How Much Does a Website Cost in Australia? Real Numbers From a Regional Agency

It's the first question almost everyone asks us, and fair enough. You wouldn't build a shed without a rough idea of the cost, so why would you build a website that way?

The trouble is that website prices in Australia are all over the place. You'll see DIY builders advertised at $20 a month, freelancers quoting $1,500, and agencies quoting $30,000 for what looks like the same thing. So here's an honest breakdown of what drives the price and what you get for it.

The three ways to get a website

1. Do it yourself

Platforms like Wix and Squarespace let you build a site yourself for a monthly fee, usually somewhere between $20 and $60. The software is cheap. Your time isn't. Most business owners we talk to who've gone this way spent weekends on it, ended up with something that looks a bit like a template, and never got around to the parts that help it show up on Google.

It can be a sensible starting point for a brand new side business. It's rarely the right call for an established business that wants enquiries.

2. A cheap freelancer or overseas build

Quotes in the $500 to $2,000 range usually mean a template with your logo dropped in. Sometimes that's fine. The questions to ask are: who owns the site at the end, who do you call when something breaks, and is there any search engine setup included? We regularly rebuild sites where the original developer has disappeared and nobody has the login.

3. A professional agency build

This is where you pay for a team that plans the site around your customers, designs it to suit your brand, builds it properly on a reliable platform, sets it up for search, and is still around in five years when you need a hand.

What a Rhythm Digital website costs

Our websites start at $3,500 + GST. That's not a template with your logo on it. For that you get:

• A professionally designed website built in Webflow, the platform we've used for 300+ client sites (here's why we use Webflow)
• Your website copy, developed with you around our 4 C's approach (Clarity, Connection, Confidence and Conversion), so visitors understand what you do and how to get in touch. Whether you hand us finished words or a few dot points, the copy is part of the package.
• All your content loaded, checked and tested on phones, tablets and desktops
• On-page SEO setup: page titles, meta descriptions, headings and image optimisation
• Google Analytics and Search Console connected, so you can see how people find you
• Access to update your own text, images and blog posts whenever you like
• A local team in Tamworth who answers the phone

From there the price goes up with the size and complexity of the job. More pages, more types of content (projects, team profiles, job listings, multiple locations), and custom features all add time. A typical small business site sits at the lower end. A larger organisation with lots of content and several audiences sits higher. Either way, you get a fixed quote before anything starts.

The ongoing costs to ask about

The build is only part of the cost. Every website also needs:

• A domain name, usually $20 to $50 a year for a .com.au
• Hosting, the server space that keeps your site online
• Support and updates, for when you need a change made or something stops working

Our hosting and support plans start at $90 + GST a month and include hosting, security, monitoring and time each month for updates. Some agencies leave this out of the quote and you only find out after launch. Ask every agency you speak to what the website will cost over three years, not just on day one.

What pushes the price up (or down)

• Not the words. A lot of agencies charge extra for copywriting, or leave you to write every page yourself. We don't. Your copy is developed with you as part of every website, whether you come to us with finished text or a blank page. It's worth asking every agency you talk to whether the words are included.
• Selling online. An online store needs products, payments and shipping set up. Our Shopify builds are priced separately.
• Integrations. Booking systems, CRMs and stock feeds all take time to connect.
• Photography. Real photos of your team and work beat stock images every time.

The cheapest website is the one you only build once

A website that brings in one extra job a month usually pays for itself well inside a year. A cheap one that nobody can find, or that you have to rebuild in two years, ends up costing more. We've been building websites for regional businesses for over ten years, and the businesses that get the most from them are the ones that treat the site as a tool, not a box to tick.

If you'd like a straight answer on what your website would cost, get in touch or call us on 02 6766 9988. You can also see what we've built for other businesses on our projects page, or read more about our web design service.