After my last article on the gap between AI website builders and WordPress, several factory owners messaged me with the same question: “I agree with what you’re saying, but how much do I actually need to spend? Some quote ¥800, others ¥30,000, and you’re at ¥3,980 to ¥15,800 — that’s nearly a 4x difference. Where does it go?”
I delayed writing this for a few days, because doing it right means more than just a price list. Most website pricing articles just give you a range (templates ¥3,000-8,000, custom ¥8,000-30,000) and then say “choose based on your needs.” After reading these, you still don’t know which one will help you get customers.
Let me write it differently: I won’t talk about how much time I spend or break down my cost structure. I’ll start from the outcomes you can see — what level can your website reach with ¥3,980; what does the extra money buy with ¥7,980; why is ¥15,800 double the price. And how my solutions actually differ from competitors in the market.
After reading this, your judgment shouldn’t be “is it expensive or not” — it should be “is this money worth spending.”
¥3,980 Brand Display Package: What Level Can Your Website Reach?
Let’s start with the most basic package. The Brand Display package at ¥3,980 includes 5-8 pages, product showcase, mobile adaptation, basic SEO, FAQ module, WhatsApp button, and contact form.
The outcomes you can achieve with this package:
- When customers search your company name, they can find you on Google’s first page
- The website looks professional — not an obviously cheap template
- Mobile browsing works normally, no layout issues
- Customers can send inquiries via WhatsApp button or contact form
- You have a proper website URL to put in emails, not a 1688 store link
These three things — findable, opens properly, can send inquiries — sound simple, but many ¥800-2,000 website builds don’t even achieve these basics.
Compared to ¥800-2,000 low-cost builds, what’s the difference?
I’m not trying to disparage low-cost builders — some clients genuinely have that budget and just need something first. But you should know what they’re cutting:
| What’s Cut | Low-Cost Approach | The Consequence |
| Theme license | Free or pirated themes | No update guarantees, security vulnerability risks |
| Server | Shared hosting, tens of yuan per year | Slow speeds, same IP may have spam sites, affecting your site’s reputation |
| Mobile adaptation | Theme claims “responsive,” no testing | Layout breaks on mobile, over half of visitors leave immediately |
| Content | Client fills in themselves or template placeholders | Site goes live still showing “Lorem ipsum” |
| After-sales support | None | When problems arise, no one to call |
This kind of website isn’t “building a site” — it’s “decorating.” Painted the walls and laid the floor, but no plumbing or electricity. Looks good sitting there, but you can’t actually live in it.
What about doing it yourself with AI tools?
Honestly, in 2026, AI tools can indeed help you create a visually appealing website. But “looks about the same” and “actually works about the same” are two different things.
A website has two layers: one is what users see — whether the pages look good, whether the content is clear; the other is what users don’t see — how Google’s crawler understands your pages, whether the underlying structure is sound, whether invisible optimizations were done. Two websites can look identical on the surface, and users won’t notice the difference while browsing, but Google knows.
Within the ¥3,980 package, these “invisible but impactful” things include: how to write TDK so Google correctly understands your pages, generating and submitting a Sitemap to Google Search Console (otherwise Google may take weeks to discover you), H-tag hierarchy and URL structure affecting how search engines read your content, image compression (without it, overseas customers might wait 10+ seconds), and WordPress default configuration security risks. Users won’t proactively check these, but after launch — if Google won’t index you, if the mobile layout is awkward, if it loads slowly — the problem traces back here.
¥3,980 doesn’t buy “a website” — it buys “a website where both surface and foundation are done right.” What you build yourself with AI tools will likely only get the surface right.
Who is ¥3,980 for: Startup-stage companies that need a professional storefront first, so customers don’t think “this small company doesn’t even have a website.” Customers mainly come from existing relationships and trade shows; the website is for display purposes, not for finding new customers.
¥7,980 Google Lead Generation Package: What Does the Extra ¥4,000 Buy in Outcomes?
Jumping from ¥3,980 to ¥7,980 is a ¥4,000 difference. If you only look at the surface, both packages have similar page counts, similar product showcases, even the same templates. So where does that ¥4,000 go?
In one sentence: ¥3,980 lets customers find you when they search your company name; ¥7,980 lets customers find you when they search product keywords too.
