You’re ready to get your small business online, but you’re stuck at a critical decision point.
Should you hire an expensive web design agency, DIY with Wix, or go with affordable website packages by The Web Shop?
This honest comparison cuts through the marketing noise and shows you exactly what each option delivers, what it really costs, and which one makes sense for your business.
No technical jargon. No bias. Just the facts you need to make the right choice.
The Three Options Explained
Web Design Agency
What you get: A unique design built from scratch specifically for your business.
What it costs: $5,000-$15,000+ upfront, then ongoing hourly fees for any changes.
Time investment: 6-12 weeks of meetings, feedback rounds, and revisions.
Best for: Large businesses with complex needs and budgets over $10,000.
DIY Builders (Wix/Squarespace)
What you get: A template you customise yourself using drag-and-drop tools.
What it costs: $300-$1,500 per year in subscription fees.
Time investment: 20-100+ hours learning the platform and building everything yourself.
Best for: Hobbyists or businesses with extreme budget constraints and plenty of time.
Our Website Packages
What you get: Professional design delivered completely done-for-you by experts.
What it costs: $297-$897 one-time setup fee.
Time investment: Zero. We handle everything from design to content to images.
Best for: Small-medium businesses who want quality results without the hassle or agency prices.
The Complete Comparison
| What Matters to You | Web Design Agency | Wix/Squarespace | Our Packages |
|---|---|---|---|
| Year 1 Total Cost | $6,200-$18,600 | $324-$1,080 | $547-$1,147 |
| Year 5 Total Cost | $10,000-$30,000+ | $1,620-$5,400 | $1,547-$2,147 |
| Time to Get Online | 6-12 weeks | Hours-days (if skilled) | 5-10 business days |
| Your Time Required | Meetings, revisions | 20-100 hours | None – we do it all |
| Website Speed | Variable | Slow (3-6 seconds) | Ultra-fast (under 1 second) |
| Looks Professional? | Yes | Depends on your skills | Yes |
| Works on Mobile? | Yes | Basic | Yes, perfectly |
| Shows Up on Google? | Yes (if they do SEO) | Difficult | Yes, SEO-ready |
| Who Writes Content? | You, or pay extra | You | We write it for you |
| Who Finds Images? | You, or pay extra | You | We source them |
| Need a Logo? | Pay extra | DIY or pay extra | Included (Lite package) |
| Updates After Launch? | $100-$200/hour | You do it | We handle it |
| Technical Problems? | Pay hourly | You troubleshoot | We fix it |
| Stuck with Platform? | No | Yes (hard to leave) | No |
| Perth-Based Support? | Usually | No (overseas) | Yes, local |
What You Actually Get with Each Option
Web Design Agencies: The Good and Bad
The pros: Truly unique design, unlimited customisation, high-end result.
The cons: Every little change costs $100-$200 per hour. Long timeline means waiting months. Expensive ongoing maintenance. Your budget can blow out easily. Lots of your time spent in meetings.
Reality check: If you have $10,000+ and genuinely complex needs, agencies deliver excellent results.
For most small businesses? It’s overkill and overpriced.
Wix/Squarespace: What They Don’t Tell You
The pros: Cheap to start, quick if you’re tech-savvy, complete control.
The cons: YOU do all the work – design, content, images, setup, everything. Slow websites mean Google penalties and lost customers. Hard to rank on search engines. Looks like a template (customers notice). Hidden costs add up fast. Your time equals your money (20-100 hours building).
Reality check: Only worth it if your time has no value, or you genuinely enjoy learning web design.
Most business owners have better things to do than become amateur web designers.
The Web Sbop Packages: Everything Included
What’s included:
- Professional custom design (not templates)
- We write all your content
- We source professional images
- Logo design if you need one
- Contact forms, Google Maps, Reviews integration
- Mobile-optimised for perfect phone display
- Ultra-fast loading speeds
- SEO-ready to show up on Google
- Perth-based team
What you do: Nothing. We handle everything.
Your time investment: 30 minutes answering questions about your business. 15 minutes reviewing the design. That’s it.
According to Forbes, the average small business website costs between $2,000-$10,000 when built professionally.
Our packages deliver the same professional quality at a fraction of that cost.
Speed Matters More Than You Think
Slow websites cost you real money every single day.
Google pushes slow sites down in search results. A 1-second delay means 7% fewer customers complete purchases. Mobile users abandon sites that take over 3 seconds to load.
Your competitors with faster sites are getting the customers you’re losing.
