Are Cheap Websites Worth It?

If you’re a small business owner, it’s completely understandable that you want to keep the cost of your website down.

After all, there are now hundreds of companies offering websites for a few hundred dollars, DIY website builders promising to get you online in a day, and freelancers offering websites at surprisingly low prices.

But there’s an important question to ask before choosing the cheapest option: is the website actually cheap, or will it end up costing you more in the long run?

A cheap website isn’t necessarily a bad website. The problem is that some low-cost websites cut corners on design, performance, SEO, security, functionality and support. When that happens, the initial saving can quickly disappear. You may eventually find yourself paying someone else to fix the website, rebuild it, improve its Google visibility or start again from scratch.

For most small businesses, the better approach is to look for good value rather than simply the lowest price.

What does a cheap website actually mean?

The cost of a website can vary considerably depending on what you need. A simple website for a local tradesperson may only need a handful of pages, while a professional services business might need a larger website with service pages, lead-generation forms, integrations, SEO and other functionality.

There is no single “correct” price for a website. The important thing is understanding what you’re getting for your money.

A very cheap website might look attractive on the surface, but you should find out:

• What platform is it built on?
• Is the design customised for your business?
• Is the website mobile-friendly?
• Is it built with SEO in mind?
• Can you add pages and functionality later?
• Who owns the website and domain?
• Who provides support after launch?
• Is hosting included?
• Are security and backups included?
• What happens if you want to make changes?
• Can another web designer work on the website if you need them to?
• Will the website still be suitable if your business grows?

These questions can be much more important than the initial price.

Cheap doesn’t always mean bad

There is nothing wrong with wanting an affordable website. In fact, a small business shouldn’t necessarily spend tens of thousands of dollars on its first website.

For many businesses, a professionally designed WordPress website can provide everything they need without the cost of a large custom development project. The key is finding the right balance between price, quality and future flexibility.

A good affordable website should give you a solid foundation that you can build on as your business grows. That’s where WordPress can be particularly valuable.

Why we recommend WordPress for small businesses

At Quikclicks, we recommend WordPress for many small and medium-sized businesses because it provides a strong foundation for growth.

WordPress is one of the world’s most widely used website platforms and, importantly for a growing business, it isn’t designed to keep you locked into a basic website forever. You can start with a relatively simple website and add to it over time.

For example, you might initially have:

• Home
• About
• Services
• Contact

As your business grows, you can add dedicated service pages, locations, case studies, FAQs, blog articles, landing pages, booking functionality, ecommerce, integrations and much more.

This ability to grow is one of the biggest advantages of choosing WordPress.

WordPress is also a strong foundation for SEO

Your website platform doesn’t automatically make you rank on Google. However, the platform you choose can make it easier or harder to build a technically sound, search-friendly website.

A properly built WordPress website can provide a strong foundation for SEO, including:

• Search-friendly page structures
• Custom page titles and meta descriptions
• Optimised content
• Fast-loading pages
• Mobile-friendly design
• XML sitemaps
• Structured data/schema
• Internal linking
• Image optimisation
• Location and service pages

This gives your website room to grow as your SEO strategy develops.

WordPress is becoming increasingly important for GEO too

Search is changing. People aren’t only using Google to find businesses anymore. They’re increasingly asking AI tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Perplexity questions and expecting useful recommendations.

This is often referred to as Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) or AI search optimisation.

While no website platform can guarantee that your business will be recommended by an AI search engine, a properly structured website gives you a much better foundation for creating the content, authority and structured information that AI systems can understand. That’s another reason we believe WordPress is a good long-term platform for small businesses.

Your website shouldn’t just be designed for how people search today. It should provide a foundation that can adapt as search continues to change.

The real cost of a bad cheap website

This is where businesses can get caught out.

