One question decides it: how much work should your website actually do? Here's each tier side by side, with real prices and real timelines.
Choose a Simple Site ($4,999) if you mainly need to look credible, load fast, and be found locally. Choose a Custom Site ($7,999) if you're competing for the top spot and need a one-of-one design with content built to be cited by search and AI answers. Choose a Smart Site ($15,000) if the website itself should do the work — booking, quoting, intake, and AI answering, with a real back end behind it.
| Compare | Simple Site | Custom SiteMost popular | Smart Site |
|---|---|---|---|
| Own it | From $4,999 one-time | From $7,999 one-time | From $15,000 one-time |
| Lease-to-own it | $1,500 down + $100/mo × 36 | $2,500 down + $200/mo × 36 | $5,000 down + $500/mo × 36 |
| Ongoing after payoff | None required | None required | $297/mo tech stack subscription |
| Typical timeline | About 1 week | 4–6 weeks | 4–6 weeks |
| Best for | Trades and shops that need to look legitimate now | Businesses competing head-to-head for local search | Teams drowning in phone tag, quotes, and scheduling |
| Design | Refined layout tailored to your trade and colors | Designed from scratch — nobody else has it | Everything in Custom, plus interface design for the tools |
| Content | Copy written for your trade, not template filler | Written in your voice for the customer you want | Custom copy plus sections that update themselves |
| Search & AI answers | Local schema, fast pages, and clean structure | Service and town pages structured to be cited by AI answers | Everything in Custom, plus live data that keeps pages fresh |
| Back end | None — front-end design and content only | Light dynamic content where it helps | Full back end: databases, APIs, automations, integrations |
| Automation | Contact form to your inbox | Forms routed where you want them | Booking, quoting, intake, AI chat, and CRM handoff |
| Pages | Up to 10 | Up to 100 | Thousands |
| You get the code | Yes — at launch, or at 36-month payoff | Yes — at launch, or at 36-month payoff | Yes — at launch, or at 36-month payoff |
Every tier ships with LocalBusiness Schema, FAQPage Schema, and green Core Web Vitals. Custom and Smart add content structured for AEO and GEO.
A DIY site builder is the right call if you have time to learn it, no competitors bidding on your keywords, and a simple 3-page site. Hire a studio when your website has to bring in work: you get original design, local search and AI-answer optimization, copy written for your trade, and code you can host anywhere. DIY costs $200 to $500 a year plus your evenings; a built site starts at $4,999 owned or $1,500 down plus $100 a month leased.
| Compare | Doing it yourself | Hollister Websites |
|---|---|---|
| Real cost | $200–$500/yr in subscriptions, plus 40–80 hours of your own time | From $4,999 owned, or $1,500 + $100/mo leased — your hours stay in the business |
| Design | A theme thousands of other businesses also bought | Built for your trade — nobody else in San Benito County has it |
| Local search | Basic title tags; local intent is on you to figure out | Local schema, town pages, service pages, and internal linking done for you |
| AI answers | Usually unstructured, so assistants skip or paraphrase you | FAQ and business schema so ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI can cite you |
| Speed | Heavy builder scripts; mobile scores often suffer | Hand-built and image-optimized for fast mobile loads |
| Copywriting | Placeholder text you rewrite yourself at midnight | Written in your voice for the customer you actually want |
| Portability | Locked to the platform — you can't export a working site | Owned builds ship the full source code; host it anywhere |
| When it breaks | A support chat queue and community forums | You email or call us and reach a person in San Benito County |
| Best for | A hobby, a side project, or a placeholder while you decide | A business whose phone needs to ring |
Choose a Simple Site ($4,999) if you mainly need to look credible, load fast, and be found locally. Choose a Custom Site ($7,999) if you're competing for the top spot and need a one-of-one design with content built to be cited by search and AI answers. Choose a Smart Site ($15,000) if the website itself should do the work — booking, quoting, intake, and AI answering, with a real back end behind it.
Owned: Simple from $4,999, Custom from $7,999, Smart from $15,000, one time, with the source code delivered at launch. Leased: $1,500 down plus $100/mo, $2,500 down plus $200/mo, or $5,000 down plus $500/mo, with hosting and support included.
A Simple Site is typically live in about a week. Custom and Smart Sites run 4 to 6 weeks depending on how much content, photography, and back-end work is involved.
Yes, and most businesses should. We build Simple Sites on the same foundation, so moving up to Custom or Smart means extending what's there rather than starting over. You're credited for what you already paid on a lease buyout.
No. A Simple Site is front-end design and content — pages, copy, images, and a contact form. Databases, logins, booking systems, and automations are part of a Smart Site.
All 3 ship with local schema, fast mobile pages, and clean structure. Custom and Smart go further with service pages, town pages targeting San Benito County, and FAQ structure built to be quoted by AI answer engines.
Custom is the most common choice. It's the point where the design is genuinely yours and the content is structured to compete, without paying for automation a smaller operation may not need yet.