How to choose a web design agency in Melbourne (and what to ask before you sign)
Three studios, one brief, three very different numbers. The questions below explain the gap — and tell you which end you're being sold.
Ask three Melbourne studios to quote the same small website and the numbers won't be close. Not by a little. By a multiple.
Same brief. The gap isn't skill. It's what's inside the quote — and nobody explains that part unless you ask.
Start at the end: what do you own?
This is the question most owners forget, and it's the one that hurts later.
- The domain. It should be registered in your name, in an account you can log into. Not the agency's.
- The site and its code. Ask whether it transfers to you, and when.
- Your accounts. Google Business Profile, analytics, hosting — all in your name from day one.
If leaving would mean starting from scratch, you're not buying a website. You're renting one.
The questions that separate the good from the rest
Take these to every studio you talk to. The answers are more revealing than the portfolios.
- Is this a fixed price or an estimate? An estimate can move. Ask what would make it move.
- What's not included? Copywriting, photography, mobile testing and hosting are the usual gaps.
- Who actually does the work? Sometimes the person pitching isn't the person building.
- What happens after launch? Who fixes a broken form in month four, and what does that cost.
- Can I edit it myself? If every price change is a support ticket, you'll stop making them.
- What are you doing so people can find it? A site nobody finds is an expensive business card.
- Can I speak to somebody you built for? A short phone call tells you more than a case study.
Warning signs worth walking away from
- A promise about your position on Google. Nobody controls the ranking. Anybody committing to a specific spot is either guessing or hoping you won't check.
- No price until you book a call. Sometimes reasonable for complex work. For a small site it usually means the number depends on what they think you'll pay.
- A portfolio with no live links. Screenshots are easy. Ask for URLs you can open.
- Pressure to sign this week. A discount that expires is a sales tactic, not a deal.
If your budget is around two thousand dollars
That's a real budget and it goes further than people think, as long as you spend it in order.
- A fast site that works properly on a phone. Most of your visitors are on one, standing up, in a hurry.
- Clear pages about what you do and where you do it. This is what gets you found, by Google and by AI assistants.
- Your Google Business Profile, filled in properly. Free, and for a local business it often does more than the website.
- Real photos. Yours, not stock. It's the fastest way to look like a business that exists.
Anything that doesn't help a customer decide to contact you can wait until it's paid for itself.
One last check
Before you sign anything, ask for the price, the inclusions, the launch date and the ownership terms in a single written message.
A studio that works this way will send it back within a day. One that won't has told you something useful for free.
We publish our own numbers so this conversation can start honestly: three fixed packages at A$499, A$1,699 and A$4,800, quoted upfront, everything in your name, no lock-in. You can see how that breaks down on affordable web design in Melbourne, or read what a small business website should cost in Melbourne for the wider market picture.
Get the four answers in writing. Then choose.
