I get why cheap websites are tempting.
You’re running a real business. You have payroll, rent, insurance, and about a hundred things competing for your attention. So when someone says, “I can build you a website for a few hundred bucks,” it feels like a win. You get something online, you move on, and you focus on the work you actually care about.
At Center Street Digital, we’ve been tempted to use low cost website creator tools for various projects. There are a time a place for those tools, but we’ve found that without a comprehensive strategy applied to a website build, they cost more in the long run.
The problem is this: cheap websites almost always cost more later…in money, time, stress, and missed opportunities.
Not because you made a bad decision, but because the website was never built to actually support your business. No thought was given to creating clarity for your ideal customer and building trust with them. No attention was given to creating long-term value for your business.
A Website isn’t Just a Box to Check
Your website isn’t just “something you need to have.” It’s often the first real interaction someone has with your business.
Before they call you.
Before they email.
Before they trust you with their home, their health, or their family.
The biggest mistake we see small businesses make, is to treat this moment as an afterthought. To often the website is viewed as an expense, not an asset. It’s built quickly, and for a low cost, but not for user user experience or messaging clarity. No thought is given to created a business changing asset.
That mismatch shows up quickly.
Cheap Websites Skip Strategy
Most low-cost websites are built from a template with very little thinking behind them.
No real consideration for:
- Who your ideal customer actually is
- What questions they’re asking before they reach out
- What makes you different from the business down the street
- How the site should grow as your business grows
Without strategy, the site might look fine, but it doesn’t work. And fixing strategy after the fact is always harder (and more expensive) than doing it upfront.
SEO Gets Bolted On…If It Happens at All
Search engines don’t reward shortcuts. The highest ranking sites often provide the best user experience and are the most authoritative content.
Low-cost websites without strategy applied often come with:
- Poor page structure
- Generic or duplicate content
- Missing or weak location signals
- No real plan for local SEO
- Technical issues that quietly hold rankings back
This is where I see a lot of frustration. Business owners publish content, try ads, or hire SEO help later, only to find the site itself is working against them.
At that point, you’re paying someone to undo problems that never needed to exist.
A Slow Website is a Business Killer
Speed matters. Not because Google says so, but because people do.
Be careful with low-cost solutions or you might end up with…
- Bloated themes
- Too many plugins
- Cheap hosting
- Images that were never optimized
The result is a site that feels sluggish or broken, especially on mobile. Visitors don’t analyze why. It just feels off. And when something feels off, people leave.
That’s lost trust, lost leads, and money you never even see.
“Looks Fine”, Doesn’t Mean it Converts.
One of the quietest costs of a cheap website is what doesn’t happen when someone visit your site.
No clear next steps
No strong calls to action
No reassurance that you’re credible and trustworthy
No guidance for visitors who are nervous or unsure
For service businesses, like therapists, trades, local professionals, this matters A LOT. People aren’t just shopping for a price. They’re looking for safety, competence, and human connection.
A website that doesn’t communicate those things costs you real inquiries.
Maintenance Becomes a Slow Drain
Cheap websites tend to come with ongoing headaches:
- Updates that break things
- Security issues
- Plugin conflicts
- Random “small fixes” that add up
You might not see a big bill all at once, but over a year or two, the drip adds up. I cannot tell you how many people contact us saying the same thing:
“It would be better to just rebuild this.”
Paying Twice Is the Most Expensive Option
This is the part that’s hardest to swallow.
Many small businesses end up paying once for a cheap site and again for a proper site when they outgrow it
I understand that sometimes it’s the only option for a business because of things like cash flow, stage of growth, etc. But because the first site was never designed to support growth, many businesses circle back and invest more. Perhaps spending more than they would have if they would have built a comprehensive solution the first time.
What a Good Website Actually Does
So before you use a low cost option, consider what a high quality quality website should include:
- Respects your customers’ time and attention
- Is built with search visibility in mind from day one
- Loads fast and works on every device
- Makes it easy for people to trust you
- Well organized and authoritative content
- Grows with your business instead of holding it back
It doesn’t have to be flashy. It just has to be thoughtful. There’s nothing wrong with wanting something straightforward. Simple can be smart. But cheap often means rushed, generic, and short-sighted.
If your website brings in the right people, supports your work, and reflects the care you put into your business, that’s not an expense. That’s an asset.
And in the long run, doing it right once is almost always the most affordable choice.
Matt McComas is the Co-founder of Center Street Digital. He helps his team provide the right solutions for small businesses seeking to do good work and tell the world about it.