How it works
Affordable, on purpose
WebLothian is affordable on purpose. Websites, online booking and now AI are moving fast, and too many local businesses in Edinburgh and the Lothians are either priced out by agencies or stuck on a do-it-yourself page builder that cannot do what they need. Keeping the cost low is how WebLothian helps them keep up rather than get left behind. Businesses in Edinburgh and the Lothians also get a heavily discounted local rate: they are on Ben's doorstep, so there is no travel to cover, every meeting can be face to face, and helping them is the reason WebLothian exists. Every job starts with a free consultation and a written quote before any work begins. Your web address (domain), hosting (where your site lives), an SSL certificate (the padlock in the address bar) and a business email address are included free for the first year, and after that one modest monthly fee covers the running costs (hosting and your web address), month to month, with no contract.
Step by step
From the first conversation to the second year, in four steps. Nothing starts until you have agreed a written quote.
A free consultation
A conversation about what your business needs: the pain points, what you want improved, and how the job gets done today. In person across Edinburgh and the Lothians, or on Zoom from anywhere in the UK or worldwide. No charge, no obligation, and a straight answer if a website is not the thing that will help you most.
A written quote before any work
A fixed price, a list of what is included and a date, in writing, before anything starts. You agree the number first, and nothing is added to it without asking you.
Year one included
Your web address, hosting, the padlock certificate (SSL) and a business email address are part of the build. There is nothing else to pay in the first year.
Then one modest monthly fee
From the second year, one modest monthly fee covers the running costs: hosting, renewing your web address and the padlock certificate. Ongoing updates and changes are available as part of management and maintenance, quoted to fit. Month to month, with no contract, and the site is yours either way.
How this compares
Each of these is the right answer for somebody: an agency suits a large site with a marketing team behind it, and a page builder suits someone who enjoys doing the work themselves. This is what the three look like side by side.
| What you get | Page builder | Agency | WebLothian |
|---|---|---|---|
| A free consultation before you commit | No | Sometimes or at extra cost | Yes |
| A written quote before any work starts | No | Yes | Yes |
| Affordable to get started | Yes | No | Yes |
| Written for your business, not a template | No | Yes | Yes |
| Search and Google Business Profile set up for you | No | Yes | Yes |
| Web address, hosting and email included for the first year | No | Sometimes or at extra cost | Yes |
| Changes made for you after launch | No | Sometimes or at extra cost | Yes |
| Booking, reminders and AI when you need them | Sometimes or at extra cost | Sometimes or at extra cost | Yes |
| You deal directly with the person who builds it | No | No | Yes |
| Meet face to face, locally | No | Sometimes or at extra cost | Yes |
| You own the site and can take it elsewhere | No | Sometimes or at extra cost | Yes |
| The cheapest overall | Sometimes or at extra cost | No | Sometimes or at extra cost |
| Live in an afternoon if needed | Yes | No | Sometimes or at extra cost |
What you pay
- Page builder
- A monthly subscription for as long as the site exists.
- Agency
- A large fee up front, often with a monthly fee you are tied into on top.
- WebLothian
- A written quote after a free consultation, kept affordable on purpose. Nothing more to pay in year one, then one modest monthly fee to cover the running costs (hosting and your web address).
Why keep it affordable
The technology a small business is expected to keep up with keeps moving: a site that works on a phone, online booking, reminders that cut no-shows, and now AI. A large competitor can pay an agency to keep pace. A cafe in Musselburgh or a garage in Livingston usually cannot, and being left behind happens slowly and is very hard to reverse.
WebLothian exists to close that gap for businesses in Edinburgh and the Lothians. Ben keeps the cost low deliberately, so a local business gets the same tools as a chain, built properly, by the person who answers the phone when you ring about it.
Affordable is not the same as cheapest. A page builder will cost less if you are happy doing the work yourself, and if that suits your business you will be told so at the consultation. Affordable here means a fair, fixed price for work done properly, agreed in writing before anything starts.
Included in the first year
The build covers everything needed to be online. There is nothing else to buy in year one.
- your web address (the domain name)
- hosting
- the padlock certificate (SSL)
- a business email address
No setup fee, no monthly fee you are tied into, no fee to leave. If you leave, the site and your web address go with you.
Why keep it affordable? WebLothian is one person, not an agency, so there is no sales team or office to pay for. And the point of the business is to help local firms keep up with the digital and AI age rather than be left behind by it, which a price only bigger businesses can pay would defeat.
Questions about cost
How much does a small business website cost?
For a small business website in Edinburgh or the Lothians it depends on how many pages the site needs and what it has to do, which is why every job is quoted in writing rather than from a price list. WebLothian is affordable on purpose. Websites, online booking and now AI are moving fast, and too many local businesses in Edinburgh and the Lothians are either priced out by agencies or stuck on a do-it-yourself page builder that cannot do what they need. Keeping the cost low is how WebLothian helps them keep up rather than get left behind. Businesses in Edinburgh and the Lothians also get a heavily discounted local rate: they are on Ben's doorstep, so there is no travel to cover, every meeting can be face to face, and helping them is the reason WebLothian exists. Every job starts with a free consultation and a written quote before any work begins. Your web address (domain), hosting (where your site lives), an SSL certificate (the padlock in the address bar) and a business email address are included free for the first year, and after that one modest monthly fee covers the running costs (hosting and your web address), month to month, with no contract. If a page builder would do the job for less, you will be told so.
Do local businesses get a discount?
Yes. Businesses in Edinburgh and the Lothians get a heavily discounted local rate. You are on my doorstep, so there is no travel to pay for and the meetings happen face to face, and helping local businesses keep up is the reason WebLothian exists. There is no published figure for it, the same as everything else here: your written quote after the free consultation is simply worked out at the local rate. Businesses elsewhere in the UK and worldwide are just as welcome over Zoom, and are quoted fairly in the usual way.
Do I need to buy a web address (domain) and hosting myself?
No. Both are set up for you and included in the build for the first year, then covered by one modest monthly fee for the running costs afterwards, month to month. Your web address is registered in your business name, so it is yours regardless of who looks after the site later.
Who owns the website when it is finished?
You do. Your web address is in your business name, the site is yours, and there is no contract holding either hostage. If you want to move to another developer, everything goes with you.
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