Speed comparison:
- Wix/Squarespace: 3-6 seconds (customers wait and leave)
- Typical agency WordPress: 2-4 seconds (acceptable but not great)
- Our packages: Under 1 second (customers stay and buy)
Real example: A tradie’s Wix website took 5 seconds to load on mobile.
He lost 40% of mobile visitors before they even saw his services.
After switching to our packages, his site loads in 0.8 seconds. Mobile enquiries increased 45%.
Research from Google shows that 53% of mobile users abandon sites that take longer than 3 seconds to load.
Speed equals money. We use enterprise technology that DIY platforms can’t match.
No technical knowledge needed from you – it just works fast.
When to Choose Each Option
Choose a Web Design Agency When:
- Your budget is $10,000 or more
- You need truly unique functionality
- You’re a large established business
- Timeline doesn’t matter (happy to wait months)
- You have complex integration requirements
Don’t choose if: Budget under $5,000, need it done quickly, simple business website needs, don’t want ongoing hourly charges.
Example: A mining company needs a custom staff portal with five user levels, API integration, and complex workflows. A web design agency makes sense here.
Choose Wix/Squarespace When:
- Your budget is under $500 total
- It’s a hobby or personal project (not business-critical)
- You have 20-100 hours to learn and build
- You’re tech-savvy and patient
- You enjoy DIY projects
Don’t choose if: Your time is valuable, you want professional results, you need Google rankings, you’re not technical, it’s for an actual business making money.
Example: An artist’s portfolio, personal blog, or hobby site where professional design doesn’t matter much. Wix works fine here.
Choose Our Packages When:
- You’re a small-medium business
- Budget $500-$1,500 first year
- Want professional quality at affordable price
- Don’t have time to DIY
- Want it done in days, not months
- Need ongoing support included
- Care about speed and Google rankings
- Want local Australian support
Don’t choose if: You want to make frequent updates to the website content yourself, or you want to run a blog.
Example: Most small businesses. Tradies, professional services, retail, healthcare, consultants, coaches. Anyone who needs customers from their website.
The Hidden Costs Nobody Tells You
Web Design Agency Hidden Costs
Initial quote: $8,000
- Small design change: +$200
- Add contact form: +$300
- Hosting setup: +$800
- SSL certificate: +$150
- Logo design: +$1,500
- Content writing: +$2,000
- Image sourcing: +$500
- Maintenance contract: +$200/month
Actual Year 1: $15,000+
Then every change after launch: $100-$200 per hour.
Wix/Squarespace Hidden Costs
Monthly subscription: $27
- Professional email: +$10/month
- SEO app: +$15/month
- Booking system: +$20/month
- E-commerce features: Upgrade to $40/month
- Custom domain: +$20/year
Actual cost: $800-$1,200 per year
Plus your time:
- Learning the platform: 20 hours
- Building your site: 40 hours
- Ongoing updates: 5 hours per month
Your time: 100+ hours per year
If your time is worth $50 per hour, that’s $5,000 in opportunity cost.
Our Packages – Truly All-Inclusive
Setup: $297-$897 (one-time)
Annual hosting: $250
- Content writing: Included
- Professional images: Included
- Logo (Lite): Included
- Your time: 45 minutes total
Actual Year 1: $547-$1,147
Your time: Under 1 hour
Only pay extra for: Additional pages or custom features, quoted upfront with no surprises.
Industry research from Clutch shows that small business websites typically cost $2,000-$9,000 when factoring in all design, development, and content costs.
Our affordable web solutions eliminate these hidden costs entirely.
Decision Made Simple
Answer these three questions:
1. What’s your budget?
- Under $600 → DIY (but expect to invest 100 hours)
- $600-$2,000 → Our Packages ✓
- Over $5,000 → Custom Agency
2. What’s your time worth?
- I have 100 hours to learn → DIY
- My time is valuable → Our Packages ✓
- I have time for agency meetings → Custom Agency
3. What matters most?
- Cheapest option: DIY
- Professional + Affordable + Fast: Our Packages ✓
- Unlimited customisation: Web Design Agency
For 80% of small businesses, professional packages are the right answer.
The Bottom Line
Most small businesses don’t need a $10,000 custom website.
But they also shouldn’t be wasting 100 hours on Wix.
Professional packages give you agency-quality results at a price that makes sense, without the DIY hassle or the waiting time.
You get professional design, fast delivery, ongoing support, and local Australian service – all for less than what you’d spend on a year of DIY subscriptions when you factor in your time.
Next steps:
- Explore our affordable website packages
- View our live package demos
- See our full range of website packages Perth options
Bookmark this page and share it with your business partner or team when making the decision.
Choose what’s right for your business, not what marketing hype tells you to choose.