A small business website in Australia costs between $0 and $30,000 depending on how it is built. DIY builders run $15 to $50 a month. A freelancer typically charges $1,500 to $5,000 once. An agency charges $5,000 to $30,000 up front plus ongoing fees. Managed monthly plans, including mine, run $100 to $500 a month with no build fee.
DIY builders like Wix or Squarespace cost $15 to $50 a month. You do all the work and the result usually looks like a template, because it is one.
A freelancer charges $1,500 to $5,000 for a build. Quality varies enormously and the risk is what happens six months later when you need a change and they have moved on.
An agency charges $5,000 to $30,000 up front, then hosting, then an hourly rate for changes. You get a good site and a bill every time you touch it.
A managed monthly plan spreads the cost. I charge $225 a month with no build fee, which covers the site, the search work, hosting and changes.
The build price is the number everyone compares. It is rarely the number that hurts. What hurts is the hourly rate for changes, because a business website is never finished. New service, new photo, new phone number, price change, staff change. At $150 an hour that adds up quietly.
The second hidden cost is being unfindable. A $10,000 website that nobody finds is worse value than a $225 a month site that brings in two jobs a month. Ask what search work is included before you compare prices, because usually the answer is none.
Between $1,500 and $5,000 from a freelancer, or $5,000 to $30,000 from an agency, both up front. Managed monthly plans run $100 to $500 a month with no build fee. I charge $225 a month including the search work.
On paper yes, at $15 to $50 a month. In practice you are paying with your time, and DIY sites rarely rank because the search work is the part nobody does. Whether that is cheaper depends on what your hours are worth.
Because the word website covers a five page brochure and a fifty page site with booking, payments and search work. Ask what is included, how many pages, whether SEO is part of it, and what a change costs after launch. The quotes stop looking so different once you do.
Up front suits you if you want to own the build outright and have the cash. Monthly suits you if you would rather not find several thousand dollars at once and you want changes included. The trap in both is the change fee, so ask about it first.
I build websites for Melbourne businesses and do the search work as part of it. $225 per month, no build fee.
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