The website builder alternative
Skip the website builder. We'll build it for you.
A website builder gives you a template and leaves the rest to you: the words, the photos, the layout, getting it right on a phone and setting it up for Google. We do all of that for you, the way a web design agency would, built around your business rather than squeezed into a template. It's £199 once, then £50 a year. Over three years that's £299, less than Wix or Squarespace charge for their cheapest plans.
What you'd have to do yourself on a builder
Agency work, without the agency price.
We write it
Every page is written for your trade and your customers: your services, the areas you cover and why people should ring you. On a builder you start with placeholder text and a blinking cursor.
WordsWe build it around your business
However niche your work is, the site is built for it: your services, your reviews and your photos, with call and WhatsApp buttons on every page. Not a template you have to fill in and rearrange.
DesignOptional: a month of Starter SEO for £150
After launch, we can spend a month building more pages that tell the story of your work, writing blog posts that answer what your customers search for, and getting them all indexed by Google, Bing and AI search so they can be picked up. Optional, and £150 once for the whole month.
Starter SEOWe set it up for Google
A page for every service and area, the details Google reads, and help setting up or tidying your Google Business Profile. What's included.
GoogleWe make the changes
Up to 10 rounds of changes before it goes live, done by us. After that, small text changes and new photos are included in the £50 a year. You send a message, we do it.
ChangesYou see it before you pay
We build it first and send you the link. If you don't like it, you don't pay. No deposit, no contract and no VAT on top.
No riskWebsite builder vs web agency vs Hi-Vis Web
| Hi-Vis Web | Website builder | Web design agency | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who does the work | We do | You do | They do |
| Who writes the words | We do | You do | They do, or it's an extra |
| Google set-up and Business Profile help | Included | You work it out | Often extra |
| See it before you pay | Yes, the finished site | You see what you build | Usually a deposit first |
| Year one | £199, domain and hosting included | £108 (Wix Light) to £144 (Squarespace Basic), paid yearly | £1,500 to £3,000 from a freelancer, £3,000 to £5,000 from an agency |
| Over three years | £299 | £324 (Wix) to £432 (Squarespace), if prices don't rise, plus your time | The build, plus hosting and upkeep, which can add 30 to 50% |
Builder prices are each provider's cheapest plan that lets you use your own domain, paid yearly, from our Wix, Squarespace, GoDaddy and Hostinger comparison (checked October 2026). To be fair to them: Hostinger is cheaper on cash, at £143.52 if you pay four years up front, but you still build and write it all yourself. Agency and freelancer prices are for a small brochure site, from Whito (May 2026) and MoneyMagpie (July 2026); see our website cost guide.
Every site gets a proper launch. Starter SEO is the optional next step.
Your website goes live with everything it needs: written for you, a page for every service and area you cover, set up for Google, and help with your Google Business Profile. That's all in the £199.
If you want to go further, Starter SEO is an extra month of work after your site goes live, for £150 once:
- Pages that tell the story of your work. The jobs you've done, start to finish, with your photos. These are the pages people land on when they search for that kind of job.
- Blog posts that answer the questions your customers type into Google or ask AI assistants like ChatGPT.
- Indexing. We submit every new page to Google and Bing so it can be picked up in search results and AI answers.
It's optional and it's £150, once, for the whole month. No retainer and no contract. For comparison, UK pricing guides put local SEO from an agency at around £300 to £1,500 a month, every month, and a single blog post from a freelance copywriter at £120 to £350 (Whito, 2026). No one can honestly promise rankings, but a page search engines haven't found can't bring you work.
Why website builders are harder than they look
The adverts make it look like ten minutes' work. For most tradespeople it isn't:
- You still have to write everything. The template has nice pictures and placeholder text. Working out what to say about each service, and how to say it so people ring you, is the hard part.
- It looks fine on the computer and wrong on a phone. Most of your customers will see it on a phone, so you end up fixing each page twice.
- Google set-up is down to you. Page titles, descriptions, a page per service and area, and linking it to your Google Business Profile. Builders give you the boxes, not the answers.
- The price goes up. The first year is often discounted, and the domain is usually only free for year one.
- You can't usually take it with you. A site built on Wix, Squarespace or GoDaddy's builder stays there. With us, if you leave, we send you the files and move your domain into your name, free.
If you enjoy that sort of thing, a builder is a fine choice. If you'd rather be on the tools, let us do it.
How we do agency work for £199
An agency's price is mostly time: meetings, site visits, writing, design rounds and chasing you for photos. We do the same jobs, just without the overheads.
- We start from your Google listing, so your services, reviews and area are already there. No meeting needed to get going.
- We specialise in trades, so we already know what a plumber's or a roofer's customers look for. We can build most other websites too.
- No sales team, no office and no monthly plan to tie you into.
Every website gets a proper launch: built around your business, written for you, set up for Google and changed until you're happy, up to 10 rounds. If you want to go further, our optional Starter SEO is a month of extra pages and blog posts for £150, each one indexed with Google, Bing and AI search. See some examples.
How it works: we build your site from your Google listing, send you a link to look at it on your phone, and you only pay if you want to keep it. The four steps in full.
Your website
Only once you've seen it and want to keep it.
- A page for every service and area you cover
- Your own domain and 12 months' hosting
- Your photos swapped in and up to 10 rounds of changes
Real £199 build: E.A Electrician, North London. A page for each of their 21 services and 22 areas they cover, plus reviews and projects.
From year two
Optional. Hosting, domain renewal, backups, small text changes and new photos. No contract. Full pricing.
Questions
Questions about website builders and us.
Is a website builder cheaper than Hi-Vis Web?
Over three years, usually not. Wix Light costs £324 and Squarespace Basic £432 over three years on yearly billing, if the prices don't go up. We're £299 over three years: £199, then £50 a year. Hostinger is cheaper at £143.52 for four years paid up front, but with any builder you design, write and set up the site yourself.
What's the difference between a website builder and getting it built for me?
A builder is a tool: you get templates and you do the work. We do the work: we write the words, design it around your business, set it up for Google, help with your Google Business Profile and make the changes for you.
Do you do what a web design agency does?
Yes. We can build most websites, not just a simple trade site, however niche your work is. Every site is designed around your business, with the words written for you, a page per service and area, Google set-up, your own domain and changes done for you. If you want a consultation first, our bespoke websites start at £349.
Is it just a template?
No. Each site is built around your business, however niche, from your own services, areas, reviews and photos, and written for your trade. It isn't a template handed over for you to fill in.
What is Starter SEO?
An optional month of work after your site goes live. We build pages that tell the story of your work, like the jobs you've done start to finish, write blog posts that answer the questions your customers search for, and get every page indexed with Google, Bing and AI search so they can be picked up. Every website gets a proper launch without it. It's £150, once, for the whole month, with no retainer and no contract.
Can I make changes later?
Yes. Small text changes, like new opening hours or a new phone number, and new photos of your work are included in the £50 a year. Just send them over. For bigger changes, like a new page, we'll give you the price first.
Will it get me to the top of Google?
No one can honestly promise that, builder or agency. What we do is set your site up properly for Google, with a page per service and area and the details Google reads, and help with your Google Business Profile, which is what puts you on Google Maps.
Free preview
See your website before you spend a penny.
Tell us who you are and we'll build your preview from your Google listing. We'll text you the link, usually within a couple of working days.
Monday to Saturday, 8am to 6pm. You'll always deal with the same person.