Newtech Civil
Matt’s concrete and civil contracting business. Builders, councils and homeowners see the work, then ring him.
I build websites out of the Hunter Valley
This is home, so it is the one part of the country where I already know what the businesses are up against. The work itself goes anywhere in Australia.
Nearly every business I talk to is in one of two situations. Either there is no website at all, and everything runs on a Facebook page and word of mouth, or there is one somebody else built and it is not doing anything. Slow on a phone, impossible to change, or just never what was asked for.
Neither of those is a design problem exactly. They are both the same problem: the business has outgrown how it looks online, and nobody has had a spare week to do something about it. That is the job.
Everything I build is custom code. No page builders, no templates, no theme somebody else is also using down the road. It is worth saying out loud because a lot of what gets sold to small businesses around here is the opposite of that, and it is why so many of them end up stuck.
The same problem, three ways it turns up
In a town that is growing quickly, it turns up as strangers. More and more of the people who need what you do have no history with you, and they find a business the way everybody finds things now, by typing it into a phone. Being well known stops being enough once most of the town has not met you yet.
Where a lot of businesses run off a Facebook page, it turns up as reach. A page is built for the people who already follow you. Somebody new to the area, or planning a visit from somewhere else, is not following anybody yet. They search, and a website is what gives them something of yours to find.
And where word of mouth still does most of the work, it turns up in the minute after the recommendation. Somebody hears your name, pulls out their phone before they ring, and decides from what they find whether you are worth the call. If they find nothing, the recommendation does less than it should.
Those sound like three different problems. They are one: the business is better than it looks online. The fix is the same job each time, and the pages below go into each one properly.
Towns with a page of their own
I am writing one properly at a time rather than putting up a dozen at once with the name swapped over, which is what most of these pages are. Each one is about that town or it does not go up.
- Web design in Upper HunterWord of mouth, the search that comes straight after it, and the two Muswellbrook businesses I already look after.
- Web design in CessnockWhat a website does that a Facebook page cannot, and why you keep the page anyway. Covers Kurri Kurri and the vineyards.
- Web design in MaitlandWhat a fast-growing town does to a business that is not online properly, and what to do if somebody has already built you a site that is not working.
If your town is not on that list it changes nothing about what I can do for you. The page is a piece of writing about a place, not a service area I am limited to. Send me a message wherever you are.
What you get, whichever one you are
Every site is built from scratch, in code, for that one business. There is no page builder and no template underneath, which is why they load quickly on a phone and why yours will not look like the one down the road.
Everything is yours. You own the website, the words and the images, and the domain is always in your own name with me added as a helper. While you are on a monthly plan I host the site on my account, as part of the plan. If we ever part ways you keep the lot, and I will move the site and its code to you for free.
And somebody keeps looking after it. Your first month of care is included in every build. After that you can stay on a monthly plan or take the site and run it yourself, and you can stop a plan whenever you like.
What it costs, before you ask
Every price is published, which is unusual enough in this trade to be worth pointing at. Builds, monthly plans and add-ons are all on the one pricing page, with what is included in each. You can work out whether this is worth a conversation before you have one, which is the whole idea.
Live sites
Three sites I have built, all live. Two are for Muswellbrook businesses, a civil contractor and a recovery studio, and the third is a virtual assistant business that runs online.
Revive Hub
Nat’s recovery studio, seven recovery services under one roof. Her customers find what they need and book it from their phone.
“Ben just got it. He took the time to understand my business, what I stand for and, more importantly, how I need to come across to potential clients. His communication is exceptional, he works bloody quickly and he made the whole process feel easy.”
Her Biz Bestie
Paige’s virtual assistant business. Small business owners find her on Instagram, land here and get in touch.
“Great experience, my website is exactly what I wanted. Easy to talk to and work with, highly recommend.”
All the case studies in full cover what the problem was, what got built and what it does now.
Common questions
Do you only work with businesses in the Hunter Valley?
No. This is home, so it is where I can sit down with you in person, but the work goes anywhere in Australia. Nothing about a build depends on being nearby, and most of it happens over messages and calls anyway. If your town does not have a page on this site, that changes nothing about what I can do for you.
What are the signs a website needs replacing?
Slow to load, awkward on a phone, no clear way to get in touch, and nobody left who can log in to update it. Any one of those is a fair reason to look at a rebuild. If a few sound familiar, it is usually a smaller job than people expect.
What do I need to have ready before we start?
Not much. A rough idea of what the site has to do, any photos you want on it, and answers to a few questions about the business. I write the words on most builds, so you talk and I type. Anything that is yours to supply is due within 14 days of kickoff, and it is all listed in writing up front.
Why does one website quote cost three times another?
Because they are rarely the same job. The gap usually comes from how many pages there are, who writes the words, whether the site takes payments or bookings, and whether it is built for you or poured into a template. Two quotes for a website can be pricing completely different things.
What is included in the price of a build?
The design, the build itself, two rounds of changes, setting the site up so Google can find it, and the first month of the Plus plan. From Starter up, I write every word for you. The site and the domain are yours, and you get the exact figure in writing before you agree to anything.
It starts with a conversation.
Tell me about your business and what you’d love it to become. No pitch, just a chat to see if I can help.