You’re paying for five things: the build spread over time, hosting and keeping the site running, every change you ask for, a redesign every three years, and the two people who do all of it. On our plans that’s $200, $300 or $500 a month plus GST, depending on how many pages you need, for a six-month minimum, then month to month.
Every website has running costs, even one you built yourself: the builder’s plan or the hosting, someone’s time for the changes, and the domain renewal once a year. On our plans everything except the domain is in the one fee, and the domain stays in your name.
A monthly fee is easy to resent eight months in, when nothing seems to be happening, so here’s where it goes.
What each plan includes
| Plan, a month plus GST | What you get |
|---|---|
| Every plan | The design and build, the words written for you, hosting, your Google Business Profile set up, your site set up in Google Search Console, unlimited changes, anything broken fixed within two working days, 90 or better on Google’s mobile speed test, a check on the site every five minutes, a speed re-test every month, a monthly email with your numbers, spam-filtered forms, a preview image for shared links, an email address on your domain if it doesn’t have one, commenting on the site while we build it, and an optional redesign every three years |
| Starter, $200 | Five pages, and changes within five working days |
| Business, $300 | Ten pages, a blog, one integration such as your booking system or newsletter, and changes within three working days |
| Growth, $500 | Fifteen pages, an editor for the words and photos, integrations included, your own analytics dashboard, a fuller monthly report with the Google searches that found you, and changes within two working days |
The build, spread out instead of paid upfront
The biggest part is the site itself: a custom five-page build, with the words written and your Google Business Profile set up, is worth a few thousand dollars, and the plan carries it instead of you paying on day one.
That’s why every plan starts with a six-month minimum. Leave inside the six months and the rest of the six months is owed. On Starter that whole commitment is $1,200 plus GST. After that you’re month to month and can stop any time.
Hosting, and keeping it running
Hosting is the servers your site sits on, and the better it works, the more it looks like you’re paying for nothing. You’re paying for the site not to fall over on the Saturday your ad goes out.
A check runs every five minutes and alerts Craig if the site is down, and every month we re-run Google’s speed test and fix anything that slips under 90. Your forms are spam-filtered, and a monthly email shows your visits, phone taps and forms sent, so we can both see whether the site is bringing in work.
Every change you ask for
Changes are unlimited, and you ask by message rather than logging in to anything: new prices, a staff photo, different hours over Christmas, or a page for a new service as long as it fits your plan’s page count. Each is made within your plan’s turnaround, and none is invoiced afterwards. At an Auckland agency, changes after launch are billed at $170 an hour and up plus GST.
Building something new, rather than changing what’s there, is by the hour, priced before the work starts.
A redesign every three years, if you want one
Three years after your site goes live, you can have it redesigned: a new look, and the pages restructured if your business has moved on. It costs nothing extra at your plan’s page count; more pages means moving up a plan. We’ll let you know when it’s due, and you decide whether and when to have it. If you’re happy with the design you have, keep it.
Craig and Emma, the two people behind it
The fee buys two people as much as it buys a website. Between them they build your site, run it, make the changes and keep an eye on whether it’s bringing in work, for as long as you’re with us. Emma designs and builds every site herself, and nothing goes out to a contractor. Craig answers the phone and the email and looks after you once the site is live, so there’s no ticket to open and nobody new to explain your business to. He replies usually the same day, and always within one working day.
Two people is a real limit: anything broken is fixed within two working days on every plan, but that means working days, not weekends or public holidays. In return you deal with the same two people every time.
Who owns what, plainly
You hold a licence to use the site while you’re with us, and we keep the design and the code. Your domain is yours: it is registered in your name and you pay its renewal.
If you stop paying after the six months, the site comes down. Your domain, your Google listing, and the photos and anything else you gave us stay yours for whatever you build next.
When it’s worth it, and when it isn’t
It’s worth it when your site has to keep changing with your business and bring in work. When it’s working, the phone rings and the website is one thing you never have to think about again.
If your site is going up once and never changing, a one-off build is the better deal. Read what one costs, small print included before you choose.
Either way, a website that never rings the phone isn’t good value at $200 a month or at $49, plus GST. The test is whether it’s fast, findable, and clearly says what you do, and speed is the one you can check today.
Start with the site you have
Run the free report on your current site. Google scores it out of 100 for speed, and the report says in plain English what’s dragging it down. It usually arrives within five minutes, and if it comes back fine, we’ll say so.