The trouble with a cheap website is that work not covered by the initial fee shows up as an extra charge after launch. Before you sign, check seven things: the monthly fee, edits, additional pages, maintenance and search optimization. Compare not by the lowest initial fee, but by the total you will pay over three years and the scope of work included, and you can avoid disappointment.
Low prices are low because less work is included
Website production becomes cheap because the scope of the work is narrowed. Initial costs can be reduced by cutting staff hours, using templates, asking the client to supply the copy, and charging separately for support after launch.
There is nothing wrong with that in itself. The problem is signing a contract without knowing what is and is not included, and only noticing the costs after the site goes live.
As a baseline for comparison, keep the following market figures in mind. According to a survey by Web Kanji, when a small or medium-sized company commissions a website, the cost averages 1.044 million yen, with a median of 573,000 yen. Low-cost production brings the initial fee far below this level, so you need to look at which parts of the work have been left out.
Seven costs that often appear later
Costs usually increase after launch in the following seven situations. All of them can be prevented by asking for the amounts before you sign.
1. Monthly fees
Even if the initial fee is low, a high monthly fee will reverse the total within a few years. Monthly fees often cover the server, domain, maintenance and update requests, and you cannot compare them unless the breakdown appears in the quotation.
2. Domain and server renewal fees
The domain, which serves as your website's address, and the server that holds the data both carry annual renewal fees. Some contracts are free for the first year and start charging from the second. Ask about the amounts from the second year onward at the time of signing.
3. Charges for editing text and photos
Some companies charge per instance for editing text or photos after launch. Changes to business hours or prices are inevitable. Check how many edits are free, or whether each one is billed.
4. Charges for adding pages
This is the cost of adding pages beyond the number agreed at the outset. As your business grows, service pages and case study pages will multiply. Ask about the cost per additional page before signing.
5. Preparing copy and photos
Low-cost production often assumes that the client supplies the copy and photos. If you have never written such material, it can take several weeks to finish. Taking new photos or buying stock images adds further costs.
6. Maintenance and security costs
WordPress and its plugins are updated continuously. Leaving them un-updated can break the layout or leave security weaknesses in place. With a contract that excludes maintenance, you may end up paying a high price for help only after trouble strikes.
7. Search optimization costs
Even when a quote says “SEO included,” the substance may be nothing more than setting titles and descriptions. Check whether the measures you need to attract visitors are included, such as page structure, adding articles and structured data.
Ten questions to ask at the quotation stage
Ask the company the following ten questions before signing. A company that answers in writing is far less likely to leave you with discrepancies later.
- What work is included in the initial fee?
- What work is included in the monthly fee?
- How much are the domain and server fees from the second year onward?
- How many text or photo edits after launch are free?
- How much does it cost to add one page?
- Who writes the copy? Is an interview included?
- Who prepares the photos and other materials?
- Are maintenance and backups included?
- Is smartphone display supported as standard?
- What are the costs and procedures if you cancel the contract?
Compare the total cost over three years
Rather than comparing only the initial fee, calculate the total you will pay over three years.
| Item | Company A (low initial fee) | Company B (low monthly fee) |
|---|---|---|
| Upfront cost | Low | High |
| Monthly fee | High | Low |
| Cost of edits | Charged per instance | Free within the agreed scope |
| Adding pages | Charged per page | Scope can be discussed |
| Maintenance | Charged separately | Included in the monthly fee |
| Three-year total | Grows easily with edits and added pages | Little increase beyond the initial fee |
To apply this to your own company, calculate as follows.
- Write down the initial fee
- Multiply the monthly fee by 36
- Multiply the number of edits you expect per year by the cost per edit and by three
- Multiply the number of pages you want to add per year by the cost per page and by three
- Add the four figures together
Run this calculation and you will see that the company with the lowest initial fee is not necessarily the cheapest overall.
How to choose a low-cost option without regrets
When you want to keep costs down, there are ways to choose that make failure less likely.
Choose a company that makes the included work clear
When the quotation states what is and is not included, discrepancies over costs after launch are far less likely.
Choose a company whose monthly fee covers operation
If the monthly fee covers the server, SSL, backups, WordPress updates and edit requests, you will rarely face extra charges after launch.
Choose a company whose writing process is visible
Even in low-cost production, the copy determines the quality. Check who writes it and how.
How Merci Ltd. thinks about costs
Merci Ltd. separates costs across two production approaches. The AI-led site-factory starts at 30,000 yen initially and 7,000 yen per month (excluding tax). The monthly fee covers the work needed to run the site after launch, including server and SSL fees, daily backups, and weekly updates of WordPress itself and its plugins. The copy is written by feeding over 20 years of sales-writing technique into AI skills, then checked by human eyes before publication.
Creator-led custom production starts at 250,000 yen initially (around 5 pages), 500,000 yen (around 10 pages) or 800,000 yen (around 20 pages), with a monthly fee from 3,000 yen. The monthly fee covers daily backups and weekly updates, plus unlimited edits to page content through your account page. Adding fixed pages and design changes such as colors, typefaces and layout are not included in the monthly fee; we discuss these with you and provide a quotation.
What to put in writing before signing
Anything agreed verbally can cause disputes later. Ask for the following items to be stated in the quotation or the contract.
- A list of the work included in the initial fee and a list of what is not included
- A breakdown of the monthly fee: server, domain, maintenance and edit requests, each itemized
- The contract term and the cost of cancelling partway through
- The planned launch date and what happens if it is delayed
- The maximum number of edits and the price per edit beyond that limit
- The price for additional pages
What you can do yourself to keep costs down
The quotation drops when you reduce the work left to the production company. The following tasks are easy to handle yourself.
- Draft the information you want to publish as bullet points: company overview, service details, your approach to pricing, and frequently asked questions
- Gather photos. Even photos taken on a smartphone work if they are shot in a bright location
- Pick three websites you want to use as references and write down what you like about them
- Decide which items you will update after launch. Will you update only the news section yourself, or the price list too?
Preparing this much shortens meetings and reduces the production side's workload. On the other hand, writing the copy and designing the angle take time if you are not used to it, so these are areas worth paying for. Separate what you will cut from what you will keep, and discuss the quotation on that basis.
A sample format for comparing two quotations side by side
Two quotations become comparable once you line them up under the same headings. In the left column, list research, copy, design, materials, form setup, maintenance, edits and added pages; in the right columns, mark each company as “included,” “charged separately (amount)” or “not included.” Ask the company about any blanks. Simply building this table reveals which differences in work account for the difference in price.
FAQ
Not necessarily. In most cases the cost is kept down by narrowing the scope of work, so judge by whether the work included is enough for your own goals.
It depends on the scope of work the monthly fee covers. Even with a low monthly fee, the total will swell if edits and backups are charged separately.
When the initial fee is zero, the monthly fee tends to be set higher, and the contract may require you to stay on for a fixed period. Check the contract term and what happens if you cancel partway through.
The three-year total and the scope of work included. Line those two up and the differences hidden behind the initial fee come into view.
Put the ten questions above to the company. In particular, focus on whether copywriting, edits and maintenance are included.
Full pricing details are available on the Pricing & Plans page
Keeping costs down and getting results can go together. The shortcut is to compare the included work side by side in a list. The prices of our two plans and the work covered by the monthly fee are summarized on the Pricing & Plans page.
