THE SHORT ANSWER
Plan for two numbers: building the site once, and keeping it online every month. Get both in writing before you start, along with who owns the site and the domain if you leave. At Ruberio that's $990 for the site, after a $49 preview that comes off the price, then $10 a month for hosting or $149 a month with changes included.
The two numbers
Every quote splits into a one-time price for building the site and a monthly price for keeping it running. Ask about each part, whoever builds your site.
| Part | What it covers | Ask this | At Ruberio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Building the site (one-time) | Design, pages, the words, setup on your domain | Is the price fixed before work starts? | $990, after a $49 preview that comes off the price |
| Your domain (yearly) | yourcompany.com | Whose name is it registered in? | Included up to $29 a year. Moved to your name within 5 business days of asking (a new domain after its first 60 days), included in your plan |
| Hosting (monthly) | Keeping the site online, fast and secure | What does leaving cost? | $10 a month. Cancel with 1 month's notice |
| Changes (per change or monthly) | New prices, photos, towns, seasonal notes | Is a change billed, or included? | From $39 a change on hosting. On the $149 plan, 6 small changes a month are included |
| Your own time (once) | Photos, answers about your services and area | How much of the work is mine? | A short call and your photos |
The monthly number is where surprises hide. A low build price with a high monthly fee can cost more over three years than the other way around. Add the build price to 36 months of the monthly fee, and compare that number, not the headline.
What the one-time price should cover
The build price should get you a finished site on your own domain, not a starting point you still have to fill in.
- Every page you agreed on, written for your services and the towns you work in
- A way to reach you from the first screen of a phone: a number that dials, and a quote or contact button
- A contact form that actually arrives in your inbox
- Setup on your domain, with the secure padlock
At Ruberio, the website price covers every page in your preview, a contact form for quote requests, and your own dashboard to see what comes in. Add-ons are separate and listed with their prices on our pricing page. Right now there is one: your site in a second language.
You also see the site before you pay for it. The $49 preview is a real site at a private link. If you buy, the $49 comes off the price. If you don't, the preview goes offline after 14 days and you owe nothing more.
What the monthly price should cover
Hosting keeps the site online, fast and secure. Changes are the part that varies most from one designer to the next, so ask how they're billed.
There are two common setups: you pay per change, or you pay a bigger monthly fee with changes included. Neither is better. It depends on how often something on your site changes.
- Hosting, $10 a month. Changes we make for you have fixed prices: small ones like new hours or prices $39, medium ones like a rewritten section $89, large ones like a new page $249. You see the price before we start.
- Hosting + care, $149 a month. Up to 6 small changes a month are included (a medium one counts as two), done within one business day. Unused changes don't roll over.
A quick way to choose: count the changes you'd have made last year. A handful a year means hosting. Something new most weeks means care. Hosting starts a month after you buy the site, and you can move to care later if you find yourself changing a lot. The full list is on Pricing.
The cost of your own time
The price that's missing from most quotes is your own hours: writing texts, chasing a designer, sending photos twice.
Ask how much of the work lands on you. With us it's a short call about your services and your area, and your photos, which you can send from your phone. Your preview is at your link 48 hours after your photos and our call. If it isn't, you get your $49 back and you still get your preview. Each step is on How it works.
What to get in writing
Before you pay anyone, get these six answers in writing. A designer who won't put them down on paper has answered already.
- The full price for the site, fixed before any work starts
- What is not included, and what each extra costs
- Who owns the design and the code once you've paid
- In whose name the domain is registered, and how you get it
- How to cancel, how much notice, and what you keep
- What one change costs after launch
Where ours stand: What you own and Pricing.
What our research found
What the money buys matters more than the number. A website doesn't fill a route by itself; what it can do is answer the questions a customer has before they call. Three findings from our studies of Florida pool service websites:
- 1 in 10 sites shows a phone visitor no phone number and no call, quote or contact button on the first screen (11 of 114 sites listed on Google Maps in four Florida metros). Study No. 01, Conversion Index
- About 8 in 100 let a customer book, log in or pay online (15 of 186 sites we crawled). Study No. 03, Digital Maturity
- Three in four show no price for service. Of the 21 sites that show a weekly price, the median starts at $140 a month. Study No. 04, Pricing
So before you compare prices, compare what you'd get: a site that answers those questions on a phone, or one that looks nice and leaves them open.
When to keep your site
If your current site already shows your towns, a starting price, your license number if you hold one, and a way to call you on the first screen of a phone, and it loads fast, you probably don't need a new one.
Fix what's missing first. If your designer still answers your emails and the domain is in your name, asking them for those fixes is the cheaper route. Our pool service website checklist lists the twelve things to check. If you're unsure whether you need a site at all, read website or Facebook page.
If you do want a new one, see what we build for pool service companies.
Questions
Why does a pool service website cost more than a template?
You pay for the words, the photos and the setup, not the template. A template is a starting point. Someone still has to write your services, your towns and your prices, and connect your domain.
What happens to my site if I stop paying for hosting?
That depends on your contract, which is why it belongs in writing. At Ruberio, the design and the code are yours once you've paid for the site. Give 1 month's notice and we hand over your files and your domain. The site stays up until your notice period ends.
Is the $49 preview extra?
No. It comes off the website price if you go ahead. If you don't, the preview goes offline after 14 days.
Is the domain included?
Yes, a new domain up to $29 a year is included in both plans. If you already have one, it stays yours and we point it to your new site.
