What a trade website costs and where the price comes from

In Germany 1,038,126 (Zentralverband des Deutschen Handwerks) businesses are entered in the trade registers and in the register of trade-like occupations. A market of that size attracts providers of every kind, from the sideline to the agency with thirty employees, and the quotes are correspondingly far apart. Anyone who obtains three quotes usually receives three figures that differ by a factor of five, without the paperwork explaining why. That is rarely arbitrary and almost always because different things are being sold under the same word: in one case a template with a swapped logo, in the other a structure built around the trades of the business, with its own pictures.

The starting position has shifted. 94 percent (Bitkom) of trade businesses use a website of their own, surveyed among 504 trade companies in Germany. The question is therefore no longer whether a site exists, but what condition it is in, who maintains it and whether it brings enquiries. That shifts the price question too: this is not the purchase of an object you buy once and then forget, but an item with a one-off share and a running share. Seeing both separately is half the work of any comparison.

That businesses look closely is not mistrust but everyday practice. 87 percent (Bitkom) of the businesses surveyed observe a markedly higher price sensitivity among their own customers. Anyone who explains every day why a line in a quote costs what it costs has a fine sense for whether the other side gives the same account. That is exactly why every item is listed separately on our services rather than sold as a package with no interior.

A fixed price only works if the scope is settled beforehand. For a trade website that means a fixed number of pages, a fixed number of trades, a defined reference section and an enquiry form with the fields the business actually needs. Everything listed is covered by the figure, even if one more round of corrections turns out to be necessary. Everything not listed is discussed and priced beforehand. Every business knows this logic from its own trade: a fixed price for a bathroom stays a fixed price only as long as nobody changes the tiles halfway through.

The entry point starts at 1,490 euros net for a new trade website. It covers up to eight pages, a structure built around the trades of the business, the reference section, the enquiry form, operation on a phone and the legal basics. Replacing an existing site starts at 2,900 euros net, because content has to be reviewed, old addresses redirected and existing directory entries carried over. That a relaunch is more work than a fresh build surprises many people: clearing up takes more time than building.

What is not included in that figure deserves to be named just as clearly: ongoing maintenance, hosting, the care of visibility and anything beyond the agreed number of pages. A quote that does not draw this line is not a kindness but a deferral: the work still arises, it merely appears later on a different invoice.

Just as important as the drivers is the list of things that justify no surcharge. The choice of colour belongs there: whether a site is built in red, blue or charcoal changes nothing about the effort once the design grid is in place. The size of the business is not a price factor either. A two-person business with six services has more pages than a fifteen-person business with three, and the website does not know how many vehicles stand in the yard. Anyone asked for their headcount before the scope has been discussed should prick up their ears.

A second widespread surcharge deserves the same scepticism: the number of drafts. Three drafts to choose from sound generous but are mainly a guessing game, because two of them were never meant seriously. It is more sensible to have one draft that grows out of the conversation, followed by corrections at specific points. How that works in practice is part of every conversation we have about our services.

No trade business would issue a quote containing only a sum and the word bathroom. There would be line items, quantities, materials and hourly rates, because otherwise the customer could not compare and because in a dispute nobody would know what was owed. With websites this standard disappears surprisingly often. One figure, one line of description, one signature box. That is not a quote but a ballpark, and it turns any comparison with a second provider into a matter of luck.

The damage rarely shows immediately. It shows when the fourth service page is due after launch and is suddenly charged, because the quote never contained a number. It shows when the pictures were licensed and the licence expires after twelve months. It shows when the business wants to change provider and discovers that the domain is not registered in its name. All three cases are avoidable, with one sheet of paper before the signature.

A schedule of services does not have to be legally loaded. It is enough if the points that are argued about later are written down beforehand. The following list is deliberately short and can be worked through in any first conversation, even on the phone between two sites. If a provider answers one of these questions evasively, that is the answer you were looking for.

An honest price picture also includes the items that do not appear on the agency invoice. The domain costs a small two-figure amount per year depending on the ending. A photo session repeats itself when the fleet, the team or the services change. Anyone placing job adverts pays for those separately. And anyone booking adverts in search engines pays the advertising budget on top of the work. None of these items is compulsory, but each belongs in the planning so that no surprise arises later.

One point unsettles many businesses: accessibility. The German Accessibility Strengthening Act expressly exempts micro-enterprises that offer or provide services (section 3 subsection 3 sentence 1 BFSG). A micro-enterprise under section 2 number 17 BFSG is one that employs fewer than ten people and reaches at most 2 million euros (BFSG) in annual turnover or annual balance sheet total. For many trade businesses no additional cost block therefore arises. That exempts them neither from the legal notice nor from the privacy policy, and it is no licence for a site that cannot be operated. Whether a specific business falls under the exemption has to be examined professionally in each case; this article does not replace legal advice.

Finally the figures in one list, so that nobody has to collect them from the running text. All amounts are net plus value added tax, price date September 2026. Every monthly item is booked individually and cancellable monthly; there is no minimum term.

These figures are entry prices, not flat rates for every case. A business with twelve service pages, three locations and a recruitment section sits above them, and that then appears in the quote with a figure and a reason. What does not happen is the figure growing during the work because something was forgotten. The scope is settled beforehand, and anything beyond it is discussed and priced beforehand. If you would like such a quote, the shortest route is our contact page.