What you get for $0 upfront and $39 a month, how online booking, deposits and reminders work, who owns what, and who it does not suit.
Aglet builds your website for $0 upfront and charges $39/month. The monthly price covers hosting, SSL, backups, SEO, analytics, enquiry forms and moving your old site across. Online booking with live availability, deposits and reminders is built into the site. The catch is that the site is a monthly service, not something you buy once, and the scope is limited.
Here is how it works in plain terms.
What you pay
You pay nothing to have the site built. From launch, you pay $39/month. There is no setup fee and no lock-in contract, and we do not add hidden fees. Check the estimate for your own scope, because larger jobs such as online shops are quoted separately.
What is included
- Design and build of a custom business site
- Migration from your current site, with redirects so existing links keep working
- Enquiry forms that send messages to your inbox
- Local SEO baseline and analytics, so you can see who visits
- Hosting, SSL and backups
- Monthly content edits
- Online booking, with live availability, deposits and reminders
How booking works for your customer
A customer finds you on Google and opens a service page. They choose a service, then pick a time from live availability. The calendar only shows times you are free, so nobody asks for a slot you cannot do.
If you take deposits, the customer pays at the time of booking. That commits them to turning up and cuts no-shows. They then get a confirmation, and a reminder before the appointment.
You get the booking in your diary and an email. The point is less phone tag, fewer missed enquiries and fewer empty slots.
Booking is part of the monthly price, not an add-on. We set it up around your services, staff and hours when we build the site.
How long it takes
A straightforward business site takes about 2 to 4 weeks. Sites with booking and payments usually take 4 to 8 weeks. We give a timeline before we start.
Who owns what
Your domain stays in your name. The site is one you own, rather than a template you are renting inside someone else's builder.
We do not want to overpromise about terms we have not spelled out here. Ask us in writing before you sign up about anything that matters to you, such as taking a copy of the site files. It is a fair question and we will answer it directly.
What if you leave
There is no lock-in contract, so you can stop paying. Your domain is in your name, so your address stays yours. Before you go, ask us about handover so you know what you take with you.
That answer is short on purpose. If you want the exact process for your site, contact us and get it in writing.
What you do and what we do
It helps to be clear about the split.
We do: the design and build, the migration from your old site, the hosting, backups and SSL, the SEO baseline and analytics, the enquiry forms, the booking setup, and the monthly edits.
You do: tell us what you sell, where you work and what you charge. Send us photos and any wording you want kept. Check the draft on your phone. Tell us when something changes, such as new services, new hours or a price rise.
The aim is that the website stops being a job on your list.
A typical week after launch
Say you run a mobile cleaning business in Brisbane. On Monday a customer finds your service page on their phone and books an end-of-lease clean for Friday. They pay the deposit at the time, and they get a confirmation.
On Wednesday they get a reminder. On Thursday another visitor sends an enquiry through the form because their job is unusual. It arrives in your inbox and you reply the same day.
You did not answer a call while driving, and you did not chase a deposit by text. Your analytics show you which pages people used. That is the day-to-day difference between a brochure site and one built to take bookings.
Why this is priced so low
Fair question. We keep the scope focused on what a service business needs, and we would rather have a long relationship at $39/month than a one-off invoice. That is also why the scope has edges. When a job needs more, such as a shop or a large custom design, we say so and quote it separately.
Questions to ask us before you start
We would rather you asked these than found out later.
1. Does my booking setup fit the monthly site? 2. How long until it is live, given what I need? 3. What happens to my current site and its Google rankings while you migrate it? 4. What is included in the monthly edits? 5. If I leave, exactly what do I take with me?
Get the answers in writing. It is a normal request, and it should not be awkward.
The catch
A fair price has trade-offs. These are the ones to know:
1. It is a service, not a one-off purchase. You pay every month. Over several years the total is more than a low one-off build, though it includes hosting and edits that a one-off often bills separately. 2. It is scoped. Online shops and large or complex sites are outside the $39/month website and are quoted on their own. 3. You do not drag and drop. You ask us for changes rather than building the site yourself. 4. SEO takes time. We build for local search, but no one can promise overnight rankings. 5. Booking is set up once, around how you work. If your services or hours change, tell us and we update it.
How it compares with a DIY builder
A DIY builder gives you control and a low sticker price, and you do the work. Booking and deposits often sit on higher plan tiers, and you set up the SEO and the mobile layout yourself.
Our plan flips that. You give up the drag-and-drop control, and in return the build, the hosting, the SEO baseline, the booking setup and the edits are done for you at $39/month. Neither is better in every case. It depends on whether your time is better spent on the site or on the business.
Who it suits
The plan tends to suit:
- Trades, cleaners, mobile services and salons that need enquiries and bookings
- Allied health and small clinics with a regular diary
- Owners with an out-of-date site who want it replaced without a big bill
- People who would rather run the business than run a website
It suits you less if you want to design everything yourself, need a shop, or want a big brand project.
Compare it with other options
If you want to see how this stacks up against builders, designers and agencies, read how much a website costs in Brisbane.
Next steps
If you are in Brisbane, what the monthly Brisbane website includes is the short version: the build, the price, and the suburbs. See also our website design service, or contact us with what you sell and where. You will get a straight answer on whether the $39/month website fits.