This gap is a qualitative shift. When a customer searches “XX Company,” they already know you. When they search “Chinese hardware accessories supplier,” they’re looking for a supplier — and whether your website appears in Google results determines whether you get that inquiry.
The additional outcomes from ¥7,980, specifically:
| New Capability | What It Means for You |
| Complete Schema suite | Your website can display product prices, FAQ accordions, breadcrumb navigation in Google search results — these rich media displays can significantly improve click-through rates |
| llms.txt file | When ChatGPT, Perplexity, and other AI visit your site, they can quickly understand your content structure — most website builders don’t do this |
| Core Web Vitals optimization | PageSpeed pulled from 60 to 90+; Google explicitly uses site speed as a ranking factor — faster means higher rankings |
| Deep image compression | Convert to WebP format, reduce size by 60-70%, overseas customers don’t have to wait to open your site |
| Blog function + content structure | Not just installing a blog, but designing categories, tags, and internal link structure for you to continuously publish articles for SEO |
| RFQ inquiry form + WhatsApp floating widget | Inquiry path is designed — customers can send an inquiry right after viewing a product page, without hunting for contact info |
Compared to other website building companies, what’s the difference?
Most website building companies follow this process: build website → deliver → done. SEO is “optimize after the fact,” and AI GEO isn’t even on their radar.
My approach is different: SEO strategy is built in from day one of the build. Keyword research determines page structure, page structure determines internal link layout, internal links affect how Google understands your website. These aren’t things to “add later” — they’re designed from the foundation up. If you build the website first and then hire someone for SEO, many structural things are already hard to change.
This is the real difference between ¥7,980 and ¥3,980 — it’s not about doing a few extra things, it’s a fundamentally different approach to building. ¥3,980 is “build a website that looks good”; ¥7,980 is “build a lead generation system that can be found.”
Who is ¥7,980 for: Growth-stage companies with a foreign trade team that want the website to generate inquiries. One inquiry is worth thousands to tens of thousands — closing one deal pays for itself.
¥15,800 AI Search Optimization Package: Why Is It Double the Price?
Jumping from ¥7,980 to ¥15,800 is a ¥7,800 difference. This is the biggest jump and the easiest to challenge: “Double the price — is this an intelligence tax?”
First, let’s be clear about what ¥15,800 enables you to achieve:
The ¥7,980 Google Lead Generation package lets Google and AI “understand” your website — with Schema and llms.txt. But AI understanding you doesn’t mean AI will recommend you.
When you ask ChatGPT “recommend Chinese hardware accessories suppliers,” how does AI respond? It won’t randomly recommend a company it doesn’t recognize. AI’s prerequisite for recommendation is — it has seen this brand across multiple sources, and the information across these sources is consistent.
The additional outcomes from ¥15,800 are exactly about moving AI from “knowing you” to “trusting you” and ultimately “recommending you”:
| New Capability | What It Means for You |
| Bilingual (Chinese + English) | Not Google Translate — professional translation + localization. Global customers can browse without barriers |
| CDN global acceleration | Customers in the US, Europe, Southeast Asia all get fast loading — geographic location won’t affect experience |
| AI-readable content structure | Semantic HTML + content summaries, AI models can precisely extract your information without misreading |
| AI GEO baseline audit | Test whether your brand is mentioned when asking “recommend Chinese XX industry suppliers” across 4 AI platforms, and what’s being said — you need a baseline before you can optimize |
| Brand information consistency configuration | Unified brand name, industry, product line, and contact info (NAP: Name, Address, Phone) across all platforms — the more consistent AI sees your information, the more it trusts you |
| Knowledge panel optimization | Google Business Profile + Wikidata + LinkedIn, giving AI places to fetch your brand information |
| First month 5-8 source layering | Content placed on Zhihu, industry sites, and social platforms so AI encounters you across multiple sources |
Compared to other website building companies, what’s the difference?
To be honest, currently 99% of website builders in the market don’t know what AI GEO is. They can build your website and do SEO, but ask them “how do I get ChatGPT to mention me when it recommends suppliers?” — most can’t answer.
