website design cost melbourne
Exact cost ranges, a step-by-step budgeting plan, and local SEO & marketing ROI tactics designed for Melbourne businesses.
Whether you run a café in Fitzroy, a tradie in Dandenong, or a health clinic in Brighton, this guide breaks down realistic costs, how to budget, and the actions that turn a website into measurable revenue.
How much does a website cost in Melbourne (2025)?
Short answer: it depends on scope, complexity, and who you hire. Below are practical ranges you can expect when budgeting for Year 1 (design, domain, hosting, basic SEO, and initial marketing).
Typical price bands
- DIY platforms (Wix, Squarespace): $150–$600/year (your time not included)
- Freelancer / solo dev: $1,200–$4,000 one-off
- Small Melbourne agency: $4,000–$12,000 one-off
- Full digital agency: $8,000–$40,000+ (custom builds)
- Subscription / managed website: $49–$99 per month (all-includes, ongoing updates)
What affects cost?
- Number of pages and templates (home, services, location pages)
- Custom features: bookings, quote forms, quoting calculators
- Professional photography or video
- Local SEO & content writing
- Security, backups and hosting quality
Local note: Melbourne agencies often add GST; ask for a clear quote with Australian dollars and GST shown separately.
7 practical steps to build a realistic website budget
- Set measurable goals — leads per month, bookings, phone calls. Example: 30 leads/month from organic search.
- Estimate conversion targets — typical lead-conversion for service businesses is 1–5%. Use conservative figures when budgeting ad spend.
- Map required features — list pages, forms, booking, payments, gallery, multilingual. Each feature adds time/cost.
- Decide ownership and maintenance — do you want full ownership (one-off build + ongoing hosting) or a managed subscription with updates included?
- Include ongoing SEO & marketing — initial SEO setup + first 3 months optimisation often 20–40% of your first-year budget.
- Plan for tracking — add cost for analytics, conversion tracking setup and monthly reporting. It's essential to measure ROI.
- Build contingency — add 10–15% contingency for unexpected scope changes or extra content/photography.
Simple budgeting formula (one year)
Total first-year cost = (Build cost or monthly subscription × 12) + Initial SEO & content + Marketing spend (3 months) + Photography/video + Contingency (10%).
Melbourne local SEO checklist (quick wins)
On-page essentials
- Unique title tags with suburb keywords — e.g., "Plumber Melbourne CBD | Emergency Plumber"
- Meta descriptions that sell and include locality
- H1/H2 structure and one service per page
- Schema.org localBusiness markup and service schema
- Fast mobile-first pages (target under 2.5s)
Local presence & citations
- Claim & optimise your Google Business Profile (GBP)
- Collect reviews on Google and industry directories (TrueLocal, Hipages, Oneflare)
- Consistent NAP (name, address, phone) across the web
- Local backlinks: chambers, trade associations, suppliers
Content & location strategy
Create service pages for target suburbs (e.g., "Electrician in Brunswick", "Roofer in Coburg"). Use case studies featuring local landmarks (without over-optimising). Aim for useful content that answers the typical Melbourne customer's questions.
How to calculate and improve website marketing ROI
Tracking & KPIs you must have
- Sessions, Users, and Source/Medium (Google Analytics/GA4)
- Conversion rate (form submit, call clicks)
- Cost per lead (CPL) and customer acquisition cost (CAC)
- Average lifetime value (LTV) of a customer
Simple ROI formula
Monthly ROI (%) = ((Revenue from leads − Marketing spend) / Marketing spend) × 100. To estimate, multiply leads × conversion rate × average sale value.
Channels to test first in Melbourne
Long-term, highest value.
Fast leads — test suburbs & services.
Good for brand and service promotions.
Tip: Start with a 90-day test budget (small, measurable spend per suburb) and optimise based on CPL and quality of leads.
Real pricing examples for Melbourne businesses
| Type | Typical cost (Year 1) | Delivery time | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| DIY (Wix/Squarespace) | $150–$600 | 2–14 days | Budget solo owners, temporary sites |
| Freelancer (local Melbourne) | $1,200–$4,000 | 1–4 weeks | Simple brochure sites, small portfolios |
| Small Melbourne agency | $4,000–$12,000 | 3–8 weeks | Growing businesses needing local SEO |
| Full digital agency (custom) | $8,000–$40,000+ | 8–16+ weeks | Large businesses, eCommerce, custom integrations |
| Managed subscription (all-in) | $49/month | 24 hrs – 7 days | Busy tradies, service businesses wanting updates included |
Small café in Carlton
Scope: Home, menu, contact, booking widget. Budget: $2,500–$6,000 (including photography).
Plumbing trade in West Melbourne
Scope: Service pages per suburb, GBP setup, calls tracking. Budget: $1,800–$5,000 or $49/mo subscription + ad budget.
Health clinic in Brighton
Scope: Multi-location, booking integration, clinical pages. Budget: $6,000–$18,000 (plus ongoing SEO).
How to save money without losing results
- Prioritise pages: launch with the pages that drive leads (home, services, contact) and add extras later.
- Use a managed subscription: predictable monthly cost often beats an expensive upfront agency fee and reduces hidden ongoing costs.
- DIY content: write service descriptions yourself to save copywriting fees, then upgrade later for professional copy.
- Reuse assets: repurpose existing photos and ask a designer to optimise them rather than ordering a full photo shoot.
Agency vs subscription — which is right for Melbourne businesses?
When you should pick an agency
- Unique integrations, complex booking systems or enterprise needs
- Full branding overhaul with multi-channel campaigns
When subscription / managed site wins
- You want predictable cost and unlimited updates
- Need fast launch (24–72 hours) and local SEO handled
- You prefer month-to-month with no lock-in
Frequently asked questions
How much should a small Melbourne café budget for a good website?
Is a $49/month site sufficient for Melbourne SEO?
How long before I see results from SEO?
Can I keep my existing domain and move to a managed subscription?
Ready to build a high-performing site for your Melbourne business?
Use the budgeting steps above to set a realistic plan, then launch with a provider that includes local SEO, fast mobile pages and tracking so every dollar you spend can be measured.
Want a quick estimate? Prepare your goals and a short list of pages — a clear scope will get you a fast, accurate quote.
