Performance-first websites built on Astro and Netlify. SEO-ready structure, no WordPress bloat, no plugin fragility.
Most Australian business websites are slow, hard to maintain, and built on technology designed for a different era of the web. We build modern websites on Astro — the static-site framework powering DD's own site — that load instantly, rank by default, and never break because a plugin auto-updated overnight.
Why It Matters
Your website is the conversion infrastructure for every other marketing channel. SEO drives traffic to it. Google Ads sends paid traffic to it. Social posts link to it. Email campaigns drive opens back to it. If the website is slow, hard to navigate, or built on a fragile stack, every other marketing investment underperforms.
Most Melbourne businesses we audit have websites that are limiting their growth: page load times above 3 seconds, mobile experience that punishes ranking, WordPress plugin towers that need monthly maintenance, and design from 2018 that signals "small business" to enterprise buyers. The fix isn't a redesign every two years; it's building on a foundation that doesn't decay.
As a senior web design agency Melbourne businesses partner with, we build websites that are fast by default, ranking-ready out of the box, and structurally simple enough that they keep performing year after year. The stack matters. The architecture matters. The design discipline matters.
Services
End-to-end website services for Melbourne businesses ready to build on a modern foundation.
Service 01
Original brand-led design built around your business, your customer, and your conversion goals. No templates, no recycled layouts.
Service 02
Astro and Netlify-based development. Static-first architecture for speed; dynamic where needed for booking, search, e-commerce.
Service 03
Migration from WordPress to Astro with full SEO preservation: redirect maps, content migration, structural improvements during the move.
Service 04
Global CDN, automatic SSL, instant deploys, preview environments. The hosting that makes the development experience modern.
Service 05
Content updates, new sections, security monitoring, performance auditing. Predictable ongoing engagement; no surprise invoices.
Service 06
Independent audits of existing websites (built on any stack). Speed, SEO, conversion, accessibility. Prioritised fix list.
Tech Stack
We don't build on WordPress. Not because WordPress can't work — it powers a huge share of the web. We don't build on it because the maintenance overhead, security exposure, performance tax, and plugin fragility add up to a worse experience for most businesses. Modern web stacks deliver what WordPress promises without the cost.
Astro. Modern static-site framework. Builds your site into pure HTML, CSS, and minimal JavaScript. Result: pages that load in under a second, no server-side rendering vulnerabilities, no plugin chains, no admin panel to keep patched. The same framework we use for digitaldeluxe.com.au.
Netlify. Global CDN-based hosting designed for static sites. Automatic SSL, atomic deploys, preview environments for every change, instant rollback. Modern hosting that just works.
Why this beats WordPress for most businesses: faster pages (Core Web Vitals out of the box), better SEO foundation (clean HTML, fast first paint), no security maintenance (nothing dynamic to attack), no plugin updates breaking the site overnight, lower total cost of ownership over 3–5 years.
Where WordPress still makes sense: heavy editorial content programmes with non-technical content authors, very specific plugin ecosystems (BuddyPress, WooCommerce extensions), genuinely complex membership and forum communities. For most service businesses, none of those apply. For deeper context see our WordPress alternatives comparison.
Process
A clear path from first conversation to launched site, with senior involvement at every stage.
Free 45-minute conversation: business goals, audience, current site performance, content plans, technical requirements. You leave with clarity even if we never work together.
Information architecture, page-level wireframes, user-flow mapping. We agree the structure before we touch design or code.
High-fidelity design across desktop and mobile. Brand-led, accessible, designed around conversion goals. Two rounds of revision included.
Development on Astro with continuous deploys to staging. You see progress as it happens; we iterate on real implementations, not mockups.
SEO-preserving migration if replacing an existing site. 301 redirect map, Search Console submission, deliverability verification, analytics setup.
Optional ongoing maintenance for content updates, new sections, performance monitoring. Or a clean handoff with full documentation for in-house teams.
Who We Work With
Ecommerce. Modern ecommerce stack — usually Shopify for the storefront, Astro for the brand and content layer (blog, about, lookbook). Speed and conversion-rate optimisation as first-class concerns. See our ecommerce marketing service for the broader growth strategy.
Professional services (legal, financial, accounting). Credibility-led design, structured service pages, FAQ-rich content, schema markup baked in. Buyer-journey aware information architecture.
Trades and local services. Local SEO foundation, suburb pages, click-to-call prominence on mobile, lead-form simplicity. Speed because mobile traffic dominates.
B2B and SaaS. Content-heavy structures with strong pillar/cluster architecture, integration pages, comparison pages, case study templates. Designed to support content marketing scale.
For SEO-aligned site architecture across all types see our SEO agency Melbourne service.
Pricing
Brochure / service business websites. $6,000–$20,000 for a properly designed, SEO-ready Astro site (8–20 pages). Below $6,000 you're usually getting templates or offshore work; above $20,000 you're paying for substantial custom design, original photography, complex animations.
Mid-market business sites. $15,000–$40,000 for larger content programmes (30–100 pages), custom integrations (CRM, booking, lead-routing), more sophisticated design systems.
Ecommerce. $10,000–$50,000+ depending on platform choice (Shopify theme customisation vs custom storefront), product catalogue complexity, custom features.
Ongoing maintenance. $500–$2,500/month for typical retainers covering content updates, new sections, performance monitoring, security patches.
For the full pricing breakdown including what should be included in a quote and red flags see our website cost in Melbourne guide.
Migration
Most WordPress sites we audit are paying a hidden tax: monthly maintenance fees, plugin update breakage, security patches, hosting costs. Over 3–5 years the total cost of ownership often exceeds what a properly-built Astro site costs to build and run for the same period.
When migration makes sense: site is slow, plugin tower is fragile, monthly maintenance bills are climbing, security incidents have happened, performance issues are capping SEO. When migration doesn't make sense: heavy editorial workflows with non-technical authors, complex membership or community features, specific plugin dependencies.
The migration process: SEO audit and URL preservation plan, content migration (manual or scripted depending on volume), design refresh during the move, 301 redirect map, Search Console resubmission, post-launch ranking monitoring. Done properly, migration is a ranking lift not a ranking risk. See our website redesign checklist for the full process.
FAQ
Brochure/service business websites typically $6,000–$20,000. Mid-market $15,000–$40,000. Ecommerce $10,000–$50,000+. Below $6,000 you're usually getting templates or offshore work. For the deeper breakdown see our website cost guide.
Typical timeline: 6–12 weeks for a properly-built service-business site. 12–20+ weeks for larger or more complex projects. Faster timelines usually mean cutting corners on discovery, design, or testing.
We don't build new WordPress sites — we build on Astro because it produces faster, more secure, more maintainable sites for most use cases. We do migrate from WordPress, and we audit WordPress sites where the client wants to stay on WordPress and just optimise performance.
Yes — on Netlify. Global CDN, automatic SSL, atomic deploys, preview environments. Modern hosting that just works. Hosting fees roll into ongoing maintenance retainers; no separate hosting invoice surprises.
Optional. Most Astro sites need substantially less ongoing maintenance than WordPress because there's no admin panel to patch, no plugins to update, no constant security exposure. Maintenance retainers typically $500–$2,500/month cover content updates, new sections, performance monitoring.
Astro sites have an SEO advantage out of the box — clean HTML, fast load times, semantic structure. But ranking depends on content quality, link building, and ongoing SEO work. For the full SEO context see our SEO agency Melbourne service.
45 minutes with a senior web designer. We'll review your existing site (or your plans for a new one) and tell you honestly what would move the needle.
No obligation. No sales pitch. We respond within 1 business day.