Topics: Website design & costs
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Quick answer: Choose the agency that gives clear, written answers on who builds your site, who owns the domain and code, what the GST-inclusive price covers, which accessibility standard it meets and how you can leave. Test its live sites on your own phone, ring a past client, and read the contract's exit clause before you fall for any design mock-up.
Search for a web designer in any Australian capital and you'll find studios, freelancers, franchise operators and offshore teams with local phone numbers, all with polished portfolio pages. The real differences surface later: who owns what, what the monthly fee actually buys, and who answers when something breaks on a Saturday. This checklist is for owners spending anywhere from a few thousand dollars to the mid-five figures. If your business is in India, the Indian version of this checklist is built around Indian pricing and norms.
What should you decide before contacting any agency?
Five decisions, written on one page, make every conversation shorter and every quote comparable.
- The site's main job. Phone calls, booking requests, quote forms or online sales. Pick one primary action; everything else supports it.
- Your budget band. Small-business sites in Australia typically run A$3,000–A$8,000, custom marketing sites A$8,000–A$15,000 and e-commerce or web-app builds A$15,000–A$25,000+, before GST. Our guide to what websites cost in Australia explains what each band buys.
- Must-haves versus nice-to-haves. Online booking, Xero or MYOB integration, a quote calculator, a members' area. Separate the essentials from the wish list.
- Who signs off. If a business partner, franchisor or board must approve designs, say so upfront; it changes the timeline.
- The deadline and the reason behind it. "Before end of financial year" or "before the new premises open" helps an agency plan backwards.
What 12 questions should you ask a web design agency?
Ask all twelve in writing and compare the answers side by side. A vague reply is itself an answer.
| # | Question | A good answer sounds like |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Who will design and build my site, and are they staff or contractors? | Named roles, where each person is based, and who your single point of contact is |
| 2 | What are the stages from brief to launch, and what do you need from me at each? | Dated stages, with content and feedback deadlines on your side |
| 3 | Which platform do you recommend for me, and why? | A reason tied to who edits the site and what it connects to, not "it's what we use" |
| 4 | Whose name will the domain, hosting and code be in? | Yours, from day one, with the agency added as a user |
| 5 | Which paid themes, plugins, fonts or images will the site rely on, and who holds the licences? | A list with renewal costs, licensed to your business |
| 6 | Is the quote GST-inclusive, and what is excluded? | One figure including GST, plus written exclusions |
| 7 | How are payments staged? | Milestones tied to things you approve, such as designs and the staging site |
| 8 | Which accessibility standard will you build to, and how do you test it? | WCAG 2.2 AA, checked with keyboard navigation, contrast checks and screen-reader spot tests |
| 9 | If you're replacing my current site, how will you protect its search rankings? | A URL inventory, a redirect map and Search Console checks after launch |
| 10 | What does the care plan cover, and can I cancel it? | Updates, backups, security, a set amount of edits, response times, month-to-month terms |
| 11 | How will we know whether the site is working? | Enquiry, call and booking tracking set up at launch, reviewed against a baseline |
| 12 | If we part ways, what do I receive and how quickly? | Full admin access, files and documentation within an agreed number of days |
A few of these deserve a word of explanation.
GST (question 6). GST is 10%, so an A$8,000 quote becomes A$8,800 if the supplier is registered. Suppliers only have to register once turnover reaches A$75,000, and overseas suppliers can handle it differently, so ask for the treatment in writing.
Accessibility (question 8). The Disability Discrimination Act 1992 applies to websites, and the Australian Human Rights Commission's guidance points to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. An agency that can't name a WCAG level and a testing method probably isn't testing.
Rankings (question 9). A redesign that changes URLs without redirects can quietly throw away years of search traffic. Ask to see the redirect plan before launch, not after.
How do you check an agency's past work and reviews properly?
Treat the portfolio as a set of claims to test, not a gallery to admire.
- Ask for three live URLs launched in the last 18 months, ideally in an industry like yours.
- Open each one on your own phone over mobile data, not office Wi-Fi. Tap the phone number, submit the form, try the booking flow.
- Run each URL through PageSpeed Insights and look at the mobile result.
- Press Tab repeatedly on a desktop. If you can't see where you are on the page, keyboard users can't either.
- Read the agency's Google reviews, especially the three-star ones and how the agency replied.
- Call one or two past clients. Useful questions: Did it launch when promised? How did the final invoice compare with the quote? Who do you deal with now when something breaks? Would you use them again?
