Sydney · Web design agency
Shopify and premium web design, built in Sydney.
A small Sydney studio building Shopify stores, custom marketing sites and e-commerce experiences for Australian businesses. Conversion-first. Lighthouse 95+. The kind of site you'd send a screenshot of.
In plain language
What does a Sydney web design agency actually do?
A Sydney web design agency builds custom-coded websites for Australian businesses from a Sydney base. The work usually spans brand-led marketing sites, custom Shopify stores, and product UI for software companies. At WebForge Design specifically, every build is custom-coded in React and TypeScript, deployed to Vercel or Cloudflare, and held to a Lighthouse-95+ mobile floor.
You can also wire AI automation into the site once it's live, or start with a fixed-price brief to scope a build.
Recent builds
See all case studiesClean, mono-driven storefront. Product photography given room to breathe.
suppstance.com.auSoft, editorial, warm. Sympathetic to its GLP-supportive audience without being clinical.
wearekyndra.comLab-precise hierarchy with trust signals up front. Designed for return-buyer compliance.
elitepeptidesaustralia.comQuiet, editorial portfolio for a 26-year custom-home builder. Lets the architecture speak.
tazman.com.auIngredient-first Shopify storefront. Restrained, clinical, built for repeat purchase.
haloessentials.com.auSide by side
Custom build vs Shopify theme vs
Wix or Squarespace.
The honest comparison most agencies dodge. Every line is what you actually trade away in 2026 by choosing one path over another.
| Dimension | Custom build | Shopify theme | Wix / Squarespace |
|---|---|---|---|
| Design ceiling | Unlimited — designed to your brand | Constrained by section types | Template-shaped |
| Lighthouse mobile | 95–100 | 60–90 (theme dependent) | 30–60 |
| Conversion ceiling | No ceiling — optimised end to end | ~1.5% on theme; higher on custom | Limited by template constraints |
| Owned codebase | Partial — theme yes, platform no | ||
| Migration cost later | Low — code is yours | Medium | High — full rebuild |
| Best for | Premium brands, conversion-led businesses | DTC, retail, mid-market e-commerce | Brand-new businesses on a starter budget |
| Typical AU price band (ex-GST) | $2,000 – $10,000+ | $1,500 – $12,000 (theme) | $0 – $1,500 |
Honest pricing
How much does a custom website
cost in Australia in 2026?
A custom website in Australia in 2026 starts at $2,000 ex-GST and scales to $10,000+ depending on complexity. Four bands, each with a different buyer in mind. Quotes are fixed, scope is fixed, and we tell you up front if something is out of scope.
Starter custom
Trades, clinics and small operators. Custom design, 4–6 pages, fast mobile build, booking embed.
Marketing site
Service businesses, studios, agencies. Custom design + CMS, SEO/schema, conversion tracking.
Custom Shopify
DTC and retail brands. Custom 2.0 theme, PDP CRO, AU shipping logic, BNPL placement.
Premium / complex
Multi-template Shopify, CMS-driven marketing sites, custom integrations, headless where it fits.
For a full breakdown of what drives the cost in each band, read How much does a custom website cost in Australia in 2026?.
Shopify & E-commerce
Shopify stores that don't look like
every other Shopify store.
Most Shopify sites are themes with a logo on top. We build custom themes from the ground up. Product photography breathes, checkout fights for the sale, and the front-of-store actually reflects the brand you spent two years getting right.
Custom Shopify themes
Built on Shopify 2.0 with Online Store editor sections, so your team can publish without touching code. No Dawn-fork shortcuts.
E-commerce that converts
PDP-up CRO: above-the-fold offer, social proof inline, faster product variants, cart drawer optimised for AU shipping rules and Afterpay.
Headless when it earns it
Shopify Hydrogen or Next.js on top of Shopify for brands that need bespoke storytelling. Faster, more flexible, harder to copy.
Migration done properly
Moving from WooCommerce, Magento or a legacy build? We map redirects, preserve SEO equity, and rehydrate product data so launch doesn't tank rankings.
Real performance
Image discipline, lazy hydration, edge caching. We hit Lighthouse 90+ mobile on Shopify (most agencies tap out at 60-70).
Owned, not rented
Theme code in your repo. Apps trimmed to what you actually use. You're not locked into our retainer to keep the lights on.
Who we work with
For brands that take
their first impression seriously.
Founder-led brands
Relaunching after outgrowing the Squarespace cut. The product is real now, and the site needs to match.
Shopify stores hitting a ceiling
Currently on a template, doing $50k–$2m a month, and convinced the next 2× isn't on the same theme.
Service businesses with a real product
Clinics, agencies, trades. The work is excellent but the site is a barrier rather than a multiplier.
Studios needing a build partner
Branding agencies who design the front end and need someone who'll engineer the back without breaking the design.
How we build
Engineering discipline,
designer's hands.
A small studio with a bias for craft. We don't outsource design, code, or motion. One sensibility runs the build end to end.
Custom, never templated
Every page is built from scratch. No page builders. No themes. Your site looks like nothing else in your industry.
SEO-first architecture
Schema markup, semantic HTML, render-on-load, image discipline. We compete on search visibility from day one.
Lighthouse 95+
Real LCP under 1.5 seconds on mobile. Bundle budgets we hold ourselves to. Speed is a feature, not an afterthought.
Built to convert
Every section auditioned for the journey: hero, curiosity, proof, action. CRO experiments wired in from launch.
Mobile-first, always
Designed at 360px before desktop. Touch targets, gesture-safe, single-thumb usable, fingerprint-clean.
Owned, not rented
Clean React and TypeScript codebase. You own the repo. Hand it to any dev shop on the planet. No proprietary lock-in.
Designed in your tone
Custom type, palette, motion. Bold without loud. Restrained without lifeless. The brand reads in the very first scroll.
Production-grade infra
Edge-rendered, ISR caching, sub-100ms TTFB worldwide. Image CDN, SSL, monitoring, structured logging from launch.
Process
Four phases,
no fog.
Brief
60-minute brief. We get the brand, the audience, the conversion goal, the competitive set, the budget. You walk away with a one-page system diagram and a fixed price.
Design
Two distinct visual directions, presented live. No mood boards. You react, we re-cut, we lock direction in week one.
Build
Production code, daily Loom updates, staging URL from day three. You see real type, real motion, real performance. Not a Figma mockup.
Launch
Cutover, redirects, analytics, search console. All handled. Then we watch the numbers together for the first 90 days.
Website FAQs
Asked, openly.
Pair the build
Add AI automation
Wire AI agents and workflow automation into the back-office once the site is live.
See recent work
Case studies
Detailed write-ups of recent Australian builds: challenge, approach, results, stack.
Read more
Custom website pricing 2026
A full price-band breakdown for Australian custom websites in 2026.
Ready when you are
Build something worth visiting.
A 30-minute call. We'll show you exactly what your new site (and the AI plumbing under it, if you want any) would look like. Live, on screen. No slides, no pitch deck.