What Does a $300 Website Include? An Honest Breakdown for Small Businesses

"How much does a website cost?" has a frustrating answer: anywhere from free to many thousands of dollars. So we priced our most common job as a fixed package. A simple business website from Codememory costs $300, and this article explains exactly what that buys, what it does not, and how to tell whether it is right for your business.

The same breakdown is useful even if you hire someone else. Use it as a checklist when you compare quotes.

Who a $300 website is for

A small, fixed-price site fits a business that needs to be found, trusted and contacted:

• a plumber, electrician, appliance repair shop or cleaning company;
• a salon, barber, clinic or tutor;
• a restaurant or caterer that takes orders by phone or WhatsApp;
• a consultant, accountant or lawyer who needs a professional presence;
• a shop that sells in person and wants people to find it.

What these have in common: the website's job is to turn a search or a referral into a call, a message or a visit. It does not need to take payments or run a booking system.

What is included

Here is what our $300 package contains, and why each piece matters.

Up to five pages

Typically Home, About, Services, Gallery and Contact. Five pages is enough to answer the questions customers actually ask: what do you do, where are you, can I trust you, how do I reach you. More pages without more content just dilute the site.

A design that uses your brand and works on phones

Your logo, your colours, your photos (or licensed stock photos where you have none). Most of your visitors will arrive on a phone, often on mobile data, so the site is built mobile-first and kept light.

Ways to contact you that people actually use

• a contact form that emails you;
• a WhatsApp button, because in Jamaica and much of the Caribbean that is how many customers prefer to reach a business;
• a click-to-call button;
• your Google Maps location and opening hours.

Basic search setup

Each page gets a proper title and description, the site gets a sitemap, and we connect it to Google Search Console so Google knows it exists and you can see which searches bring people in. This is the foundation, not a full SEO campaign; more on that below.

Security and launch

The site runs on https (the padlock in the browser), and we connect it to your domain and launch it.

One round of changes, and 14 days of fixes

You see the site before launch and ask for changes in one round. After launch, anything that does not work as delivered is fixed for 14 days at no charge.

What is not included

A fixed price only works if the scope is clear. These are outside the $300 package:

• The domain name. You register it in your own name and pay its yearly fee. We can guide you through it.
• Online payments, shopping carts or bookings. Those are a different kind of site. See our e-commerce website package, or read how much an e-commerce website costs in 2026.
• Writing all your content from scratch. We shape and tidy the words you give us. Full copywriting is extra.
• Logo design or photo shoots. Bring what you have; we will make the most of it.
• Ongoing changes after the fix period. New pages, new photos and updates later are either quoted per job or covered by a care plan.
• Search rankings. Nobody can honestly promise you the top spot on Google. A clean, fast site with the right basics gives you a fair chance; reviews, a Google Business Profile and consistent information do the rest. Our guide to getting your business on Google in Jamaica covers the free steps.

Hosting: where the site lives

A small business site has two common hosting options:

1. Your own account on a hosting platform. Several modern platforms have free tiers that comfortably serve a small static site. You own the account; you call us if something needs changing.
2. Our care plan. We host it, update it, back it up and make small changes each month. See the website care plan.

Either way, ask any provider where the site will be hosted, who controls that account, and what happens if you stop paying them.

Who owns the site

This is the most important question, and the one cheap offers most often hide. Some "$99 websites" are rented: you pay monthly, and if you stop, the site disappears and you cannot take it with you.

With our package, once the final payment is made, the site and its source code are yours. In practice we add you to the code repository so you can see everything at any time. If you ever want another developer to take over, they can.

How the process works

1. Short call or WhatsApp chat. What you do, who your customers are, which pages you need.
2. You send content. Logo, photos, services, prices if you want them shown, contact details, opening hours.
3. We build. Usually about a week once content is in.
4. You review. One round of changes.
5. Launch. Domain connected, search setup done.
6. Fix period. 14 days to catch anything we missed.

Payment is split: a deposit to start, the balance at launch before the code is handed over.

When $300 is the wrong choice

Spend more, or choose a different package, if:

• you want customers to pay online or book a time slot;
• you need a members area, a client portal or a database;
• you publish often and need a proper blog or newsletter (look at Ghost instead);
• you are about to run paid ads to a single offer, in which case a landing page built for conversions may do more than a five-page site;
• your business process itself needs software, such as job tracking, quotes and invoices. That is a custom web app.

A quick checklist for comparing website quotes

• How many pages, and which ones?
• Is it built for phones first?
• Is there a contact form, WhatsApp and click-to-call?
• Is basic search setup included (titles, descriptions, sitemap, Search Console)?
• Who registers the domain, and in whose name?
• Where is it hosted, and who controls that account?
• Do I own the code when I have paid?
• How many rounds of changes, and what happens after launch?
• What does a change cost later?

If a quote cannot answer these, it is not cheaper. It is unclear.

What we need from you

To deliver in about a week, we need your logo, the text for each page (or notes we can turn into text), photos of your business and work, your contact details and opening hours, and access to your domain if you already have one. The faster these arrive, the faster the site goes live.

After launch

Once the site is live, keep it current: update hours, prices and photos when they change, check the contact form works every month and keep your Google Business Profile matching the site. If you would rather not do this yourself, a care plan covers updates and small changes for a monthly fee.

Bottom line

A $300 website is a good investment when your goal is to be found, trusted and contacted, the scope is clear, and you own the result. It is the wrong tool when you need payments, bookings or custom software.

Ready to get your business online? See the simple website package or send us a message with what your business does. If you are in Jamaica, our guide to website costs in Jamaica covers paying in Jamaican dollars and local payment options.