Website Design for Small Business
A website that explains what you do, brings in enquiries and is looked after properly once it goes live. Built by our team in Port Melbourne.
Small business website design in Melbourne
Website design for small business is a different job from building a website for a large company. You don't have a marketing department, you don't have time to write a long brief, and every dollar you spend needs to bring something back. IDM2 is a website design and development team based in Port Melbourne. We build websites for small businesses across Melbourne and further afield, and we keep looking after them once they are live.
What you get
- A design that fits your business. We start from one of our more than 70 ready-made WordPress designs, or create a custom one, and change it to match your logo, colours and fonts so it looks like your business and nobody else's.
- A website you can change yourself. We build on WordPress, the system that runs the website behind the scenes. It lets you change text, swap photos and add news posts from your web browser without calling us.
- A website that works on phones. We check every page on a mobile phone before launch, because many of your customers will find you on their phone first.
- Easy ways to contact you. Enquiry forms, buttons that ring your phone when someone taps them, and a Google map that shows where you are.
- Room to grow. If you later want to sell products or take bookings online, those can be added to the same website.
- Training at the end. We hand over your logins and a short training video that shows you how to manage your website.
Keeping the cost sensible
If you are looking for affordable website design in Melbourne, the biggest saving usually comes from starting with one of our WordPress packages instead of a fully custom design. The packages combine the features small businesses ask for most, and they cost about half as much as a custom website. You can see what each package includes on our WordPress websites page.
Have a look at Acreda Accounting, Melino Legal and the rest of our portfolio to see the kind of work we do.
How the process works, and how much of your time it takes
Most of the work is ours. Your part is mainly at the start, when we learn about your business, and near the end, when you look over the new website and tell us what to change. In between, you can get on with your own work. How much time you spend depends mostly on how much of your content is already written, but here is what each step involves.
- A first meeting. We talk about what your business does, who your customers are and what you want the website to do, for example bring in more phone calls or quote requests.
- Choosing a look. You pick a design you like from our demo websites, or we design one for you.
- Building on a private test website. We build your new website on a temporary server that the public can't see, so nothing changes until you are happy.
- Adding your brand and content. We add your logo, colours, fonts, pages, text, photos and videos.
- Testing. We check the design, the layout, the words, how it looks on a phone and every link.
- Your review. We send you a link to the test website. You ask for changes or approve it.
- Going live and training. We launch the website, hand over your logins and send you a short training video.
- Looking after it. We keep the website secure, fast and up to date for as long as you want us to.
What to have ready before we start
You don't need everything sorted before you talk to us. But the more of these you have, the smoother the project goes.
- Your logo. Send the best copy you have. If you don't have a logo yet, tell us and we can talk about it.
- Access to your domain name. Your domain name is your web address, for example yourbusiness.com.au. We need access to it so we can point it at your new website. If you are not sure who holds it, we can help you find out.
- Words about your business. A few lines about each service, the areas you cover and your opening hours. Rough notes are fine. We can also write the content for you, as we did for Gateway Tax & Advisory.
- Photos. Real photos of you, your team, your work or your premises help people trust you. If you don't have any, we can find and edit suitable images.
- Two or three websites you like. They don't need to be in your industry. They simply help us understand your taste.
- One main goal. For example, more phone calls, more quote requests, or fewer of the same questions arriving by email.
Looking after your website once it is live
A website is never really finished. WordPress and the add-ons that run on it, called plugins, release regular updates, and websites that miss those updates are easier to break into. A broken website can also cost you enquiries for days before anyone notices. That is why we offer website hosting and maintenance care plans.
With a care plan, your website is hosted on premium servers in Australia and we look after it for you. That includes WordPress, software and security updates, daily security scans, daily backups stored away from your website, round-the-clock checks that tell us if your website goes down, and a monthly maintenance report. Every plan also includes support hours that you can use for changes to your website or for help with computers and email. There is no long-term contract, so you can cancel at any time.
Common questions about small business websites
How much does a small business website cost?
It depends on how many pages you need and what the website has to do, such as taking bookings or selling products. A website built from one of our WordPress packages costs much less than a fully custom design. Our WordPress websites page lists what each package includes, and we will give you a quote after our first chat.
Can I update the website myself?
Yes. We build on WordPress, which lets you change text, photos and pages from a simple editor in your web browser. When the website goes live we give you your logins and a short training video. If you would rather not do it yourself, the support hours in our care plans can be used for changes.
Do I need to write all the words myself?
No. Rough notes are enough to get started. We can write the content and find suitable images for you, which we have done for several of our small business clients.
Will my website work on mobile phones?
Yes. Checking how every page looks and works on a mobile phone is part of our testing before any website goes live.
Will my new website show up on Google?
A well built website gives Google a clear picture of what you do and where you work, but no honest agency can promise you a top position. If you want to climb higher in Google results over time, our search engine optimisation (SEO) service works on exactly that.
Do you only work with businesses in Melbourne?
No. Our office is in Port Melbourne and we are happy to meet local clients in person, but we also work with businesses in other parts of Australia and overseas by phone and video call.
Ready to talk about your small business website?
