Media Canberra
Web Design

Custom Website Design and Development

A website built from scratch around how your business actually wins work. Fast, accessible, easy for you to edit, and engineered so that search engines and customers both find what they came for.

A custom site is worth the money when the template is costing you something: speed, credibility, the ability to explain a service that does not fit a standard layout, or the flexibility to add a booking flow or a quoting tool later.

We build in Next.js and React, statically rendered where possible, which is why our sites load quickly on a phone on mobile data. That matters commercially. Most local service enquiries arrive on a phone, and load time is one of the few things you control that affects both ranking and conversion.

Every build is designed around the enquiry. Where the phone number sits, how quickly a visitor can tell whether you cover their suburb, what the form asks for, and what happens after they submit it.

What is included

Design in your brand

Layouts and a type and colour system designed for your business, including dark mode where it suits, rather than a theme with your logo dropped in.

Built for speed

Static rendering, correctly sized and lazy-loaded images, minimal client-side JavaScript, and Core Web Vitals checked before launch.

Technical SEO from day one

Clean URL structure, unique titles and descriptions, structured data, sitemap, robots rules and canonical tags built in rather than retrofitted.

Content editing

A CMS or an admin area so you can change copy, prices and images without calling us. We hand over the login and show you how.

Forms that reach you

Enquiry forms with spam protection, email notification, an acknowledgement to the customer, and a record stored so nothing is lost to a mail filter.

Analytics and tracking

Analytics configured with conversion events for calls, form submissions and bookings, so you can see which pages produce work.

How we work

  1. 01

    Discovery

    We work out who the site is for, what they need to see before they call, and which pages have to exist for search reasons.

  2. 02

    Structure and copy

    Sitemap, page structure and headings first. Design is easier and better when the argument on each page is already settled.

  3. 03

    Design and build

    Design in the browser, reviewed on real devices, built as we go rather than handed over as flat images.

  4. 04

    Launch

    DNS, redirects from every old URL, Search Console verification, sitemap submission, analytics live, then a post-launch check that indexing is happening.

What we do differently

  • Redirect mapping on every rebuild, so a decade of accumulated search equity is not thrown away at launch
  • Real device testing, because a site that is fine on a desktop and awkward on a phone is a broken site
  • Accessible markup and contrast as a build standard, not an afterthought
  • A hosting and deployment setup you could take to another developer tomorrow

Rebuilding an existing site

If you already rank for something, the rebuild plan starts with protecting it. We export the existing URL list, map every page to its replacement, keep the headings that are earning traffic, and watch Search Console closely for the first month.

This is the step most rebuilds skip, and it is the reason so many businesses see traffic fall off a cliff after a redesign that looked like an improvement.

Frequently asked questions

What does a custom website cost?

It depends on page count and functionality. We quote a fixed price per project after a discovery conversation, so you are not exposed to hourly drift.

Can I edit the site myself?

Yes. Every build includes an editing path for the content that changes, and we walk you through it at handover.

Do you host it?

We deploy to modern hosting with a global CDN and can manage that for you as an annual line, or hand the project to your own account if you would rather own it directly.

Will I lose my Google rankings when we relaunch?

Not if the migration is done properly. Redirect mapping, preserved headings and a Search Console watch are standard on every rebuild we do.

Do you work with businesses outside Canberra?

Yes. We are based in Canberra and work with clients along the coast and interstate. The work is done remotely with scheduled calls.

Related work

Often paired with

Or see every service we offer.

Thinking about a new site?

Tell us what the current one is failing to do. We will tell you whether that needs a rebuild or just a fix.