For Newcastle businesses whose website never rings the phone
I rebuilt my own website more times than I'd like to admit. That's honestly most of what you're paying for: the version of me that already got it wrong, on my own money.
A report on your own website, showing what happens when someone lands on it and what is quietly costing you the calls.
By Reece Rainer
spareday, Newcastle NSW
Last updated
27 August 2026
Read time
3 minutes
Four questions, then a straight comparison of the ways you could get this done, including the ones that aren't me.
I've been the customer for bad web work as well as the person selling good web work, and the second one is much easier after the first.
The pitch is at the bottom of the page and it's two lines long.
Not pages. You're buying the answer to three questions a stranger asks in about four seconds: what is this, is it near me, and can I trust it. Everything else is decoration you're paying for.
Not pages, and not a design. You're buying the answer to three questions a stranger asks in roughly four seconds: what is this, is it near me, and can I trust whoever runs it.
Everything a designer does either helps with one of those three or is decoration you're paying for. It's a useful lens to hold a quote up against.
It's also why the good version of this job is quite boring. Fast, clear, honest, easy to ring.
An agency suits a business that already has a marketing person. A cheap freelancer suits someone who needs something up this month. Doing it yourself suits anyone who enjoys it. One person suits owners who'd rather ask a question than raise a ticket.
I'm one person, so you'd expect a certain answer here. Instead, here's the version I'd give a friend over a coffee.
| option | what you get | who it honestly suits |
|---|---|---|
| An agency | A team, a documented process, and an account manager between you and the work | Businesses that already have a marketing person, or five things running at once |
| A cheap freelancer | A website, fast, for the least money on the table | A brand new business that needs something up this month |
| Doing it yourself | Total control, and a long weekend or three | Anyone who enjoys it and has the time to keep at it |
| One person, me | The same person who quoted it, built it, and still answers the phone in a year | Owners who'd rather ask a question than raise a ticket |
None of those four is wrong. They're answers to different problems.
The map results decide most of it. They sit above the ordinary results and they're picked on how consistent and how trusted your business looks, not on how your site looks. Your listing, your pages and your reviews have to agree with each other.
The map results decide most of it. They sit above the ordinary results, and they get picked on how consistent and how trusted a business looks rather than on how its website looks.
So your listing, your pages and your reviews all have to agree about your name, your address and the work you do. It sounds petty. It's most of the game.
Which is why I'll occasionally talk somebody out of a rebuild and into a fortnight of tidying up a Google listing.
The domain, the hosting, the analytics and your Google listing, in accounts you can log into today rather than ones belonging to whoever built the site. Ask for the logins in writing before you pay a deposit, not after the build.
The domain, the hosting, the analytics and your Google listing. In accounts you can log into today, not ones belonging to whoever built the site.
Ask for those logins in writing before you pay a deposit rather than after the build. A no to that question tells you everything about the day you'd like to leave.
Mine is month to month for the same reason. If the work is good, you shouldn't need to be locked in to keep it.
If you do one thing after reading this, run the checks on your own phone, and let the answer decide whether you're buying a website or a fortnight on your Google listing.
Yes, and I'd often rather start there. A quiet good site beats a new one nobody finds.
On your own phone, on a private link, before anything switches over.
You take everything and go. It's month to month and all of it is already in your name.
He was able to take our rough ideas, from concept through to reality. The site has provided an influx of new members, helping to keep our club viable.
A passion-driven, good-hearted and reliable service provider with the competency of a genius when it comes to software engineering, AI technology and marketing.
He created a stunning website for us that captures and nurtures leads with an automated email marketing system, which has filled a huge gap in the business and saved a lot of time (and money!).