What's Actually Included in a $499 Website?

The most common question people ask before buying a website redesign is "what do I actually get?" Fair question. The web design industry has a habit of listing features that sound impressive but don't mean much to someone who just wants a working site.

This is a line-by-line breakdown of what our $499 website redesign includes, what it doesn't, and why we made those choices.

What's Included

Up to 5 pages

Home, About, Services, Contact, plus one more of your choice. Most small businesses need exactly these pages. The fifth page is flexible — some use it for a gallery, some for a specific service, some for an FAQ.

If you need more, extra pages are $99 each, up to 3 additional. That caps the maximum at 8 pages for $796. If you need more than 8 pages, you probably need a different type of project.

Mobile-first design

The site is designed for phones first, then adapted up to desktop. Not the other way around.

This matters because 62-64% of web traffic is mobile (Statista, 2025). For local service businesses, it's higher — 72% of emergency plumbing searches and 56% of general home service searches happen on mobile (Amra and Elma, Zipdo via Invoca).

Google completed mobile-first indexing in July 2024, meaning the mobile version is what determines your search rankings. A site that looks good on desktop but bad on mobile will rank lower.

SSL certificate

The padlock icon in the browser bar. Without it, Chrome displays "Not Secure" next to your URL.

85% of users abandon sites with security warnings (Trustico). Google made HTTPS a ranking signal in August 2014. SSL is free through Let's Encrypt and we include it with every site.

Contact form (tested)

We set up a contact form and test it before handing off the site. The test is important — contact forms break more often than people realize. WordPress plugin conflicts, email authentication requirements (SPF/DKIM/DMARC), hosting configuration changes — all of these can make a form show "Thank you" while the email goes nowhere.

For a service business with a $3,000 average job, 5 missed form inquiries per month is $15,000 in unrealized revenue (Herald Advocate).

Click-to-call button

A phone number in the header that mobile visitors can tap to call. Visible without scrolling, on every page.

Phone calls convert at 25-40% vs contact forms at 2-5% (Retreaver). 60% of customers prefer to call (Small Biz Trends). Click-to-call in the header produces up to 200% higher mobile conversions vs a phone number in the footer (Cube Creative).

Google Maps embed

An embedded map showing your business location on the Contact page. Helps visitors find you and sends local relevance signals to Google. 76% of local searchers visit a business within 24 hours (Google) — the map makes it easier for them to actually get there.

SEO fundamentals

Meta titles and descriptions for every page. Proper heading structure (H1, H2, H3). A sitemap submitted to Google Search Console.

This isn't a full SEO strategy — it's the technical foundation that makes it possible for Google to understand and rank your pages. 70% of small businesses have no SEO strategy at all (PR Newswire). The basics we set up put you ahead of most of them.

25% of small business websites don't even have H1 tags (Ahrefs via Plumbing Webmasters). We handle the structural stuff so you don't have to think about it.

Google Analytics

Google Analytics 4 installed and configured. Tracks visitors, traffic sources, and page views. We also set up contact form submissions as conversion events so you can see which traffic sources actually generate leads, not just visits.

30-day money-back guarantee

If you're not satisfied with the result within 30 days of delivery, you get a full refund.

What's NOT Included

Being upfront about this matters more than the features list.

E-commerce

No online stores, shopping carts, or product catalogs. If you sell products online, you need Shopify or a custom e-commerce build, which is a different kind of project with different pricing.

Booking or scheduling systems

Online appointment booking is a $199 add-on. It's not in the base price because not every business needs it, and adding it increases complexity and cost. Dentists and salons usually want it. Plumbers and roofers usually don't.

Ongoing SEO

We set up the technical SEO foundation. We don't do monthly SEO work — keyword research, content strategy, link building, ranking monitoring. That's an ongoing service that agencies charge $500-2,000/month for. It's a different business model.

Content writing

You provide your business information — services offered, hours, service area, about your company. We build the site with that information. We don't write marketing copy or blog posts. If you have an existing website, we can pull content from it.

More than 5 pages

The base price covers 5 pages. Additional pages are $99 each, maximum 3 extra. Anything beyond 8 pages needs a custom quote.

Blog setup

The $499 covers your core business pages. A blog with posts, categories, and ongoing content is a separate project. For most local service businesses, the core pages (Home, About, Services, Contact) matter more than a blog anyway.

WordPress

We don't build on WordPress. The sites we deliver are modern static sites — faster, more secure, no plugins to maintain, no monthly updates to worry about.

WordPress maintenance averages $246/month (WPBeginner). By not using WordPress, you avoid that entirely. The tradeoff is that making changes to a static site requires more technical knowledge than logging into WordPress. If you need frequent self-service edits, WordPress might be a better fit — just not through us.

What it costs after delivery

Nothing to us. You own the site.

Your ongoing costs:

• Domain renewal: ~$12/year (you should already own your domain)
• Hosting: $0-20/month depending on the platform
• Business email: $7/month for Google Workspace if you want name@yourbusiness.com

No monthly fee, no retainer, no subscription. You own everything.

The comparison

Here's how this stacks up against other options in Houston:

| | $499 Redesign | Freelancer ($1,500-8,000) | Agency ($5,000-50,000+) | |---|---|---|---| | Pages | 5 included | Varies | Varies | | Timeline | 5-7 days | 2-8 weeks | 2-6 months | | Mobile-first | Yes | If the theme supports it | Yes | | SSL | Included | Sometimes | Yes | | Click-to-call | Included | If you ask | Yes | | SEO basics | Included | Varies | Yes + ongoing strategy | | Analytics | Installed | Sometimes | Yes + reporting | | Ongoing fees | None | None (but $246/mo WP maintenance) | $500-2,000/mo retainer | | Guarantee | 30-day refund | Varies | Varies | | You own it | Yes | Yes (usually) | Yes (usually) |

For the full pricing breakdown across all options, see How Much Does a Website Redesign Cost in Houston?.

Who this is for

The $499 redesign fits businesses that need a professional web presence without the agency price or DIY time investment. Typically that's local service businesses with fewer than 20 employees — plumbers, dentists, restaurants, landscapers, HVAC companies, law offices, salons.

82% of Houston-area businesses have fewer than 20 employees (Houston.org). Most of them need exactly what this package delivers: a fast, mobile-friendly site with a phone number people can tap, a form that works, and enough SEO to get indexed properly.

If you need e-commerce, complex booking systems, or ongoing marketing strategy, an agency is a better fit. If you want to build it yourself, Squarespace or Wix will work. But if you want it done this week, with no ongoing costs, for a flat price you know upfront — this is what we do.

Check your current site first

Run the free website audit. 30+ checks, score in 60 seconds, no email required for instant results. If your current site scores well, you might not need a redesign at all.