How much does a small business website cost in Australia?

Website quotes in Australia range from a few hundred dollars to tens of thousands, and the difference usually isn't quality of design. It's how much thinking, writing and setup is included, and who does it.

What you're really paying for

• +Working out the structure, what pages exist and why
• +Writing the words, which is usually the slowest part
• +Design and build
• +Search setup: titles, descriptions, sitemap, indexing, Search Console
• +Photos, forms, tracking and testing before launch

A cheap quote almost always means the copy is your job. That's fine if you'll write it. It's the number one reason websites sit half finished for eight months if you won't.

The ongoing costs

• +Domain name, roughly $20 to $40 a year for a .com.au
• +Hosting or platform fees, anywhere from nothing to a monthly subscription
• +Business email
• +Any paid plugins, booking systems or e-commerce fees

Ask for these in writing before you sign anything. A build price that looks great can come with a subscription you can't leave and a site you don't own.

Questions worth asking any quote

• +Do I own the site and the domain outright?
• +Who writes the content?
• +Is search setup included, or an extra?
• +Can I update text and photos myself afterwards?
• +What happens if I want to move it somewhere else in two years?

How to judge value

Work out what one new customer is worth to you. If your average job is $4,000, a website that brings in three extra jobs a year has paid for itself several times over. If your average sale is $40, the maths is different and so should the build be. Spend where the return is, not where the trend is.