Why is SEO important for a website from day one?
Designing a beautiful layout without an organic search strategy is like printing business cards and leaving them in a drawer. Incorporating web design with SEO right from the start ensures that search bots can effortlessly crawl, index, and surface your business the minute your new layout goes live.
How much does it cost to design a website with built-in search strategy?
Every build includes the same strategic foundation: custom design, UX architecture, foundational SEO, AI optimisation and local content mapping. Pricing is per page: $600 a page with a four page minimum, plus the mandatory Privacy Policy and Terms pages at $250 each, so the minimum website cost is $2,900 AUD. From there, every price is published: a booking system starts from $600, an online shop from $700 to connect a Shopify store you have set up yourself, or from $1,800 with the store set up for you and your first 10 products entered (then $15 per product if I add them, or add your own free forever), event ticketing from $600, courses from $1,500, a CRM connection from $700, and a logo and brand identity package at $990 flat, designed with my design partner and project managed end to end. A price marked "from" is an honest floor, and your proposal fixes the exact number before we begin.
My logo is dated (or I don't have one). Can you sort that too?
Yes. Logo and brand identity is $990 flat, designed with my design partner and project managed end to end by me. I write the brief, run the feedback rounds and hand you the complete logo set: horizontal, stacked and icon versions in every colourway, print and web formats, source files included. A new website is the perfect moment to fix the brand, because every page we build then carries it, and your social profiles, signage and print can follow. And if you want the full works, a complete brand identity with a documented brand guide and your graphic identity elements (colours, fonts, patterns and usage rules) is $3,200 flat. Because my design partner extends trade rates to Saltline, both packages typically cost less than commissioning the same designer directly, with the project management included. Revision rounds are agreed in your quote, and anything beyond the package is quoted before the designer is engaged.
Is hosting really free?
Yes, on standard websites, for as long as I host your site. There is no monthly hosting fee and no contract. You pay your own domain registrar for your domain, and business email is separate.
What if my site needs bookings or payments?
Those need infrastructure that costs real money to run. I set that account up in your name so the provider bills you directly, which means you never pay me a margin on it. I tell you the expected cost before the work starts.
Can I edit the site myself?
Yes. Every site I build includes a client dashboard for changing text and images. It is included on every build, regardless of which hosting your site runs on.
What happens if I leave?
You take your site with you. I give you a full copy of your files and the details your new provider needs, and hosting ends on the day you move. There is no exit fee.
Is Google Analytics included in my website build?
Yes. Every build includes Google Analytics and Google Search Console, set up in your own name so you own the data. You will see how many people visit your site, which pages they read, and how many enquiries come through, and your personalised video walkthroughs show you exactly where to look. It also lays the measurement foundation for the Organic Growth partnership, where your monthly report draws on these same numbers.
Do you only work with local Port Macquarie businesses?
Not at all. My studio is based right here on the Mid North Coast, but I work with businesses all along the East Coast and across Australia. Because everything I do is handled smoothly online, distance doesn't slow us down. You get a personalised, one-on-one experience and real marketing strategy for your business, whether you are located just down the road or on the other side of the country.
You work fast and you use AI. Shouldn't my website cost less?
The speed is your benefit, not a discount. AI is part of my studio toolkit, the same way design software and hosting infrastructure are, and it is a big part of why a custom build takes weeks instead of months. What you are paying for has not changed: more than twenty years of marketing insight, a specialty in small business, the strategy, the keyword research, the judgement about what belongs on each page, and me checking and signing off every word before it ships. You pay for the outcome, not the hours, and the outcome is worth the same however fast it arrives. I would rather hand you the speed than a smaller invoice for a slower job.
