Your Web Designer Is Ripping You Off.
Here's the Receipts.

In 2024, I audited 47 Australian business websites. Not because I wanted to. Because their owners came to me crying — literally, in one case — after spending $4,000, $8,000, even $15,000 on sites that load slower than a Commodore 64 and rank on Google like they're invisible.

Of those 47 sites, 38 were built on purchased WordPress themes that cost the "designer" $79 on ThemeForest. The other 9 were Squarespace or Wix builds that took maybe 6 hours.

Total revenue those "designers" collected? $312,000.

Total time actually spent building? I'd estimate 340 hours combined.

That's $918 per hour for slapping your logo on someone else's template. Not bad work if you can get it.

The $79 Theme Sold for $8,000

Let me tell you about Dave. Dave runs a plumbing business in Penrith. Nice guy. Works hard. Built his trade from nothing.

Dave paid a "web design agency" $7,800 for a "custom website." They sold him on "unique design" and "SEO optimisation." Six months later, Dave's site gets 12 visitors a week. Twelve. He could get more foot traffic standing outside his van with a sandwich board.

I ran Dave's site through a theme detector. Avada theme. $79 on ThemeForest. They didn't even change the default demo colours properly. The contact form still had placeholder text: "Your message goes here."

But here's the part that makes me want to flip a table: the agency charged Dave $180/month for "hosting and maintenance." On a shared hosting plan that costs them $8/month. That's $2,160 a year. For $96 of actual cost.

Dave's total first-year cost? $9,960. For a $79 theme and $96 of hosting.

And Dave's not the exception. He's the rule.

The Three Lies Every Template Agency Tells

Lie #1: "This Is a Custom Design"

No, it's not. Changing the logo and swapping a stock photo of a handshake for a stock photo of a laptop is not custom design. Custom design means someone sat down and thought about your customers, your conversion path, and your brand before writing a single line of code.

A template is designed to work for a florist, a funeral director, and a fintech startup simultaneously. It's designed to be adequate for everyone — which means it's perfect for no one.

The truth: If your designer can't show you a Figma file with your actual brand, your actual content hierarchy, and your actual user flow mapped out before they touch a line of code — you're buying a template with extra steps.

Lie #2: "We Optimise for SEO"

Let me translate agency-speak for you. "We optimise for SEO" means they installed Yoast SEO and wrote a meta description. That's like saying you're a Formula 1 driver because you own a steering wheel.

Real SEO optimisation looks like this:

• Intentional heading hierarchy (one H1, logical H2s and H3s — not just styled text)
• Schema markup that tells Google what your content actually means
• Page speed under 1.5 seconds on mobile (not the 6-second death march most templates serve)
• Image optimisation that doesn't crush your Largest Contentful Paint
• Internal linking architecture that distributes authority across your site
• Clean, semantic HTML that Google's crawlers can actually parse

A template site has none of this by default. And most agencies charging $5,000+ don't do it either, because it requires actual technical skill — not just clicking "install plugin."

Lie #3: "Monthly Maintenance Is Essential"

This is my favourite. The monthly maintenance fee is the gift that keeps on giving — for the agency, not for you.

Here's what "maintenance" actually means for most template sites:

• Clicking "update" on WordPress plugins once a month (takes 4 minutes)
• Running an automated backup (literally zero human intervention)
• Sending you a PDF report generated by a free tool

For this, they charge $150–$300/month. Forever. You don't own your website — you're renting it from someone who installed a free theme.

The truth: A properly built custom static site doesn't need monthly maintenance. No plugins to update. No security patches. No database to break. It just works. That's why HEKAWEB builds are one-time payment. You own it. Full stop.

So What Should You Actually Pay?

Let's get specific. Here are the real numbers based on what I charge and what the market actually costs when you're not being gouged:

Notice something? Even our most expensive tier costs less than what most agencies charge for a template. And you own it outright. No monthly fees. No lock-in. No "maintenance" ransom.

How to Spot a Rip-Off Before You Pay

Here are five red flags that scream "we're about to overcharge you for a template":

1. They won't show you their design process. Real designers have wireframes, mood boards, and prototypes. Template installers have a ThemeForest login.
2. They charge ongoing fees for "hosting." If they own your hosting, they own your website. Run.
3. Their portfolio sites all look suspiciously similar. Same layout. Same fonts. Same slider. Different logo. That's a template farm, not a design studio.
4. They can't explain their SEO strategy in technical terms. "We use Yoast" is not a strategy. It's a plugin.
5. They promise rankings in 30 days. Anyone promising fast rankings is either lying or planning to use black-hat tactics that will get you penalised.

The Bottom Line

I'm not saying all web designers are crooks. Some are genuinely talented craftspeople who charge fair prices for excellent work. But the Australian market is absolutely flooded with agencies selling $79 templates for $8,000 and calling it "bespoke design."

Your website is your digital storefront. It's your 24/7 salesperson. It should be built with intention, skill, and care — not downloaded from a theme marketplace and resold at a 10,000% markup.

If you've already been burned, don't feel stupid. These agencies are good at selling. That's their actual skill — sales, not design. The good news? A bad website can be fixed. And it doesn't have to cost the earth.

If you want an honest assessment of your current site — no pitch, no pressure — send me your URL. I'll tell you exactly what you're working with and whether you've been overcharged. Fair's fair.