website design hourly rate
A practical, no-nonsense guide to how designers, developers, SEO and ad specialists charge — and how to budget for a real project in 2025.
This guide explains what hourly rates cover, typical ranges in Australia, how to estimate hours for common projects and simple templates you can copy to set a realistic budget for design, SEO and advertising.
What does "website design hourly rate" actually cover?
"Hourly rate" is a unit of billing that covers time a person spends on your project. That time may include discovery, UX and visual design, front-end and back-end development, testing, project management and communication. Different specialists charge different hourly rates — and one hour of a senior developer is not the same as one hour of a junior designer.
Roles commonly billed hourly
- Designer: wireframes, visual mockups, icons and layout.
- Front-end developer: HTML/CSS/JS and responsive work.
- Back-end developer: CMS configuration, integrations, forms.
- SEO consultant: on-page SEO, schema, sitemap and technical fixes.
- PPC/Ads manager: campaign setup, optimisation and reporting.
- Project manager: planning, milestone tracking, client liaison.
What hourly billing includes (and what it doesn't)
Includes:
- Time spent actively working on agreed tasks
- Meetings and documented decisions if agreed in scope
- Revisions within agreed revision policy
Often excluded (confirm in contract):
- Third-party costs (plugins, paid images, ad spend)
- Out-of-scope features or major redesigns
- Ongoing monitoring unless in a retainer
Typical hourly rates (Australia, 2025)
The ranges below reflect market rates in 2025 across freelancers, specialised consultants and agencies. Use them as a planning guide — always confirm the actual price with suppliers.
| Role | Typical AU$ / hour | When to expect it |
|---|---|---|
| Junior designer / developer | $40 – $80 | Basic tasks, templated sites, small edits |
| Freelance mid-level | $80 – $140 | Experienced freelancers handling full site builds |
| Senior developer / UX expert | $140 – $260+ | Complex functionality, performance optimisation |
| Small agency / studio | $100 – $250 | End-to-end service, design + development + PM |
| SEO consultant | $90 – $220 | Technical SEO, audits, strategy |
| PPC/Ads specialist | $80 – $200 | Campaign setup and optimisation |
Note: agencies sometimes package hours into fixed-price phases (discovery, build, launch). Specialist hourly rates (eg. senior dev, technical SEO) are higher because each hour delivers high-impact, low-volume work.
How to estimate hours for a project (simple method)
The simplest, repeatable approach is to break the build into phases, estimate hours per phase and apply realistic hourly rates for each role.
Common project phases
- Discovery & brief: scope, sitemap, goals (2–8 hrs)
- Design (wireframes + visual): initial mockups, revisions (6–20 hrs)
- Development: build templates, CMS setup, responsive (10–40 hrs)
- Content entry & SEO basics: add copy, meta, images (4–12 hrs)
- Testing & launch: QA, cross-device testing, fixes (3–10 hrs)
- Project management & meetings: coordination (5–15 hrs)
Example estimate — small brochure site (5 pages)
Adjust the hourly rate and hours to match the supplier you select. If you prefer a fixed price, ask the supplier to provide the same breakdown so you know what's included.
Quick tips for estimating
- Get hour estimates for each phase in writing — not just a single line item.
- Ask how many rounds of revisions are included (and how long each takes).
- Clarify what's a third‑party cost (stock images, premium plugins, fonts).
- Prefer milestones tied to deliverables, not open-ended hourly billing.
Budgeting for SEO (one-off vs ongoing)
SEO work splits into initial setup (technical fixes, on-page, keyword mapping) and ongoing work (content, link-building, monitoring). Hourly or retainer models are common.
Initial SEO setup (typical tasks)
- Technical audit and fixes (robots, sitemap, speed)
- Page titles, meta descriptions, headings
- Schema markup for local businesses
- Google Search Console & Analytics setup
Hours: 6–20 | Typical cost (mid-rate $120/hr): $720–$2,400
Ongoing SEO
- Content creation (blogs, service pages)
- Monthly optimisation & reporting
- Local citations and review strategy
Monthly retainer: $300–$2,000 depending on scope and outcomes.
If your budget is limited, prioritise technical fixes and local SEO (Google Business Profile). Content can be phased in — invest in the pages that drive enquiries first.
