If you've asked three web designers for a quote, you've probably had three very different numbers come back — anywhere from a few hundred dollars to five figures. That's not because two of them are ripping you off. It's because "a website" isn't one thing, and the number on a quote is really a reflection of what's included, not just how it looks.
Here's how to make sense of it.
What actually drives the price
Design is only part of the cost. What tends to move the number more is:
- How many pages, and what's on them. A five-page site with clear service and location pages costs less to build than a twelve-page site with custom booking flows, galleries and integrations.
- Whether it's built for SEO from the start. A site that's structured for search — proper headings, service and suburb pages, schema markup, a submitted sitemap — takes more setup work than one that isn't, but it's also the difference between a site that gets found and one that doesn't.
- Custom design vs. a template. A theme-based build is cheaper up front. A hand-coded, custom-designed site costs more but loads faster, looks distinct from competitors using the same theme, and is usually easier to extend later.
- Content. Writing the copy, sourcing or shooting photos, and getting the messaging right is real work — and it's the part most quotes either skip or bury in the fine print.
- Ongoing costs. Hosting, a domain, and any SEO or maintenance retainer sit outside the build price but are part of the real annual cost of having a website.
Two quotes for "the same site" can differ by thousands and both be fair — because they're not actually quoting the same scope. Always ask what's included before comparing numbers.
A rough guide to what you'll pay
Every business and every quote is different, but these are the ranges we see most often for Australian small business and trade websites:
| Build type | Typical range (AUD) | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| DIY builder (Wix, Squarespace) | $0–$500 + subscription | Testing an idea, very tight budget |
| Template-based build | $800–$2,500 | Simple service businesses, fast turnaround |
| Custom-designed, SEO-structured site | $2,500–$6,000 | Trades and local businesses that rely on search |
| Multi-location or booking-integrated build | $6,000+ | Multi-site businesses, complex functionality |
These are starting points, not promises — always get a written quote against your specific brief.
Not sure which tier your business actually needs?
Get a Free QuoteQuestions worth asking before you sign
- Is the price fixed, or will extra pages/revisions cost more?
- Who owns the site once it's built — can you take it elsewhere later?
- Is basic SEO structure included, or is that a separate line item?
- What happens after launch — is there support, or are you on your own?
- What's the total first-year cost including hosting and domain, not just the build?
The honest bottom line
The cheapest quote and the most expensive quote can both be a bad deal — one for what it leaves out, the other for what it charges for that you don't need. The right price is the one that matches what your business actually needs to turn visitors into enquiries, nothing more and nothing less.