Ellendale is dense and walkable: 7.6% of workers walk to work, and 7.3% of homes are in buildings with five or more units. Web design in Ellendale has to work for someone standing on the sidewalk. Aria builds small business websites for Ellendale companies for $89 a month, with the domain, business email and hosting included, and you only pay after you approve the website.

No setup fee: you only pay the $89 monthly fee, after you approve your website.

Website design for an Ellendale business: what the place tells you

Ellendale dates from 1901, which gives it more than a century of history. In a place with that much history, families tend to stay with the businesses they know, and a newer business has to earn trust one job at a time. Just opened? Then the website has to do what years of reputation does for the older names: explain exactly what you do and for whom.

Local competition in Ellendale

The Census counted 35 establishments with employees in 2023 in ZIP code 56026, which includes Ellendale and its surroundings.

In Steele County, the Census counted 1,024 businesses with employees and 2,371 without a payroll in 2023; the second group is where a simple, affordable website changes the most. Steele County has 4.2 times the national share of nursing and residential care facilities: 48 of them in the 2023 count. In that line of work, families research care for a relative, so the website should show levels of care, photos of the facility, licensing information and how to arrange a visit. Trucking companies are also overrepresented (39, 1.9 times the national share).

Ellendale, 2020 to 2025

The annual estimates show a slow decline, from 670 in 2020 to 658 in 2025. The estimates peaked in 2021, at 671. Statewide, the change was +2.2%. Without much growth, the customers are mostly the same people every year; the website is how they remember you.

A quick look at Ellendale, MN

658Residents in 2025Census Bureau estimate
−1.8%Growth since 2020Minnesota: +2.2%
$89,375Household income, medianMinnesota: $89,062
$155,200Median value of a homeMinnesota: $329,300
35Businesses with employees in local ZIP codesZIP Code Business Patterns 2023

The median household income, $89,375, is close to the Minnesota median of $89,062. There are 319 households, and 82.8% of them own their home.

Who your website talks to in Ellendale

82.8% of Ellendale households are homeowners (72.2% statewide). That is a large market for home services that can be found online.

Steele County: 37,464 residents (2025) in 4 incorporated places. Census estimates for a city this size carry a wide margin of error, so the county is the better guide: the median household income is $84,196 and the median age is 40.5. 87.7% of households have broadband and 11.0% rely on a cellphone data plan alone. Homeowners are 79.4% of households.

Reaching customers beyond the Ellendale city limits

Nearby incorporated places: Geneva (3.9 miles, pop. 503), Clarks Grove (7.7 miles, pop. 682), Hollandale (9.1 miles, pop. 306), New Richland (9.8 miles, pop. 1,194), Hartland (10 miles, pop. 314) and Blooming Prairie (12 miles, pop. 1,935). Owatonna, seat of Steele County, lies 16 miles to the north. The nearest large city is Rochester, 42 miles to the east. For flights, Albert Lea Municipal Airport (AEL) lies 14 miles away. The city spreads over 0.8 square miles of land, with roughly 789 people per square mile. A service area page that lists the towns you cover, from Ellendale to Hollandale and New Richland, answers the first question many customers have: do you come to me?

By the 1991-2020 normals of the Owatonna weather station (16 miles from Ellendale), July highs average 82°F and January lows average 5°F. Precipitation adds up to about 35 inches a year, falling on about 65 days with a tenth of an inch or more. Freezing nights (32°F or below) come about 160 times a year. Cold winters mean furnace repair, snow removal, roofing and auto service, and the first freeze sends everyone searching at once. If you offer emergency or same-week service in bad weather, say so in plain words and keep the contact form short.

Small business website, start to finish

Aria is a web design company based in Curitiba, Brazil, building websites, online stores and business email since 2008. Everything is done online, so businesses in Ellendale get exactly the same plan as anyone else.

  1. Start with the online sign-up, which takes about 5 minutes, and send your material by email.
  2. Review the website on a temporary link, ready within 5 business days, and request any changes by email.
  3. Approve it, pay the first month, and the website goes live on your domain together with your business email.

After it goes live, the technical side stay with Aria, and content changes by email are included.

Plan$89/monthNo setup fee: you only pay the $89 monthly fee, after you approve your website. No lock-in contract.
  • Business website or online store, same price
  • Your domain, registered and renewed by us (or the one you already have)
  • Business email on your domain: 5 GB, webmail and spam filtering
  • Hosting, SSL certificate and daily backups
  • Changes to text, photos and prices, requested by email
  • Ready within 5 business days on a temporary link
I want the $89 plan

Before you publish: Minnesota and federal rules

A few rules apply to any Ellendale business that sells or advertises online:

  • Doing business under a name that is not your legal name? Minnesota calls that an assumed name (certificate of assumed name), and it has to be registered first. Minn. Stat. 333.01
  • Minnesota’s state sales tax is 6.875%: a 6.5% general rate plus the 0.375% increase required by the Minnesota Constitution. Cities, counties and special districts add local sales taxes on top of it. Minnesota Department of Revenue

General information, not legal advice: confirm the details with the agency that handles each item.

Small business website questions from Ellendale

Can I tell customers in New Richland that I serve their town?

Yes. Send the list of towns you serve by email (Hartland, New Richland, Hollandale or any others) and the website gets a service area page with all of them.

Is a website worth it for a business in a city of 658 people?

Yes, because the competition is county-wide: Steele County counts 2,371 nonemployer businesses and 1,024 with employees (2023). Being findable outside Ellendale is the point of the website.

Can the website say I serve the whole of Steele County?

Yes. The plan is the same anywhere in Minnesota, and the website can name every town in Steele County you cover.

Is there a setup fee?

No. No setup fee: you only pay the $89 monthly fee, after you approve your website. There is no lock-in contract either: you can end the service whenever you need.

Start your Ellendale website today

No setup fee, no lock-in contract: you see the finished website first and pay the first month only if you approve it.

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Sources for the numbers on this page
  • Population figures for Ellendale: Census Bureau Vintage 2025 estimates. Households, income, commuting and housing: American Community Survey 2020-2024, 5-year, county figures where the town estimate is too uncertain. Businesses: ZIP Code and County Business Patterns 2023 and Nonemployer Statistics 2023. Distances: 2025 Gazetteer, straight line.
  • Climate: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020 (station USC00216287).
  • Founding year, nickname, elevation, waters, colleges, hospitals, airports and parks: Wikidata (item Q2231784), retrieved on October 30, 2026; distances are straight-line.
  • County seats: USGS National Atlas. State rules: the official Minnesota sources linked above, checked on October 30, 2026.