A custom website for a trade business in Australia, the UK, or New Zealand typically costs between AUD $1,500–$5,000 (approx. £800–£2,600 / NZD $1,700–$5,500) for a professionally built, mobile-first site with SEO included. DIY builders like Wix or Squarespace cost less upfront but come with ongoing monthly fees and significant limitations for local search performance.
The three main options — and what you actually get
| Option | Cost (AUD) | Cost (GBP) | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| DIY builder (Wix, Squarespace) | $0–$50/mo | £0–£30/mo | Hobbyists; not recommended for a real trade business |
| Freelancer / smaller studio | $1,500–$5,000 | £800–£2,600 | Most small trade businesses — strong value if SEO is included |
| Agency (larger) | $8,000–$25,000+ | £4,000–£13,000+ | Businesses needing complex features, booking systems, or multi-location |
Prices are approximate and vary by project complexity. NZD is roughly equivalent to AUD for most of these categories.
Why DIY builders often cost more in the long run
The Wix or Squarespace monthly fee adds up: at AUD $30–$50/month (around £20–£30), you're paying $600/year for a product you don't own and can't fully control. If the platform changes its pricing or discontinues your plan, your website changes with it.
More significantly: DIY builders are generally poor for local SEO. Their templates generate bloated, slow-loading code that performs badly on Google's Core Web Vitals, and they give you limited control over the technical SEO signals that actually drive local rankings — page structure, schema markup, canonical tags, and location-specific content.
A trade business running on a properly built custom site with SEO from day one will typically outrank the same business on a DIY builder within a few months, without any ongoing advertising spend.
What should be included in the price
- check_circleCustom design — not a purchased template with your logo swapped in
- check_circleMobile-first development — Google ranks mobile performance, not desktop
- check_circleOn-page SEO — titles, meta descriptions, heading structure, schema markup
- check_circleA contact or quote form that actually works and sends to your email
- check_circleDomain registration and hosting for at least the first year
- check_circleGoogle Analytics or equivalent tracking so you can see your traffic
- check_circleA handoff where you own everything — domain in your name, hosting access, code
ecodevz note: All of the above are included as standard in every ecodevz build. Domain registration is in your name from day one — not ours.
Payment structure — what's reasonable
A reputable developer will ask for a deposit to begin work — typically 20–50% of the total — with the balance due on completion or at an agreed milestone. You should never be asked to pay the full amount upfront, and you should never hand over final payment before you've seen and approved the live site.
ecodevz charges a 20% deposit to begin, with the remaining 80% due only after you've seen your site live and working — and every project runs on a written service agreement signed before any work starts.