How much a website costs a renovation business in Australia

Ask three website providers what a site costs and you will get three answers that are hard to compare. One quotes a monthly subscription, one quotes a single build price, and one says it depends. For a kitchen or bathroom renovation business, the useful question is not what the first invoice says. It is what the site costs to own and keep current over the next few years, including your own time.

This article sets out the three common ways Australian renovators pay for a website, what each tends to cost over time, the costs people forget, and the questions to ask before you sign anything. We run a managed plan ourselves, so we give our full price and terms, and describe the other options fairly without quoting anyone else’s prices.

The three ways renovators pay for a website

Most renovation businesses end up with one of three arrangements: a do-it-yourself website builder, a one-off build from a web agency or freelancer, or a managed plan that builds and looks after the site for a monthly fee.

Each can be the right choice. A DIY builder suits someone who enjoys the work and has time. An agency build suits a business with a clear brief, a budget for a large upfront payment and someone in-house to keep the site current. A managed plan suits a business that wants the site done properly and kept up to date without doing the work. The cost differences come less from the build and more from what happens in the years after it.

Before comparing prices, write down what your site needs. For a renovator, that usually means service pages, project pages, a service area page, licence details on every page and an enquiry form. Our guide to what a renovator website needs covers each one. A quote that leaves any of them out is not comparable with one that includes them.

What does a DIY website builder really cost?

A DIY builder costs a monthly or yearly subscription plus your time, and the time is the larger cost for most renovators. The subscription is usually the smallest number on this page. The hours spent choosing a template, writing pages, resizing photos and fixing things on a phone screen are not.

Things to count on the DIY side:

• The subscription itself, which often rises after an introductory period or when you need a feature such as forms.
• Your hours to build the site, usually spread over evenings and weekends.
• Your hours every time a job finishes and you want to add a project, or a price changes.
• Add-ons for booking, forms or extra storage for photos, if the base plan doesn’t include them.

The hidden cost is the site that never gets updated. A DIY site built in a burst of energy often stops changing once the busy season starts. Eighteen months later the newest project on it is two years old, and a buyer comparing renovators notices.

What does a one-off agency build cost over time?

A one-off build costs a large upfront amount, then ongoing hosting, maintenance and paid edits after launch. The build price gets the attention, but the costs that follow decide what you pay over three years.

A good agency or freelancer can produce an excellent site. The questions are what happens after launch. Is hosting included, and for how long? Are security updates done for you, or is that a separate care plan? Is each edit billed by the hour? If the person who built the site moves on, can someone else work on it easily?

For a renovator, edits are not occasional. Every finished kitchen or bathroom is a potential project page. Every change to your services, service area or licence details is an edit. If each one is a separate invoice, it is easy to stop asking for them, and the site slowly goes stale in the same way a DIY site does.

What our managed plan costs, in full

Our plan costs A$249 a month plus a one-off setup fee of A$499, with a 12-month minimum term, then month to month. Prices are shown without GST, and GST may apply. That adds up to A$3,487 in the first year and A$2,988 in each year after, before any GST.

For that, the plan includes:

• Your website live within 14 days of receiving your content.
• Hosting, SSL certificate and security updates.
• Up to 5 content edits a month.
• A monthly report of the enquiries your website received.
• A 12-month minimum term, then month to month.

It does not include:

• Paid advertising, such as Google Ads, and the ad spend.
• Logo or brand design.
• Writing your content: you supply the words, photos and prices, and we lay them out.
• Domain registration fees: the domain is registered in your business name and you pay the registrar.

On GST: the ACCC says a business displaying prices only to other businesses doesn't need to include GST ¹ in the displayed price, which is why our prices are shown without it. Only a GST-registered business can charge GST, and businesses that are not registered don't include GST in their prices ² . Our pricing says “GST may apply” until our registration is confirmed. The full detail of what is included sits on what’s included, and the terms are on the pricing page.

Costs people forget when pricing a website

The costs most often left out are the domain, photos, content writing, edits after launch and the time it takes to get enquiries back to you. They apply whichever way you build.

• Your domain. Registered in your business name and renewed with the registrar. Our plan does not include the registration fee, and neither do many others.
• Photos. Good photos of finished rooms are the most valuable content a renovator has. Some businesses take them on a phone at handover; others pay a photographer for their best jobs.
• Words. Someone has to describe your services and projects. On our plan you supply notes and we lay them out. Elsewhere it may be your time or a copywriting fee.
• Edits after launch. New projects, changed prices, a new licence class. Ask how many are included and what they cost beyond that.
• Advertising. Google Ads or social ads are a separate cost on any website, including ours.

Questions to ask any website provider before you sign

Ask who owns the domain and content, what the minimum term is, what edits cost, and what happens when you leave. The answers matter more than the headline price.

1. Is the domain registered in my business name, and do I control it?
2. What is the minimum term, and what do I pay if I end it early?
3. How many edits are included each month or year, and what does an extra edit cost?
4. Are hosting, SSL and security updates included, and for how long?
5. If I leave, do I get a copy of my content and photos?
6. Can the site show my licence details on every page and a project page for each job?
7. Is there any promise about rankings or leads? If there is, how is it measured, and what happens if it is missed?

Be wary of any provider who guarantees a Google ranking or a number of enquiries. Nobody controls search results. We don’t make those promises, and our plan terms say so in writing.

What to do next

1. List the pages your site needs, using the checklist in our guide to what a renovator website needs.
2. Get prices for each option you are considering, and add them up over three years.
3. Estimate the hours you would spend building and updating the site yourself, and put a value on them.
4. Ask every provider the seven questions above, in writing.
5. Look at a few sample designs so you know what you are paying for.

The cheapest website is the one that stays accurate and keeps sending you the right enquiries. If a managed plan sounds like the right fit, the pricing page has every detail, and there are notes for small builders doing renovations and other renovation businesses. Or book a call and we will tell you honestly whether the plan suits your business.