How Much Does a Tradie Website Cost?

Ask five web people what a website costs and you'll get five answers, all of which start with "it depends" and end with a discovery call. So here's the version with actual numbers in it, including ours.

There are really only four ways a tradie ends up with a website, and they cost very different amounts. Here's what each one looks like in practice.

1. Doing it yourself on a site builder

Roughly $20–$50 a month, plus your weekends.

Wix, Squarespace, GoDaddy and the rest charge a monthly plan fee, and you do the work. The plan is the small part of the cost. The real price is the three or four weekends you spend picking templates, fighting with photos and writing the words. Then come the months afterwards where you don't change anything because you've forgotten how.

Worth it if you enjoy that sort of thing. Plenty of tradies try it, get halfway, and leave the half-finished site sitting there.

2. A mate, or a mate's kid

Anywhere from a carton to a couple of grand.

Cheap, and it usually gets built. The problem is what happens after. When they get a real job, move away or just stop answering, you're left with a site nobody can update and logins nobody can find. It's a very common story.

If you go this way, make sure the domain is registered in your name and you have the logins. That one detail saves a world of pain.

3. An agency build

Commonly $3,000 to $10,000 upfront, then hosting and changes on top.

You'll see plenty of quotes in that range, and for a big company with lots of pages and systems to connect, it's fair. For a tradie who needs five good pages and a phone number people can tap, it's a lot of money and usually a lot of waiting. Discovery calls, proposals, revisions, sign-offs, and often weeks before anything is live.

The sting most people don't budget for is afterwards: hosting, a care plan, and an hourly rate every time you want your new number or a fresh photo on there.

4. A monthly plan with nothing upfront

From around $49 a month, with no big bill at the start.

This is what we do, and a handful of others in Australia do something similar. You don't pay thousands upfront. The build, hosting, the padlock in the browser, being set up to be found on Google and the ongoing changes are bundled into one monthly price. The web address itself you normally buy yourself (about $20–$50 depending on the name), so it stays registered in your name.

Ours is $49 a month on Sorted, or $69 on Flash if you want the scroll film and the fancy animations. Nothing upfront, a month's notice to stop, one change a month included, and you don't pay a cent until it's live and you've approved it. Pay for the year in one go and it's 15% off.

The fair warning with any monthly plan, ours included: read what happens if you leave. Some providers keep the website, and you walk away with nothing. Ask that question before you sign up with anyone.

Here's our answer, plainly: the website itself stays with ONYA while you're on the plan, and you can buy it out if you want to own it (we'll quote you). Your domain, words, photos and logo are always yours. If you stop paying, the site comes down. It's all in our terms.

What you should be getting, whatever you pay

Price aside, these should all be included. If they're not, the cheap quote isn't cheap:

• Your own web address (yourbusiness.com.au), bought and registered in your name. It usually costs $20–$50, and whoever builds the site should set it up for you, not own it.
• Hosting and the padlock. The "not secure" warning scares people off.
• Built for phones first. Plenty of people will look you up on their phone, often while they're standing next to the problem.
• Tap-to-call everywhere. Nobody should have to hunt for your number.
• An enquiry form that actually emails you, and gets tested.
• Your trade, your suburbs and your licence number written properly, so Google understands who to show it to.
• A way to make changes without paying for an hour of somebody's time.

The questions to ask before you pay anyone

1. Is the domain in my name, and do I get the logins?
2. What's the total for the first year, including hosting and changes?
3. What happens to the site if I stop paying?
4. How long until it's live?
5. Who writes the words and sorts the photos?
6. What does a change cost after it's live?

Any provider worth paying will answer all six in plain English without a meeting.

So what should it actually cost?

For a tradie who wants to look legit, get found locally and make it easy for people to ring, you don't need a $5,000 website. You need a well-built five-page site, set up properly for Google, that somebody keeps an eye on.

Pay a few thousand upfront if you'd rather own it outright. That's a fair deal too, and our design studio, Fusco Studio (opens in a new tab), does exactly that. Pay monthly if you'd rather keep the cash in the business and have someone looking after it. What you shouldn't do is pay agency money for a template, or pay nothing and end up with a site you can't get into.