Short answer: anywhere from $0 (DIY on Squarespace) to $25,000+ (full-custom from a name-brand agency). Most contractors who actually generate leads from their site land between $5,000 and $15,000 in year-one cost. Here is what you are actually paying for at each tier.
The DIY tier: $0 to $300/year
Squarespace, Wix, GoDaddy Builder. You drag and drop, pick a template, ship a 5-page site. Total cost: about $200 to $300 per year for hosting and the domain.
What you get: a brochure. What you do not get: a page for each service in each town you cover, structured data Google needs to rank you locally, or a contact form that ties into anything resembling a CRM. For most service businesses this site does not bring in leads. It just sits there.
The local-agency tier: $3,000 setup + $500 to $1,500/month
The typical contractor-marketing agency builds you a WordPress site, charges a $3,000 to $12,000 setup fee, then puts you on an $800 to $2,500 monthly retainer for "SEO and content". You usually get a 10 to 20 page site, a few stock photos, and a monthly PDF report you do not read.
Year one cost: $9,000 to $30,000. Cancel any time? Usually no. You signed a 12-month minimum.
The custom-build tier: $15,000 to $50,000 one-time
Hire a freelance developer or a small dev shop, build something custom. Charged hourly ($100 to $250/hr) or fixed-bid. You own the code. You also own the bug-fixing, the hosting, the security updates, the search-engine optimization, and the next round of design work in two years.
Year one cost: $15,000 to $50,000 plus ongoing maintenance. Most contractors who go this route end up paying someone else to maintain it within 12 months.
The flat-monthly tier: $497/month flat, no setup, cancel any time
This is what Bindingstone built. $497 per month. No setup fee. No contract. Custom-designed site, a page for every service in every town you serve, hosting, lead capture, monthly copy and search updates included.
Year one cost: $5,964. Total. We do not bill the first month until the site is live. Cancel any time and you keep the website name.
What you should actually budget
If you are running a real service business with crews to keep busy, the math is simple. One job from a single ranked search page pays for a year of website costs at the flat-monthly tier. Two jobs pay for a year of agency retainer. If your site is generating zero leads today, any of these tiers beats what you have. Pick the one with the lowest risk: no setup fee, cancel any time, talk to the person who actually builds it.
FAQ
Is there a setup fee at Bindingstone?
No. Flat $497 per month. The first month is not billed until the site is live and you have signed off.
Can I cancel any time?
Yes. No exit fee. You keep your website name.
Who actually builds the site?
The owner, in Wisconsin. No middlemen, no overseas teams.