Website tips
Should You Put Prices on Your Website?
Key takeaways
- Ranges beat mystery: “From £X” for common jobs filters tyre-kickers and builds trust before the call.
- Hide when scope swings: Bespoke or highly variable work can stay quote-only if you explain why clearly.
- Quality over volume: Showing prices often means fewer junk enquiries, not fewer serious ones.
- One prices page: Keep ranges in one place so you can update them without hunting every service page.
Ask a plumber, electrician, accountant, or salon owner whether to publish prices and you will get a split room. One side says prices scare people away. The other says silence sends customers to whoever gives them a number first.
For most UK local businesses, a clear “from £X” or a simple range beats a mystery. You are not locking yourself into every job. You are helping the right people enquire and the wrong people move on.
When showing prices helps
Show indicative prices when the job is familiar enough that customers shop around before they call. Boiler services, call-out fees, bookkeeping packages, haircut menus, and standard install ranges all fit.
- Common, repeatable jobs: customers already have a mental budget and want a ballpark.
- Price-sensitive local markets: if competitors publish ranges, silence looks evasive.
- You want fewer tyre-kickers: published ranges filter people who only want the cheapest option.
Trades and shops often see better enquiry quality after adding “from” prices, not fewer enquiries. People who still call know roughly what to expect.
When to keep it quote-only
Keep full pricing off the page when the final figure swings wildly until you see the site, the brief, or the paperwork. Commercial fit-outs, complex legal matters, and fully custom projects are fair game for “request a quote”.
- Scope can change by a factor of several times between jobs.
- You need a conversation to qualify safety, access, or compliance before any number is honest.
- Say why it is quote-only in one sentence, then make calling or booking easy.
Quote-only without explanation feels like a dodge. Quote-only with a clear reason and a fast contact path still converts.
How to show prices without boxing yourself in
You do not need a fixed menu for every scenario. Use patterns that protect you and still help the visitor.
- “From £X” for standard jobs, with a line on what pushes the price up (access, parts, out-of-hours).
- Ranges (“typically £A to £B”) when averages are more honest than a low starting figure.
- Package tiers for professional services: what is included, what is extra, who each package suits.
- Call-out or attendance fees separate from labour, so emergency visitors are not surprised.
What to put on a simple prices page
One dedicated prices or “typical costs” page is easier to maintain than sprinkling numbers across every service page. Link to it from the homepage and key services.
- A short intro: these are guides, final quotes confirm after assessment.
- Your most common five to ten jobs or packages.
- What is included and what is not.
- A clear next step: call, form, or book, with the phone visible on mobile.
Update the page when rates change. Stale prices damage trust faster than no prices at all.
Want a site that shows the right prices in the right places? Get in touch, see Foundation pricing, or read what a plumber website should include and websites for professional services.