How much does a small business website cost in Australia?

The short answer

There are four ways to get a small business website in Australia. The build price is only part of the cost: hosting, the domain, updates and your own time all add up over the years you have the site.

Freelancer and agency prices are estimates from Australian web businesses' own published guides, which vary and sometimes exclude GST. There is no independent survey of Australian website prices, so treat any single figure, including these, as a rough guide.

DIY website builders

Builders like Squarespace, Wix and Shopify are the cheapest option in dollars. Squarespace's Basic plan is A$17 a month billed annually, or A$24 billed monthly. Shopify's Basic plan, for online stores, is A$42 a month billed yearly or A$56 monthly, plus card fees of 1.7% + 30c per online sale (and an extra 2% if you use a payment provider other than Shopify's own).

The real cost is your time. You plan the pages, write the words, choose the photos, learn the editor and keep it all up to date. Plenty of business owners do this well; many start and never finish.

Freelancers

A local freelancer typically quotes somewhere between $1,000 and $10,000 for a brochure-style site of a few pages, according to the published guides we checked. Offshore freelancers can be cheaper. Ask what is included: who writes the content, how many revisions you get, whether hosting is included, and what changes cost once the site is finished.

Agencies

Agencies usually start around $5,000 to $10,000 for a small business site and run well past $25,000 for larger or custom builds. You get a team, a process and a more tailored result. Ongoing hosting and maintenance are usually a separate monthly care plan, which the same guides put at roughly $100 to $500 a month.

Monthly website services

A growing number of businesses build, host and maintain your site for a monthly fee instead of a large upfront price. Prices vary widely, from under $50 to $250 or more a month. Before you sign, check three things:

• Setup fees. Some services charge a setup fee on top of the monthly price.
• Minimum terms. Some require 12 months or more. Find out what it costs to leave early.
• Who owns what. Ask whether the domain is registered in your name and whether you can take your content with you if you leave.

Our own prices, for comparison: Get Online is $20 a month, Win Local $50 and Grow Online $80, all with no GST charged. There's no setup fee or lock-in contract, and hosting, security, backups and updates are included.

The ongoing costs people forget

Your domain name

A .com.au domain costs roughly $10 to $25 a year. Watch for introductory prices: VentraIP listed .com.au at $9.95 a year on promotion and $22.95 normally, and GoDaddy offered a first year for 5 cents but required a three-year purchase, with later years at $21.95. To hold a .com.au you need to stay eligible for the whole licence period, which in practice means an Australian ABN or ACN.

Hosting

Basic hosting can start at a few dollars a month and rise on renewal; managed hosting for a WordPress site is commonly $30 to $50 a month, according to the guides we checked. Monthly website services usually include hosting in the price.

Security certificate (SSL)

The padlock in the browser comes from an SSL certificate. It doesn't have to cost anything: Let's Encrypt issues trusted certificates for free, and most hosts use it. Be wary of paying extra for a basic certificate.

Updates and maintenance

Websites need updates: software, security, and your own content as your business changes. Either you do them, you pay someone each time, or it is included in a care plan or monthly service.

Business email

Email on your own domain, like you@yourbusiness.com.au, is usually a separate subscription per person. See our guide to setting up business email for current prices.

Before you sign anything

• Register the domain in your own name, not your designer's. It is the one thing that is hard to get back.
• Read the contract term and exit fees. Since November 2023, unfair terms in standard contracts with small businesses are illegal and carry penalties, but it is still easier to avoid a bad contract than to fight one.
• Ask what an update costs once the site is live, and how quickly it happens.
• Ask who writes the content. A beautiful site with no words on it isn't finished.

Which option suits you?

If you enjoy building things and have the time, a DIY builder is the cheapest route. If you need something custom, like a complex online store or a booking system built around your business, an agency is worth the money. If you want a professional site without a big upfront bill or doing it yourself, a freelancer or a monthly service fits, and a monthly service also covers the hosting and updates that a one-off build leaves to you.