The hidden costs of a cheap website
A cheap website is often the correct decision. The costs that make it expensive show up in month six, not at launch.
What are the hidden costs?
Nobody responsible for it after launch, changes charged ad hoc, accounts registered in somebody else's name, and a contact form nobody monitors.
The form is the one that quietly costs the most. Enquiries stop arriving, nothing looks wrong from the outside, and the business concludes it is a slow quarter.
How do I avoid them without paying more?
Register the domain and hosting in your own name before the project starts, agree what a change costs in writing, and test the contact form yourself monthly from a phone on mobile data.
None of that requires a bigger budget. It requires asking three questions before rather than after.
Is a cheap website ever the right call?
Often. A business that needs a presence, has no integrations and will not touch the site for two years is exactly who builders are for.