Real numbers from the local market, including the plans I compete against. Every row is a model you can buy today. Mine is one row, not the whole table.
| What you can buy | What it costs | Year one | Who owns the site | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Do nothing (Facebook page only) | $0 | $0 | Best if word of mouth already fills the schedule and you never want new search customers. | |
| DIY builder (Wix, Squarespace, GoDaddy) | $16 to $50 per month | $200 to $600 | You rent it | Best if you have the free evenings and the patience, and nobody needs to find you on Google soon. |
| Monthly membership plans (local website subscriptions) | $269 to $599 per month | $3,228 to $7,188 | The company. Stop paying and the site goes offline. | Best if you want zero upfront cost and you are fine renting forever. |
| Local agencies | $500 to $5,000 one time, often plus monthly | Varies wide | Depends. Ask the ownership question below. | Best if you have a bigger budget and want a team on it. |
| EpochSEO (this shop) | $600 to $1,500, once | $600 to $1,500 total | You. Site, code, and domain. | Best if you want to see the finished site before paying, own it outright, and never get a monthly bill for your own name. |
Figures are published prices in this market as of September 2026. Bands move; the models do not. The five mistakes behind most of these bills are on the why a site page.
When I came into this space I did what I tell every owner to do: I read every published price in the Grand Rapids market, the plans I compete against included. Cold, hard, and current as of September 2026. Nothing below is an estimate. Every figure was printed on a seller's own page when I pulled it.
Three local voices agree on the bands: freelancers $1,000 to $8,000 one-time, agencies $3,000 to $35,000 and up with retainers, do-it-yourself builders $200 to $600 a year. Not one one-time build in this market is published under $999. Everything cheaper than that is rent, and every rental passes my Simple price between the third and the tenth month, then keeps going.
So here is where I sit. $650 to $1,500, once. The domain in your name. The things sold above as add-ons, titles and descriptions, the Business Profile, Search Console, are part of the build, because a site nobody can find is not finished. If you want to check any number here, the cost page has the table and the ownership question to ask everyone, me included.
Ask it before you sign anything, including with me. My answer: nothing happens. You already own it. That is the whole point of paying once.
One local membership plan puts it in writing: the site "will become offline" until you reactivate, and it "cannot be transferred to another provider." Read the fine print anywhere you shop, then decide which door you want.