The honest spread
For Australian solo and small-firm websites in 2026, the realistic range is $4,000 to $25,000. The spread sounds vague - but it's the truthful one. Most agencies will quote you a single number; here is what that number is really paying for.
- $4–7k (Launch): a custom, mobile-first 5–7-page site for a solo practitioner. One practice area, one location page, intake form, click-to-call, accessibility, schema and on-page SEO. Suitable to get online properly and start collecting reviews.
- $8–14k (Practice): a real page system - up to 6 practice-area × city pages, legal SEO, Google Business Profile, Conduct-Rules-aware content per area, and conversion tracking. This is the band most small firms competing on Google should sit in.
- $15k+ (Growth): a full practice-area page system across multiple cities, ongoing SEO and content retainer, conversion testing and reporting. Sensible for multi-area or multi-location firms.
What actually drives the cost
Three things - in this order of impact:
- Number of substantive pages. Every real practice-area, city or matter-type page takes time to write and to design. Five pages is not the same project as twenty-five.
- Custom vs template. A truly bespoke design takes ~2–4× the time of a styled template. For most small firms a tightly customised template gives 90% of the benefit at 50% of the cost - it is not where to spend extra.
- Content writing. Genuine Conduct-Rules-aware legal copy is the most underbudgeted line item. Buying design and writing the copy yourself almost always fails - you'll end up paying for both.
Where firms waste money
- Paying for "stunning" custom design when the practice area is comparison-shopped on price (conveyancing, drink-driving, wills) - clarity beats artistry there every time.
- Paying for a 30-page programmatic location map across suburbs the firm doesn't realistically service. Google penalises thin templated pages and prospects sense them instantly.
- Paying for "law firm websites" from a generalist agency that learns the Conduct Rules on your budget.
- Paying separately for hosting, SEO, content and care plans bundled in confusing tiers - bundle them, demand transparency.
What a fair quote looks like
Fixed scope in writing before any work starts. A page-by-page list (not "a website"). A separate, transparent care-plan/hosting fee. Ownership of the site, content and domain on day one - no lock-in. If a quote doesn't have all four, ask why.
Quick sanity check: divide the quote by the number of substantive pages and the months of ongoing work. If it works out to less than $400 per substantive page or less than $300/month for ongoing care, you're probably about to receive a template with a markup. If it works out to more than $1,500 per page for a small-firm site, you're probably paying for an agency's overhead, not your site.
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