Why We're Showing You the Whole Thing
Web design pricing is famously murky. You ask three agencies what a website costs and get a shrug, a "it depends," and a proposal for $18,000. So this post does the opposite: it walks through exactly what happens inside our Website Sprint, which starts at $2,500, week by week, including what you don't get.
Two reasons for the transparency. First, we publish our pricing anyway, so pretending it's a secret would be silly. Second, an informed client is a better client. People who know what $2,500 buys make faster decisions and better websites, whether they hire us or not.
If you want the broader market context first, we wrote a full breakdown of what websites actually cost, from $500 templates to $50,000 custom builds. The Sprint sits deliberately in the gap between those extremes.
What the Sprint Is (And the Problem It Exists to Solve)
The Website Sprint is the entry point to our Foundation Build service: a focused, fixed-scope website project for a small business that needs a professional site that loads fast, reads clearly, and turns visitors into calls and bookings. Typically 5-7 pages: home, services, about, contact, and one or two pages specific to your business.
The problem it solves is the dead zone most local businesses live in. A DIY template costs them 40-60 hours and converts poorly (we did that math in why DIY web design costs more than you think), while a full custom build at $10,000-$25,000 is more site than a five-person business needs. The Sprint is the boring, correct middle: professional work, tight scope, real deadline.
Week 1: Questions, Structure, and Words
The first week has no design in it, on purpose.
It starts with a working session, usually 60-90 minutes, where we ask about your customers, not your color preferences. Who calls you? What do they ask? What makes them choose you over the shop down Bee Ridge Road? Which service actually makes you money? The answers decide everything downstream.
From that we produce two things you review and approve:
- A sitemap: the exact pages and what each one is for
- The homepage draft, in words: headline, sections, calls to action, written before any visuals exist
Writing before designing sounds backwards to most people. It isn't. A website is an argument for hiring you, and the argument is made in words. Design that comes first just decorates empty boxes.
Your job in week 1: the working session, sending over photos and any existing content, and roughly an hour of review. Slow feedback is the number one thing that stretches a sprint, so we're upfront about it.
Week 2: Design and Build, Together
Week 2 is where the site becomes real. We design and build in the same pass rather than producing static mockups for three rounds of approval. You see actual pages at a real URL, on your actual phone, usually by the middle of the week.
What's happening under the hood:
- Mobile-first layout, since 60-70% of local traffic is on phones
- Page speed as a feature: compressed images, no bloated page builders, target load times under 2 seconds
- On-page SEO basics: titles, descriptions, headings, image alt text, and structured data so Google understands who and where you are
- Conversion plumbing: tap-to-call, forms that go somewhere reliable, and a clear next step on every page
You get one structured round of revisions at the end of the week. One round, taken seriously, beats five rounds of drift. We collect everything, make the changes in a batch, and keep the deadline honest.
Week 3: Polish, Launch, and Handover
The last stretch is testing and launch: every form submitted, every link clicked, checked on iPhone, Android, and desktop. We connect analytics, submit the sitemap to Google Search Console, set up redirects if you're replacing an old site, and point your domain.
Then the part most agencies skip: handover. You get a short walkthrough of how to update your own hours, prices, and photos, and you own everything. The domain is in your name, the hosting is in your name, and nothing is held hostage. If we get hit by a bus (or you just outgrow us), any competent developer can pick up the site.
What's Included, and What Isn't
Included at the $2,500 starting point: strategy session, sitemap, copywriting collaboration on core pages, custom design, mobile-first build, on-page SEO setup, analytics, forms, launch, and handover training.
Not included, and we'd rather tell you now:
- Ongoing SEO. The Sprint makes your site rankable; it doesn't do the monthly work of ranking it. That's a separate local SEO retainer (from $750/mo), and plenty of Sprint clients never need it
- E-commerce, patient portals, member logins. Real scope, real cost, quoted separately
- Logo and brand design. We'll work with what you have or refer you out
- Ongoing edits and maintenance. That's the Website Care Plan, from $250/mo, and it's optional, not a lock-in
- Content for 20 pages. The Sprint covers core pages. A 20-page content project is a different animal
"Starts at $2,500" means exactly that: the 5-7 page scope above. More pages, booking integrations, or multi-location structures move the number up, and we quote it before work starts, not after.
Who the Sprint Is Wrong For
Honesty cuts both ways, so here's who shouldn't buy this:
- You already have a decent site with a specific problem. Sometimes a targeted fix beats a rebuild. Our post on whether to redesign or rebuild walks through that call honestly
- You need e-commerce with 50+ products. Wrong tool. That's a bigger build
- You're pre-revenue and testing an idea. Spend $200 on a template landing page first. Come back when strangers are paying you
- You want a committee-driven process. The Sprint's speed comes from one decision-maker and one revision round. If six stakeholders need sign-off, a slower process will serve you better
Frequently Asked Questions
What does a $2,500 website include?
In our Website Sprint, $2,500 is the starting point for a 5-7 page site: a strategy session, sitemap, copywriting collaboration on core pages, custom mobile-first design, on-page SEO setup, analytics, working forms, launch, and a handover walkthrough. Domain and hosting stay in your name. Larger scopes like e-commerce, booking integrations, or multi-location sites are quoted separately before work begins.
How long does a website sprint take?
About three weeks when feedback is prompt. Week one covers strategy, sitemap, and homepage copy. Week two is design and build with one structured revision round. Week three is testing on real devices, analytics setup, launch, and owner training. The most common cause of delay isn't the build, it's slow client feedback, so the process asks for roughly an hour of review at set points.
Who shouldn't buy a fixed-scope website package?
Businesses with a decent existing site that has one specific problem, since a targeted fix can beat a rebuild. Stores needing e-commerce with dozens of products, which requires a larger build. Pre-revenue founders testing an idea, who should validate with a cheap template first. And organizations where six stakeholders must approve every step, because fixed-scope speed depends on a single decision-maker.
