Two of my favorite questions to get from a new client are "can we create a new website?" and "do we even need one?" They open the door to real improvement, so let me answer both honestly.
How to build one
There are quick ways to do it yourself with a site builder, but in most cases that story ends with a rebuild on a self-hosted, standalone platform to get the freedom you actually wanted. My advice: skip the builders, set a real budget, and go through a proper discovery process with a developer you can talk to, so the site is built around your vision from the start.
What about cost?
Websites used to be pricey and fairly permanent, which made sense when the internet was new. These days a new site is far more affordable and one of the best ways to leverage your business and brand. That said, good development is not free. Efforts and expertise cost more than Monopoly money, and any legitimate provider will tell you the same. What I have learned is that being transparent about pricing and offering a few payment options goes a long way for everyone. You just need to be comfortable with the expense and have some budget to work with. As a rough guide: around a hundred dollars a month for solid maintenance and management, and somewhere between one and five thousand for real development work.
When to start fresh
Generally, if your site is more than a few years old, has not been updated in ages, or has been badly compromised, starting from scratch is the best option. The good news is your old site usually holds the structure and base content needed to build the new one efficiently, so you skip the heavy cost of recreating everything.
What about a landing page?
Sometimes a whole new website is overkill. If you just want to push a specific service or product, or zero in on a local area, a landing page is an excellent, focused way to pull in new traffic without rebuilding everything.
Developer's advice
Before you rebuild, pull your top ten pages from Google Analytics. Most of your traffic lives in a handful of pages, and knowing which ones keeps you from throwing away the content that actually earns visitors during the switch.