That last step takes twenty minutes and tells you more than any case study.
What should the contract say about ownership and lock-in?
Ownership, exit and warranty clauses matter more than the design spec. Look for:
- IP assignment. Copyright in the design and custom code assigned to you on final payment, with any reusable agency components licensed to you permanently.
- Third-party licences. A schedule of paid themes, plugins and fonts, held in your business's name where possible.
- Minimum terms. Subscription or "website rental" plans often run 12, 24 or 36 months, and the site may not be yours at the end. Know which model you're signing.
- Exit and handover. What you receive if either side ends the arrangement, how quickly, and at what cost.
- Warranty. A defined period after launch during which the agency fixes bugs in its own work at no charge.
Since 9 November 2023, per the ACCC, unfair terms in standard form contracts with small businesses (fewer than 100 employees or under A$10 million turnover) are illegal and can attract penalties. That doesn't make every 12-month term unfair, but clauses that bind only you, such as heavy exit fees while the agency can walk away freely, deserve a close read and, if in doubt, legal advice. When the quotes arrive, our line-by-line quote comparison helps you set them side by side.
Local, interstate or offshore: does location matter?
Less than time-zone overlap and accountability. A team two suburbs away that never returns calls is worse than one in another country that runs a weekly call and answers within a business day.
| Team location | Difference from Sydney | Practical overlap |
|---|---|---|
| Same city | None | Full day, with in-person workshops possible |
| Perth | 2 hours behind (3 during eastern daylight saving) | Most of the working day |
| Philippines | 2 hours behind (3 during eastern daylight saving) | Most of the working day |
| India | 4.5 hours behind (5.5 during eastern daylight saving) | Sydney afternoons |
| United Kingdom | 9 to 11 hours behind, depending on daylight saving | Early mornings or evenings only |
Whatever the location, get three things in writing: a named contact, a meeting cadence, and support hours with response times. That's how GRWW works with Australian businesses: video calls booked in your own time zone and a fixed price after a free call, usually within one business day.
What red flags should make you walk away?
Any one of these is reason enough to keep looking:
- A firm price before anyone has asked about your goals, pages or integrations
- A subscription where the site, domain or content stays with the agency when you stop paying
- The domain registered under the agency's ABN or account
- No written process, or no named person responsible for your project
- No answer on accessibility beyond "it'll look good on mobile"
- A portfolio of screenshots with no live links
- Reluctance to state the price including GST
- Hosting bundled in a way you can't move without rebuilding the site
How do you make the final decision?
Score the shortlist against weighted criteria, and give price only a modest share of the weight.
| Criterion | Weight | Agency A (1–5) | Agency B (1–5) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ownership and exit terms | 20% | ||
| Evidence from live work and references | 20% | ||
| Process and communication | 15% | ||
| Scope covered by the price | 15% | ||
| Accessibility and speed | 10% | ||
| Aftercare and support | 10% | ||
| Price | 10% |
Multiply each score by its weight and add them up. Price sits at 10% on purpose: if the cheaper quote leaves out testing, accessibility or ownership, it isn't cheaper over the life of the site. If two agencies end up close, choose the one that asked better questions about your business.
Frequently asked questions
Should I choose a web designer in my own city?
Only if face-to-face workshops matter to you. Most projects run well on video calls and shared documents, so overlap in working hours, a named contact and written response times matter more than postcode.
How many agencies should I get quotes from?
Three is usually enough to see the market. Beyond that, comparing proposals takes longer than it's worth, and well-run agencies may decline vague multi-quote requests. Send all three the same written brief.
Should I sign a 12-month contract with a web agency?
Only if you get something clear in return, such as lower upfront cost or ongoing SEO work you actually want. Check what happens at the end of the term, whether the site becomes yours and what leaving early costs. Month-to-month care plans are common, so a long minimum term should be justified.
What should a web design agency's portfolio show?
Live sites you can open and test, launched recently, with some in or near your industry. Results with context, such as more enquiries after launch, carry more weight than design awards.
Do Australian agencies outsource web design overseas?
Some do, and it isn't automatically a problem. What matters is that the agency tells you, names who's accountable, and puts quality checks and response times in the contract. Ask directly; a straight answer is a good sign.
Put us through the same 12 questions
We're happy to answer every question above in writing before you decide. Send us your one-page brief and we'll come back with a fixed, GST-clear price, or book a discovery call to talk through your project first. You can also read how we approach website design and builds or send us your brief.