourly rates tell you less than they seem to. A cheap hourly rate on a job with no end date can cost more than a fixed price. What you want is a total, in writing, before anyone starts.
02
What a good web designer gives you in writing
Whoever you hire, you should have these five things before you pay a deposit:
Five things, in writing
- The total price. Not an hourly rate and a guess. One number for the site.
- A launch date. A real date, and what you need to hand over for them to hit it.
- The domain in your name. Registered with your email, on your card.
- What happens every month after launch. Who hosts it, what it costs, and what that covers.
- What happens if you leave. Whether you get a full copy of your site, and what it costs to get it.
03
The questions to ask before you pay a deposit
Forbes Advisor puts it well: Be sure to ask exactly what your chosen designer will do, such as if custom graphics are provided, if hosting is included and what updates will cost later.
Here are the questions I'd ask, in the order I'd ask them:
1. The price
What’s the total price, and what would make it go up?2. The date
When will the site be live, and what do you need from me first?3. The design
Is the design made for my business, or is it a template?4. The domain
Whose name is the domain registered in?5. Hosting
Who hosts the site, and what does that cost every month?6. Changes later
If I need a change in six months, who makes it, how fast, and what does it cost?7. Your Google listing
Will you set up and look after my Google Business Profile?8. The contact form
Will the contact form actually reach my inbox? Will you test it?9. Live work
Can I see sites you’ve built that are live right now?10. Leaving
If I leave, do I get a full copy of my site?
04
Red flags
Watch out for these
- The domain is in their name. Then they control your address on the internet. Check yours for free with ICANN's lookup.
- “Guaranteed first on Google.” Google itself says
No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google.
Anyone who promises it is guessing. - Reviews or testimonials on your site you never received. Stock testimonials and invented numbers are the fastest way to lose a customer's trust.
- Nobody can say what the monthly fee covers. Hosting only? Changes too? If they don't know, you'll find out when you need something.
- No date in writing. “A few weeks” has a way of turning into a few months.
05
The part most people forget: after launch
The day your site goes live is the start, not the end. Your hours change, you add a service, a photo goes out of date, something needs fixing. The designer you want is the one who's still there for that, answers the phone, and makes the change fast.
That's why I ask you to look at the monthly cost as hard as the build price. I wrote a whole guide on what a website costs per month and what you should get for it.
06
My answers to those questions
Fair's fair. If you asked me the ten questions above, this is what you'd hear:
- Price: never more than $999, quoted before I start. Half to start, half after you've seen and approved the finished site. More pages move the date, never the price.
- Date: live nine days after I have your content. You get the launch date in writing before I start.
- Design: custom made for your business. Your brand, your photos, your words. No templates.
- Domain: registered in your name, on your card, from day one.
- Every month: $99 for hosting, security, updates, your Google Business Profile, and any change made within 24 hours. It goes down $9 every year for my first 99 clients, until it's free from year twelve.
- Leaving: Care is required while I host your site, because your hosting is part of it. There's no minimum term: give me 30 days' notice, the site comes off my hosting, and you get a full export, free.
- The form: before any site goes live, I send a test through the form all the way to your inbox.
- Reviews: your real ones, linked to Google. I never write them.
01
Package
02
Positioning
03
Copy
04
Wireframe
05
Design
06
Build
07
Test
08
Revisions
09
Live
Still comparing? Read what a small business website costs in 2026 or whether an AI builder would do the job. Or just tell me about your business.
