What a small business website costs in Melbourne, and what you get.
A website for a small business starts at $1,500 + GST for up to four pages, live in a fortnight once your content is in. Here is exactly what that covers, and what costs extra.
Website prices are hard to compare.
Ask a few web designers what a small business website costs and you can get very different numbers, often without a clear list of what is in each one. It is hard to tell whether the cheap quote leaves things out or the expensive one is padded.
So here is the whole list for mine: what the price includes, what it doesn't, and what happens after launch.
Everything in the $1,500.
- Up to four pages, for example home, services, about and contact
- Your words tidied up: send notes or a rough draft and I edit them into clear page copy
- A contact form that sends enquiries straight to your email
- A site that works properly on phones, tablets and computers
- Your domain and hosting set up, with the domain registered in your business's name
- Your Google Business Profile set up or tidied, so your business can appear on Google Maps
- Two rounds of changes before launch
Quoted before any work starts.
- More than four pages
- Logo design, if you don't have one
- Online bookings or payments, which is the website with the works, from $2,500 + GST
- Paid stock photos, if you have no photos of your own
- Changes after launch if you are not on the monthly plan, at $120 + GST an hour
Not the right fit for big online shops, enterprise systems, anything that needs a team on call around the clock, or anything that needs a hand-coded build. If that's you, I'll say so up front and point you to someone better suited.
Fixed price, quoted before anything starts
Website
From $1,500 + GST. Up to four pages, a contact form, domain, hosting and Google set up. Live in a fortnight once your content is in.
Keep it running
$80 a month + GST. Hosting, domain renewal, backups, up to 30 minutes of changes a month, and I fix it when it breaks. No lock-in.
The fortnight, day by day
- Day 1We talk, and you get a fixed quote the same day.
- Day 2You get a short content checklist. The fortnight starts when your content is in.
- Day 4First version, at a real address you can open on your phone.
- Day 5Your changes. Two rounds are included.
- Day 8Second version.
- Day 9Your changes.
- Day 14Live.
What I have built so far.
Fortnight Sites is new, so there are no client websites to show yet. The work I can point to is my own: Blinker, a live Australian app with accounts and payments, and StackFall Arena, an online multiplayer game. I built and still run both.
The things people ask first
Do I have to write the words myself?
You provide the substance, but it doesn't need to be polished. Send notes, an old flyer or a rough draft, and I edit it into clear copy for each page. You know your business; my job is to make it read well.
Will I pay for anything that isn't in the quote?
Only what you choose to add. Extra pages, a logo, bookings, payments and stock photos are each quoted before any work starts, and the quote you accept is the price for that scope.
What does it cost to make changes after launch?
On the monthly plan, up to 30 minutes of small changes a month are included, and extra time is $100 + GST an hour. Without the plan, changes are $120 + GST an hour, with a minimum of half an hour.
Is the domain mine?
Yes. The domain is registered in your business's name, and once the final payment clears, the website, its content and its design are yours too.
Tell me what you need
One person, start to finish, and a fixed price before anything starts. Send a few lines about your business and you get a quote back the same day.
See also websites for tradies and all prices.