Tree Top Web Design Blog

Most of the website design mistakes people talk about are the obvious ones. Slow load times, a site that's impossible to use on a phone, a contact form that doesn't send anywhere. We covered the obvious five here, and if any of those sound familiar, start there.

But here's what I've noticed after working on hundreds of small business websites: the sites I get called about aren't usually broken. They load fine. They look decent. Nothing is on fire. They're just not producing calls or inquiries, and the owner can't figure out why.

I have built websites for small businesses in Santa Cruz since 2011. In that time, we have quoted thousands of projects, and a common piece of feedback is some version of "I found someone who will do it for $500." Sometimes that is the right call. Sometimes it ends up costing more than the “more expensive” option would have.

The price in the proposal is not the cost of a website. The cost is what you spend over the next two or three years in time, lost business, and rebuilding what should have been done right the first time.  

I build websites for a living. I've been doing it since 2011, here in Santa Cruz. So you'd expect me to tell every business owner that yes, you absolutely need one.

I won't do that. Because honestly, it's not always true.

"Do I need a website?" is one of the most common questions I hear from small business owners. My honest answer, the one that sometimes costs me a project, is: it depends on where your customers find you. Some businesses genuinely do not need one. Others are losing money every month without one and don't realize it.

DIY Website vs. Professional Web Design: The Real Cost Comparison

I’ve been building websites for small businesses for over 15 years, and this is probably the question I hear most: should I build my own website or hire a web designer? The honest answer is that it depends. A DIY website isn't automatically a bad idea, and hiring an agency isn't automatically the right move.

The Real Cost of a Website in 2026

A professional small business website in 2026 typically costs between $5,000 and $15,000 to build, with ongoing costs of $100 to $500 per month for hosting, maintenance, and updates. But those numbers only tell part of the story. What your website cost actually comes down to is what you need, who builds it, and how seriously you take keeping it running after launch.