Budgeting for ads (Google Ads / Meta / Microsoft Ads)
Advertising has two cost components: media spend (what you pay the ad platform) and management fees (what you pay the specialist). Management can be hourly, a flat monthly fee, or a percentage of ad spend.
Typical fee approaches
- Hourly: $80–$200/hr for optimisation or setups.
- Flat retainer: $300–$2,000+/month depending on complexity.
- Percentage of spend: 10–20% of monthly ad spend (common for agencies).
Practical sample budgets
Tip: Expect performance to stabilise after 6–8 weeks. Avoid cutting budgets during optimisation windows.
Always ask the ads provider for a forecast: expected CPC/CTR, estimated conversions and a recommended monthly spend. That helps you judge whether management fees are worth the expected return.
Hourly vs fixed-price vs subscription — which should you pick?
Hourly
Good when scope is unknown or for ongoing ad/SEO optimisation.
Pros: flexible. Cons: can become open-ended without tight scope.
Fixed-price
Good for well-defined builds with clear deliverables.
Pros: predictable cost. Cons: changes can mean change orders.
Subscription / retainer
Good for businesses that need continuous updates, hosting, SEO and ad work.
Pros: predictable monthly cost and ongoing improvements. Cons: you rent the service (confirm ownership of content & domain).
Example: If you expect many small edits over time, a subscription or retainer is often cheaper and less disruptive than paying hourly for each change. Services like Congero (flat monthly plans) are examples of subscription models that combine hosting, updates and SEO into one predictable fee — useful for busy small businesses.
How to control and predict your costs
- Define scope clearly: a page list, required integrations, and three rounds of feedback prevents scope creep.
- Ask for an hours breakdown: require phases with estimated hours per role so you can compare bids fairly.
- Use milestones and caps: pay per milestone and include an hours cap for each stage.
- Provide content early: supplying copy and images saves many hours of agency time.
- Batch changes: collect feedback and send consolidated change lists rather than many small requests.
- Consider blocks of hours: pre-purchase 10–20 hours at a reduced hourly rate for ad hoc updates.
Simple contract checklist (copy into your brief)
- Deliverables and pages included
- Number of revision rounds included
- Hourly rates per role and how time is tracked
- Payment milestones and late payment terms
- Who owns the content, designs and domain
- Warranty period and bug fixes after launch
Red flags when comparing hourly quotes
- Vague estimates like "as needed" without hourly caps or milestones.
- No written breakdown of hours per phase.
- Refusal to show examples of similar work or client references.
- Overly low hourly rates with promises of "unlimited changes" — likely unsustainable.
How to pick the right provider
- Check portfolio for similar industry work and performance evidence (load time, mobile layout).
- Ask for a sample phase (e.g. homepage mockup) before committing to full build.
- Prefer transparent reporting: time logs, monthly analytics and campaign reports for ads.
- Confirm ownership of content and domain on contract sign-off.
Copyable estimate template (use this with suppliers)
Send this short template to get comparable quotes:
Project: Small business 5-page brochure site Deliverables: - Homepage, About, Services (3 pages), Contact, Mobile responsive - Contact form, Google Maps, basic on-page SEO, analytics Revisions: 2 rounds design, 2 rounds development Estimated hours: - Discovery: 4 hrs - Design: 12 hrs - Development: 20 hrs - Content & SEO basics: 6 hrs - Testing & launch: 4 hrs - Project management: 6 hrs Please quote: - Hourly rate per role (designer / dev / PM) - Estimated total hours and total cost - What is excluded (plugins, images, premium tools) - Payment milestones
Use the suppliers' breakdown to compare apples-to-apples. If a quote is missing the hours table above, request it.
Frequently asked questions
What's a fair hourly rate for a website in 2025?
Should I always pick fixed price over hourly?
How much should I budget for SEO and ads initially?
Can I reduce costs by doing some work myself?
Practical next steps
1) Use the estimate template above and ask 2–3 suppliers for the same breakdown. 2) Compare hours by phase, not just the headline price. 3) Decide whether fixed price, hourly or subscription fits your business rhythm.
No sales pressure — use this guide to make informed choices. If you want a predictable monthly option that bundles hosting, updates and basic SEO, subscription services exist as an alternative to hourly billing.