Imagine you pay a few hundred dollars for a website. It looks okay when it launches, but six months later you discover that:

• You can’t easily add new pages.
• The website is slow.
• It isn’t properly set up for SEO.
• The design doesn’t work well on mobile devices.
• You can’t easily make changes.
• The original designer no longer responds to you.
• The website can’t accommodate new functionality.
• Your hosting is unreliable.
• Your website isn’t properly backed up.
• You need to rebuild it to support your marketing strategy.

Suddenly, that website isn’t so cheap. You may end up spending thousands of dollars fixing or replacing it.

More importantly, you’ve lost something that is much harder to put a price on: your time.

Your website can cost you customers

A website isn’t simply an online brochure. For many businesses, it is one of the first places a potential customer interacts with the business.

If the website is slow, confusing, outdated or difficult to use, potential customers may simply leave. If people can’t quickly understand:

• What do you do?
• Where are you located?
• Why should I choose you?
• How do I contact you?

then your website isn’t doing its job.

The cheapest website is not necessarily the one with the lowest initial price. The cheapest website is the one that delivers what your business needs without creating unnecessary costs later.

An established web design agency can provide more than a website

One of the advantages of working with an established web design agency is that you’re not simply buying a collection of web pages. You’re getting experience, processes and ongoing support.

At Quikclicks, we’ve been designing websites for Australian businesses since 2004 and have built thousands of websites for businesses across a wide range of industries.

That experience matters. We’ve seen what works, what doesn’t, and what businesses commonly need as they grow.

We can also help businesses beyond the initial website build, including hosting, website updates, maintenance, security, SEO and digital marketing such as Google Ads.

That means your website doesn’t have to be treated as a one-off project. It can become part of your overall digital marketing strategy.

A website should grow with your business

Your business today may not be the same business you have in three or five years.

• You might introduce new services.
• You might expand into new locations.
• You might start selling products online.
• You might want to generate more enquiries from Google.
• You might need online bookings.
• You might want to start publishing regular content.
• You might want to improve your visibility in AI search.

Your website needs to be able to accommodate these changes. That’s why we believe investing in a solid foundation is more important than simply finding the lowest possible price.

What should you look for in an affordable website?

If you’re comparing cheap website packages, don’t just compare the price. Compare what’s actually included.

1. A reputable platform

For most small businesses, we recommend WordPress because it provides flexibility and room to grow.

2. Professional design

Your website should reflect the quality of your business and be designed around your customers, rather than simply putting your logo and information into a generic template.

3. Mobile-friendly design

A significant proportion of website visitors use mobile devices. Your website needs to work properly across phones, tablets and desktop computers.

4. SEO foundations

Your website should be built with search engines in mind from the beginning rather than trying to fix technical problems later.

5. Room to grow

You shouldn’t have to rebuild your entire website just because your business has grown.

6. Security and backups

Your website needs appropriate security, SSL and reliable backups.

7. Ongoing support

It’s useful to know who you can contact when you need a change, have a problem or want to add something new.

8. Clear ownership

Make sure you understand who owns your domain, website and content and what happens if you decide to change providers.

So, are cheap websites worth it?

Sometimes.

If by “cheap” you mean an affordable, professionally built website that gives your business a solid foundation, then absolutely.

If by “cheap” you mean choosing the lowest possible price regardless of what’s included, it can be a very different story. A poorly built website can cost you more through lost time, lost enquiries, poor search visibility, ongoing repairs and eventually having to rebuild the entire website.

The goal shouldn’t be to find the cheapest website. The goal should be to find the best-value website for your business.

At Quikclicks, we believe that means providing businesses with a professionally designed website, built on a flexible platform like WordPress, with the support and expertise to help the website grow as the business grows.

Looking for an affordable WordPress website?

If you’re looking for an affordable, professionally designed WordPress website, take a look at our WordPress website packages.

If you need a larger or more involved website with additional functionality, you can also view our more advanced website pricing.

The important thing is to choose a website that works for your business today, while giving you the flexibility to grow tomorrow.