Showing Prices on a Service Business Website

Why showing prices helps

In its article State the Price to Give B2B Sites a Competitive Advantage, Nielsen Norman Group (NN/g) says prospective customers want to know the price "as their #1 info need on any website", and that "participants go to competitors' sites when websites do not show prices".

The same article gives three reasons buyers need even a rough figure:

• Price tells them whether they are in the right category. A very low or very high figure tells a visitor quickly whether you are the kind of supplier they are looking for.
• Price is part of every comparison. Without it, people cannot weigh one supplier against another.
• Price is needed for planning. Budgets are set months ahead, and the article notes that "the exact cost isn't critical; having even ballpark figures helps in the planning phase".

What to show when every job is different

Most service businesses cannot publish one fixed price, and they do not need to. NN/g's advice is to show "prices for typical scenarios, price range, or manufacturer's suggested retail price". Practical options:

• Worked examples. Describe two or three typical jobs and what each cost, with what was included. In Show Prices for Common Scenarios, Jakob Nielsen uses a gardening service as an example: it "could give service prices for a few typical lots so users could get an approximate idea of what they'd pay".
• A range, with what moves it. State the range and list the factors that put a job at the low or high end. Our guide to what a website costs is built this way: it explains the cost drivers rather than one number.
• A unit or day rate. If you charge by the hour, day, page or square metre, say so and say what usually determines how many units a job needs.
• Fixed packages. If some work really is standard, a few clearly defined packages with a list of what each includes are easy to compare.

Be careful with price calculators. NN/g reports that "most pricing tools proved complex, time-consuming, and error prone" in its studies. A short table of sample prices usually serves early research better. Put the next step right after the prices, a contact link or a request for a quote, as covered in our guide to landing page basics.

UK rules: the total price up front

If you sell to consumers in the UK, price display is governed by the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024. The CMA's guidance Providing clear and accurate information about prices (CMA209) explains what it means in practice. The main points for a service website:

• A page on your website counts. When you tell a customer about a product and its price, that is normally an "invitation to purchase", and the CMA lists "a page on your website" among its forms. It does not need a buy button.
• Show the total price, including mandatory charges. The total "should normally include any unavoidable or 'mandatory' charges", such as booking fees and VAT. Listing them separately "will not normally be enough to comply with the law".
• If you cannot calculate the total, explain how it is worked out. When the price depends on the customer's requirements, you "must give the customer the information they need to be able to calculate the total price themselves", as prominently as the part you can calculate, normally right next to it.
• Ongoing services. For a rolling monthly contract, show the full monthly price. For a minimum term, show either the total for the whole contract or the monthly price with the number of months it is payable.

Hiding charges until later in the process ("drip pricing") is illegal, and the CMA notes that a business found to have broken the law could be "fined up to 10% of your turnover, or £300,000, whichever is greater" and ordered to compensate customers. Our guide to avoiding dark patterns covers drip pricing alongside other tricks regulators look for.

VAT for business and consumer customers

Many agencies and trades quote prices without VAT. Whether that is acceptable depends on who the price is addressed to. The CAP Executive's advice Compulsory costs and charges: VAT sets out three cases:

• Consumers: prices "should include VAT in the stated price". A VAT-exclusive price with a note that VAT is payable is not enough.
• Only businesses: VAT-exclusive prices are "likely to be acceptable", but make clear who the price applies to and that it excludes VAT. The advice gives examples such as "Business price: £120 + VAT@20%".
• A mix of both: give the VAT-inclusive price, at least as prominent as any VAT-exclusive price. "Ex. VAT" and "inc. VAT" alone are not enough to show who each price is for.

A service business that takes work from both individuals and companies is in the third group, so the simplest safe choice is to show the VAT-inclusive figure first.

Using "from" prices honestly

A "from" price is often the most honest way to price variable work, and the CMA allows it. Its guidance says a total price "can be an 'indicative' or 'from' price as long as it includes all applicable mandatory charges and does not mislead customers about what the price covers", and gives "photography services as being 'from £X'" as an example.

The CAP Code adds a limit. The ASA's Prices: General advice quotes rule 3.22: "from" claims "must not exaggerate the availability or amount of benefits likely to be obtained by the consumer". Its examples include a "4 nights from" holiday ad ruled misleading because only one break was available at the advertised price. For a service business that means:

• Set the "from" price at a job you actually do and would take on at that price, not a stripped-down version nobody buys.
• Say what the "from" price includes, so customers can see what would cost more.
• Do not picture or describe your most elaborate work next to a price for the simplest. The ASA advice warns against showing a "top-of-the-range or enhanced product" with the price of a lower specification.

Prices and structured data

For most service pricing pages, product markup does not fit. Google's product snippet documentation says "product rich results only support pages that focus on a single product (or multiple variants of the same product)", and recommends "adding markup to product pages instead of pages that list products or a category of products". A page comparing several service packages is a list, not a single product.

If you do mark up a price anywhere, it must match the page. Google's general structured data guidelines say "Don't mark up content that is not visible to readers of the page" and warn against marking up "irrelevant or misleading content". Google warns that a structured data issue "can result in a manual action", which removes the page's eligibility for rich results.

A checklist

• Every service page gives some price information: a fixed price, a range, a rate or worked examples.
• Each price says what it includes and what would make a job cost more.
• Mandatory charges are in the price, or the way to work them out sits right next to it.
• VAT is handled for your audience: included for consumers, clearly labelled for business-only prices.
• "From" prices match work you really do at that price.
• Monthly services show the minimum term or the total over the term.
• Structured data, if any, matches the visible prices, and someone updates both when prices change.

Frequently asked questions

What if every project is priced individually?

You can still give useful price information. Nielsen Norman Group recommends showing prices for typical scenarios or a price range. Describe two or three typical jobs and what they cost, or give a range and list what moves a job up or down it.

Can we use a 'from' price?

Yes. The CMA says a 'from' price is acceptable if it includes all mandatory charges and does not mislead about what the price covers. Under the CAP Code it must not exaggerate how often customers will actually pay that price, so base it on work you really do at that price.

Can we show prices without VAT?

Only if everyone the price is addressed to is a business that pays no VAT or can recover it, and the price is clearly labelled as a business price excluding VAT. If you also sell to consumers, the CAP Executive's advice is to give the VAT-inclusive price, at least as prominently.

Should we add Product structured data to our pricing page?

Usually not. Google says product rich results only support pages that focus on a single product, and recommends against marking up pages that list products. Any price you do mark up must also be visible on the page and kept up to date.

Planning a new website? Whoever builds it, the domain and your content should always be in your name, and our projects end with a short handover so your team can edit content. See our website development service and all our services, or email [email protected].