'Web designer' means a dozen different things to a dozen different people. To one person it's someone who makes a logo look nice. To another it's the entire team who builds, hosts, ranks and maintains their business online. Before you spend a penny on a new website, it's worth being clear about what you're actually buying — and what a proper designer should be doing for you.
It's more than 'making it look nice'
The visual side is the most visible part, but it's a small slice of the actual job. A modern web designer's real scope covers:
A cheap quote usually covers one or two of these. A proper one covers all of them and tells you exactly which.
- Design: layout, typography, colour, imagery, and how the whole thing reads on a phone as well as a desktop.
- Development: turning the design into an actual working website — code, forms, performance, accessibility.
- Hosting & deployment: putting the site somewhere fast, secure, and always online.
- SEO groundwork: proper meta titles, descriptions, structured data, sitemap, Search Console — the things that decide whether Google can actually find you.
- Ongoing maintenance: updates, backups, monitoring, small content changes. Websites are not "set and forget".
A cheap quote usually covers one or two of these. A proper one covers all of them and tells you exactly which.
Web designer vs web developer vs agency — does it matter?
For a small business, the label matters less than what's actually delivered. In practice:
The right question isn't "which of these do I need?" — it's "who is going to own the outcome end-to-end?" A single freelancer who handles design, build and hosting is often a much better fit for a small business than an agency with three account managers and a subcontracted developer.
- A web designer traditionally focuses on how a site looks and feels — but most modern ones also code and deploy.
- A web developer traditionally focuses on functionality and code — often paired with a separate designer.
- An agency is a team that covers both, plus project management, marketing, and often SEO or ads.
The right question isn't "which of these do I need?" — it's "who is going to own the outcome end-to-end?" A single freelancer who handles design, build and hosting is often a much better fit for a small business than an agency with three account managers and a subcontracted developer.
What should already be set up for you on day one
When we launch a new site at A9, these are the things that go live on the same day the site does — because doing them later is always harder:
If a designer hands over a site without any of the above, they've built you a brochure, not a business asset.
- Google Analytics 4 installed and verified, tracking real traffic from day one.
- Google Search Console verified, sitemap submitted, so Google starts crawling the site properly.
- Google Business Profile claimed or optimised — the single biggest local ranking lever.
- Proper meta titles, descriptions and structured data across every page.
- Contact forms actually tested — with real notifications going to the right inbox.
- HTTPS, DNS, redirects and old URLs pointing to the new site with no lost SEO equity.
If a designer hands over a site without any of the above, they've built you a brochure, not a business asset.
Red flags: signs you're being resold a template
A lot of the "web design" market is one person quietly reselling the same template with a new logo. The tell-tale signs:
None of these are dealbreakers on their own, but three out of four and you're probably paying custom prices for a stock product.
- The designer doesn't ask about your customers, offer, or existing enquiries — just what colour you want.
- The demo they show you is a page-builder site with a chat widget, cookie banner, and a suspicious "Powered by…" footer.
- They can't explain what happens if a plugin breaks in six months.
- Their own website is slow, generic, or built on the same template.
None of these are dealbreakers on their own, but three out of four and you're probably paying custom prices for a stock product.
What this should actually cost
The honest answer is "it depends what's included" — which is exactly why we wrote a full guide on it. For realistic UK pricing across DIY, freelance, agency and subscription models, see how much a small business website should cost in the UK in 2026.
The short version: hand-coded, fully-managed sites from A9 start at £80/mo with £0 upfront, or £1,200 as a one-off. Everything above — design, build, hosting, SEO groundwork, ongoing support — is included in that number. No hidden plugin renewals, no "we forgot to mention hosting" invoices six months in.
The short version: hand-coded, fully-managed sites from A9 start at £80/mo with £0 upfront, or £1,200 as a one-off. Everything above — design, build, hosting, SEO groundwork, ongoing support — is included in that number. No hidden plugin renewals, no "we forgot to mention hosting" invoices six months in.
Choosing the right person
The best web designer for a small business is usually the one who explains things clearly, owns the whole outcome, and is still around a year later to answer the phone. You can read a bit about how we work or see what a full hand-coded build includes. Either way, the questions above are worth asking whoever ends up building your site.
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