If you have ever asked around about getting a website built, you have probably heard everything from “my nephew can do it for a carton” to “that will be ten grand.” Both answers are useless, because neither tells you what you are actually paying for.
So here is a straight answer, with our real prices, from someone who does web design in Gladstone for local and Central Queensland businesses.
Prices below are current as at July 2026. The live version always lives on our services page.
Our prices, in full
We publish our pricing because you should be able to work out roughly where you would land before you ever talk to us.
Brochure website
For local trades and small businesses. A clean, professional 4-6 page site (Home, About, Services, Contact, and an optional Gallery).
- $1,200 - $2,500 to build (one-off), plus $150/month to host and look after it. No lock-in once the build is paid for.
- Or, if the upfront cost is a barrier: $0 upfront, $199/month on a 12-month minimum. The build is funded through the subscription, so it is not free - that is a minimum total of $2,388 over the year.
Enhanced website
For businesses that want the site working harder. Everything above, plus more pages, a gallery or portfolio, booking integration, testimonials, and analytics.
- $2,500 - $5,000 to build, plus $250/month.
Business process application
When it is really software, not a website - booking systems with logins, customer portals, quoting tools, anything with custom business logic.
- $500 - $1,000 for a paid discovery and scoping session, then $2,000 - $10,000+ to build depending on complexity, plus software assurance from $150/month.
We are not registered for GST, so these are the full amounts you pay. There is no GST added on top.
The brochure website is designed for local trades and small businesses that need a professional, findable presence. The enhanced tier fits you if the site has to actively pull its weight - more pages, a portfolio, bookings. The third is for when what you are describing is really software with logins and custom logic; if that is you, you probably already suspect it, and the discovery session is there to tell you honestly whether you do.
What changes the number
Within those ranges, a few real things move the price:
How many pages, and how much they each do. A tidy 4-6 page site sits at the lower end. Ten-plus pages of original content pushes it up.
Photos. Copywriting is included in every tier - you do not pay extra for us to write your words from rough notes or a phone call. Images are the variable. If you have usable photos of your work, great. If we need to source stock imagery, build composites, or process a lot of photos, that is real work and it factors in.
Regulated content. If your industry carries compliance obligations (health, financial, legal), the content needs specialist review, and that sits at the higher end.
Other people we have to coordinate with. If your domain or DNS is managed by an outside IT provider, or you are migrating off an existing platform with notice periods, that coordination takes time.
One thing that is not on the menu: we don't offer logo design. You bring your branding, or we point you to a designer who does it properly.
When the cheapest option is enough, and when it isn't
The nephew-with-a-carton build can be a perfectly fine choice - and sometimes it genuinely is. If you are a booked-out referral business that just needs a simple page so people can check you exist, a DIY site or even a good Google Business Profile might be all you need. We would rather tell you that than sell you something you do not.
Where cheap or DIY tends to fall short is when the site has a real job to do. For a local business, that job is not flashy: it is confirming you are real and legitimate when a referred customer looks you up, making your services and service area clear, showing proof of your work, and being easy to contact. A site that is slow, hard to read on a phone, or not set up to be found does those jobs poorly. We have written about how people size up your business in about three seconds of landing on your site.
So the honest comparison is not just price. It is scope, accountability, whether you can take it with you, and who fixes it when it breaks.
Before you sign anything - the ownership questions
You do not need to become a web expert to avoid getting stuck. Ask these before you sign, with us or anyone:
- Whose name is the domain registered in? It should be yours, from day one. With us it is registered in your name, and for a .au domain you can confirm that yourself on the .au registry (WHOIS) record.
- Who holds the logins? A managed site should not leave you juggling a pile of logins - we handle the day-to-day. But the accounts that are genuinely yours should stay yours: your domain registered in your name, your email mailbox with its own login. Anything a provider manages on your behalf should have clear access and handover terms documented before you sign, so it cannot be kept as leverage if you leave.
- Can you take your content and data with you? Exports should be guaranteed.
- What about the site's code or templates? Be clear on what transfers and what does not - not every arrangement includes the underlying code, and a quote that is vague here is a red flag.
- How do you leave, and what happens when you do? Cancellation, migration, and handover should all be spelled out.
One way businesses get burned is a provider who registers the domain in their own name and holds it hostage on the way out. Our answers to all of the above are in writing before you commit.
What you actually get for the monthly fee
The $150 or $250 a month is not a mystery subscription. It is nameable work: hosting, security, software updates, a mailbox on your own domain, and your content changes each month. Basic SEO setup - page titles, descriptions, headings, local service pages, sitemap and schema - is included in the build so Google can crawl and understand the site. We do not promise rankings or returns; we set the foundations properly.
How to get a real number
Our ranges are public. The final fixed quote depends on your scope - how many pages, what content exists, and which of the drivers above apply. Tell us about your business and we will walk you through exactly where you would land and why.
You are an expert at your trade. Working out what a website should cost is not something you should have to reverse-engineer from vague quotes. That is our job, and we have put the numbers on the table.
Gladstone Digital builds professional, managed websites for tradies and small businesses in Gladstone and Central QLD.
Our pricing is public and our inclusions are clear. Tell us about your business and we will walk you through exactly where you would land.
See what's included and get a scoped quoteNot sure a website is worth it yet? We looked at what that gap quietly costs the businesses that go without one.