How Much Does a Website Cost for a Small Business in Edmo...
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Honest, specific pricing for small business websites in Edmonton — DIY to agency, with real ranges, what you get at each tier, and how to match budget to business stage.
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The honest answer is "between $200 and $75,000, depending on what you actually need." That's not useful, so this post breaks down exactly what sits at each price point, what you're trading off, and how to match budget to business stage.
Written for Edmonton small-business owners — trades, clinics, professional services, retail, local SaaS — who are getting quotes and trying to figure out whether the numbers they're seeing make sense.
Examples: Squarespace ($16-40/mo), Wix ($14-45/mo), Shopify ($29-399/mo for e-commerce), WordPress.com ($4-45/mo).
What you get:
What you don't get:
Who it fits: Solo operators testing a business idea. Side hustles. Artists/photographers with portfolio-only needs. Any business that isn't ready to commit 3-5 figures to a web presence.
Real Edmonton cost: Expect $200-$600/year all-in, plus your own time (usually 20-80 hours to set up and populate).
What you get:
What varies wildly:
Who it fits: Established small businesses with a clear brand and modest requirements. Service providers who need credibility but not complexity.
Red flags to watch for:
Real Edmonton cost: $1,500-$5,000 for a brochure site. $3,000-$8,000 if e-commerce is involved.
What you get:
What varies:
Who it fits: Established businesses doing $500K-$5M/year that need a site to match. Clinics with multi-provider booking. Trades expanding into multiple cities. Professional services where the website is a lead source.
What you should see in a proposal:
Real Edmonton cost: $5,000-$15,000 for most small-business engagements. $15,000-$25,000 if the project involves custom functionality, integrations, or significant branding work.
What you get:
Who it fits: Businesses doing $5M-$50M/year. Venture-backed startups where the site needs to close enterprise buyers. B2B SaaS with complex product positioning.
What's different from tier 3:
Real Edmonton cost: $30,000-$75,000 for a full brand + web engagement. The ceiling is high — we've seen $150K Edmonton-area projects for complex B2B SaaS sites.
What you get:
Who it fits: Enterprises with $50M+ revenue, complex stakeholder environments, compliance requirements (banking, healthcare, government).
Not relevant to most Edmonton small businesses. Skipping the deep dive.
"Where should MY business be on this scale?"
Here's the math we use with clients:
Formula: Website budget = 2-5% of first-year revenue you expect the site to influence.
If your business does $500K/year and 20% of that comes from web leads, the site influences $100K. 2-5% is $2K-$5K. A freelancer tier fits.
If your business does $3M/year and web leads represent 40%, the site influences $1.2M. 2-5% is $24K-$60K. Small-to-mid agency tier.
The formula breaks down at the extremes (startups pre-revenue; enterprises with strategic non-revenue goals), but for a typical Edmonton small business, it's a good sanity check.
Typical first-year "total cost of ownership" for a tier-3 agency build: $10,000-$25,000 including all the above.
llms.txt are table stakes.Agency7 is an Edmonton AI agency. We don't do every project — we focus on small-to-mid businesses where the site is a serious lead source. Our typical engagement:
We're explicitly positioned for small-to-mid Edmonton businesses — not enterprise. See the honest comparison of us vs other Edmonton agencies if you're shopping around.
Yes, but constrained. Options: (1) Squarespace/Wix with a template you customize yourself, (2) a junior freelancer doing a simple WordPress site, (3) a student at NAIT or MacEwan looking for portfolio work. All three can produce a functional site. None will match an agency build on performance or AI discoverability.
Three things: (1) custom design vs template customization, (2) framework complexity — Next.js builds run more than Webflow, (3) scope. A $5K agency might ship 5 pages in WordPress. A $50K agency ships 25 pages, a brand refresh, integrations, copy, and 6 months of optimization. Both can be correct for the right business.
Usually, yes — on initial build. WordPress has more developers, more templates, and faster setup. Total cost over 5 years often favours modern frameworks because WordPress accumulates plugin debt, security issues, and performance decay. For a brochure site with frequent self-editing, WordPress can be the right call. For performance-critical or high-volume sites, Next.js / Astro typically wins on 5-year TCO.
Tier 1 (DIY): 1-3 weeks. Tier 2 (freelancer): 4-8 weeks. Tier 3 (small agency): 6-12 weeks. Tier 4 (mid-size): 12-20 weeks. The biggest time sink is usually waiting for client content (copy, photos, testimonials), not the technical build.
Google Business Profile has a free website feature — it's minimal but functional for a local service business. Meta (Facebook) Pages serve a similar purpose. Both are acceptable placeholders while you build a proper site; neither is a long-term solution for any business serious about SEO or AI discoverability.
Most tier 2-4 builds are one-time, with optional monthly support. Monthly-only pricing (common in some Edmonton agencies) often locks you into the platform — you don't own the site, you rent it. Usually more expensive over 3-5 years. Preferred structure: one-time build with optional separate monthly retainer.
Copywriting. A beautiful site with weak copy converts worse than an average-looking site with sharp copy. If budget is tight, allocate meaningfully to the words — either DIY with time, hire a copywriter separately, or confirm copy is included (and by whom) in your agency quote.
For first drafts, yes. For the final version on your home page and service pages, no — or at least not unedited. AI copy reads generic, and both Google and ChatGPT are increasingly good at detecting it. The best approach: use AI to accelerate outlining and drafting, then have a human (you or a copywriter) rewrite in your actual voice with specific Edmonton details.
Want a specific quote for your business? We'll scope your project and give you a fixed-price estimate in 48 hours — no sales call required unless you want one. Book a free consult or see our full approach at web development Edmonton.