In this short, Joshua Albanese, founder of Spearleaf, compares a $500, a $5,000 and a $50,000 website for a local business: the service and location pages each one has, how well the titles and H1 tags are optimized, the Google Business Profile and reviews behind it, and mobile speed and calls to action. Those are the pieces that decide whether a small business website design gets found on Google and recommended in ChatGPT.
Read the full guide: Small Business Website Cost: What $500 to $50,000 Buys →
Video Transcript
I'm going to show you the difference between a $500, $5,000, and a $50,000 website.
A $500 website has a homepage title that is just the company name. One generic page trying to rank for every service and every city. There's few or no Google reviews, an unoptimized Google Business Profile, and a slow mobile experience with weak calls to action. This site rarely ranks in Google, so when customers are searching for it, it's never going to show up, and you're not going to get a whole lot of customers.
A $5,000 website has service pages that exist, but local coverage is incomplete. Meta titles and H1 tags include some keywords but are inconsistently optimized. The Google Business Profile exists, but reviews are sporadic and limited. The website works on mobile but has average speed and basic conversion elements. The site ranks for some keywords. It's going to get in the search results, but it's really not going to move the needle for your business.
A $50,000 website has dedicated service pages and location pages for every major city in the service area. Optimized meta titles, H1 tags, and locally relevant content on each page. A strong Google Business Profile with steady review growth and frequent updates, and a fast mobile site with clear calls to action, online booking and trust signals.
This website ranks at the top of Google. It gives all the trust signals, and it's going to be also recommended in ChatGPT and all the LLMs. Follow along for more SEO optimization!
Read the full guide on what a small business website costs →