This isn’t a technical issue — it’s a knowledge gap. AI search is a new track that emerged in 2025-2026, and most website builders’ knowledge is still stuck at the Google SEO stage. My advantage isn’t that my technical skills are better than theirs — it’s that I researched this first, ran through the process, and know what needs to be done.
What about compared to AI website builders?
As I discussed in the previous article, AI website builders (Wix, Webflow, etc.) in 2026 can already auto-generate Schema and llms.txt — they can handle the “building a website” part. But AI GEO brand entity building — baseline audits, source layering, knowledge panel optimization, cross-platform information consistency — these aren’t things AI tools can do for you. They require someone to analyze your industry, your competitors, and AI platforms’ recommendation logic, then formulate a strategy.
Who is ¥15,800 for: Established companies with dedicated staff handling online lead generation, who see strategic value. Your competitors haven’t started AI GEO yet — you do it first, and this first-mover advantage is worth however much — by the time competitors react, AI already knows you, not them.
Why Choose Me Over Anyone Else?
After all this talk about package differences, you might still have one more question: among people who also build with WordPress and also quote ¥3,980 or ¥7,980, why you and not someone else?
I won’t dodge this — let me address it directly:
First, my background isn’t purely technical. I entered the industry through SEO and Baidu SEM, with 9 years of experience. This means when I build a website, I’m not thinking “how does the page look” — I’m thinking “can this page be found, can it generate inquiries.” Most website builders come from design or frontend development backgrounds — their strength is visual, not customer acquisition.
Second, SEO is built in from the start, not added afterward. Many factory owners have experienced this pitfall: spend thousands on a website, launch it, find Google won’t index it and there are no inquiries, then spend thousands more to hire an SEO company who says “your website structure has problems, we need to fix it” — another expense. My approach builds SEO strategy in from day one — keywords determine page structure, page structure determines internal links, internal links affect indexing and rankings. The result is “a designed lead generation system,” not “a website that needs fixing later.”
Third, AI GEO is something I’ve actively researched and implemented. You can go ask any website building company right now: “Can you make ChatGPT recommend me?” Most can’t answer. I can — because my own website already has llms.txt, Schema, and robots.txt configured for AI crawlers. I ran through the process before offering it to you.
Fourth, individually operated, no middleman markup. The money you pay directly buys my service — you’re not funding a sales team and project managers. ¥3,980 isn’t a “company quote,” it’s an “individual quote.”
Fifth, source code delivery — you’re not locked in. When the website is done, the source code is yours and the data is yours. If you want to modify it yourself, hire someone else, or move to a different server — you can. I won’t use “I have your data” to hold you hostage.
~~## Ongoing Costs and Reasonable Expectations
The website building fee is one-time. After your site goes live, there are fixed annual expenses:
| Item | Annual Cost | Notes |
| Server renewal | ~¥300-500 | Included in the building fee for the first year; from year two, you pay the cloud provider directly |
| Domain renewal | ~¥50-80 | Recommend holding it yourself |
| SSL certificate | ¥0 | Let’s Encrypt free renewal |
Back to the opening question. ¥800 and ¥30,000 can both build a website — my quote of ¥3,980 to ¥15,800 sits in the middle. The difference isn’t in “what the website looks like” — it’s in “what the website can do for you.”
¥3,980 buys existence — the website opens, customers can browse, they can send inquiries. Startup-stage companies get a professional website first, so customers don’t think “this small company doesn’t even have a website.”
¥7,980 buys being found — customers searching product keywords can find you, and AI can understand your website. Growth-stage companies that want the website to generate inquiries — this is the most practical tier.
¥15,800 buys being recommended — when customers ask AI for supplier recommendations, AI mentions you. Established companies that want to get ahead in AI search — your competitors haven’t moved yet, and you go first.
If your need is “just having a website is enough,” ¥3,980 will do. If you want the website to help you get customers, start at ¥7,980. If you want to seize the first-mover advantage in the AI search era, ¥15,800. Price isn’t about “more expensive is better” — it’s about matching your stage. As your business grows, you can always upgrade by paying the difference — no need to start over.
In the next article, I’ll talk about another technical choice many people care about — why I switched from the The7 theme to Astra, what I discovered during the switch, and how much speed improved. This is a real switching record, not a review — it’s a post-mortem after stepping on some landmines.
