Should you show your prices on your website?.

Plenty of small businesses keep their prices off their website. The thinking goes: if people have to get in touch to find out the cost, you get the chance to talk them round. Sometimes that works. More often, people who can't find a price simply leave and ring the next business on the list.

Here's how we think about it, based on the sites we build for local businesses around Norwich and Norfolk.

Why businesses hide their prices

The reasons are usually reasonable ones:

• Every job is different. A builder or a surveyor can't give one number that fits everyone.
• Fear of competitors. Nobody likes the idea of a rival undercutting them by a fiver.
• Fear of scaring people off. A price without context can look high.
• Wanting the conversation. Some owners are brilliant on the phone and want every lead to start there.

All fair. But each one has a cost that's easy to miss, because you never see the people who gave up.

What hiding prices actually costs you

When someone lands on your site, they're usually trying to answer one question: can I afford this? If they can't answer it, three things tend to happen.

1. They leave. Most people won't pick up the phone just to find out whether you're in their budget.
2. The ones who do get in touch ask the same thing. You spend your evenings replying to "how much is it?" emails.
3. Some enquiries were never going to work. You only discover the budget mismatch after a call or a site visit.

A visible price doesn't scare off good customers. It saves you from the ones who were never going to buy.

What we saw with Jacked Personal Training

Jack runs Jacked Personal Training from Phoenix Gym in Norwich. Before his site, most clients found him through social media and word of mouth, and there was nowhere to see his packages, prices or past results in one place. So every new enquiry started with the same questions.

We built his site so every package shows its price up front. People know the cost before they get in touch, and when they do enquire, the form arrives with their chosen package already filled in. Jack starts the conversation knowing what the person wants and that they've already seen the price. That's a much better first message than "how much do you charge?"

When every job really is different

"My prices depend on too many things" is the most common objection, and it's a real one. But it usually means you need a smarter way to show prices, not no prices at all.

NR Surveyors, a RICS regulated firm in Norwich, is a good example. Survey pricing depends on the survey level, the age and type of property, the number of bedrooms and how far it is from Norwich. That normally means a phone call or a few emails before anyone can book.

We built them a booking system where home buyers get an instant price for their own property, sign the engagement letter and pay online, without a phone call. Because prices are worked out from real rules, the server calculates the quote again before taking payment, so nobody can tamper with it.

You don't need anything that involved to start. Some lighter options:

• "From" prices. "Kitchen fitting from £X" sets expectations without promising a fixed figure.
• Typical job examples. "A three bedroom semi usually costs between £X and £Y."
• Packages or tiers. Group your work into two or three clear options.
• A simple calculator. A few questions that give a rough figure, with a proper quote to follow.

When it makes sense to keep prices off

There are cases where a published price really doesn't help:

• Large bespoke projects where the scope only becomes clear after a proper conversation.
• Premium services sold on relationship, where the first meeting is part of what you're selling.
• Prices that change weekly with material or supplier costs, and you can't keep the site up to date.

Even then, say something. Explain what affects the cost, give a minimum project size, or describe what a typical client spends. Silence reads as "expensive" or "evasive", and neither helps you.

Getting the presentation right

Give the price some context

A number on its own invites comparison. A number next to what's included, how long it takes and who it suits invites trust. List what's in the package, and what isn't.

Keep it up to date

An old price is worse than no price. If a customer turns up expecting last year's rate, you start the job on the back foot. Make sure you, or whoever looks after your site, can change prices quickly. On the NR Surveyors site, the firm's price changes have been handled for them since launch, so the site never drifts out of date.

Link the price to the next step

Put a clear button beside each price: book, enquire or get a quote. If you can, pass the chosen option into the form so the customer doesn't have to repeat themselves.

The best pricing page answers the question before it's asked, then makes the next step obvious.

The short version

Most local service businesses do better with some form of visible pricing. It filters out poor fits, cuts down repetitive emails and gives serious customers the confidence to get in touch. The exact approach depends on how your work is priced, but "call us for a quote" on its own is rarely the best you can do.