Development

Website Design & Development

Business websites, redesigns and online stores that work well on phones, are easy for your team to update and give attackers as little as possible to work with.

Secure delivery pipelineSample view
  • Design reviewMobile layouts approvedApproved
  • Code reviewCode review passedManaged
  • DependenciesDependency update mergedManaged
  • Secret scanningSecret removed from repoContained
  • Hosting set-upSecure defaults appliedReady
  • Go-liveRelease to approveDecision needed
Illustration · not live data

01Who it's for

Is this service right for you?

It suits organisations whose website is dated, slow or hard to update, or that want to sell online or take bookings for the first time.

Built for

  • Businesses with 5 or more staff whose website is dated, slow or hard to update
  • Organisations that were hacked or defaced through an old plugin and want a rebuild that stays secure
  • Retailers launching or replacing an online store that takes payments
  • Government, council, health and education teams that need an accessible site built to recognised security practices

You probably need it if…

  • Your site looks dated, loads slowly or doesn't work well on phones
  • Nobody on your team can update it without calling a developer
  • It runs on plugins or themes that haven't been updated in years
  • It was hacked, defaced or blocked by a browser warning
  • You want to start selling online or take bookings

02What's included

What you get

Plan & design

Discovery and site plan

We work out who your site is for, what you want visitors to do and which pages you need. You get a written site map and content plan before design starts.

Design you approve

Page designs for desktop and mobile, built around your brand and reviewed with you before any code is written. We design for accessibility from the start, with readable text, clear contrast and keyboard-friendly navigation.

Launch

Launch and handover

We plan the domain move and redirects so existing search rankings and links carry over. You get training on updating content and a handover pack listing every account, licence and setting.

Build & test

Secure build

We build with OWASP secure coding practices: security headers, HTTPS only, minimal plugins and no hard-coded secrets. Forms are protected against spam and abuse, and admin access uses multi-factor authentication (MFA).

Online stores

E-commerce sites with product catalogues, checkout and order emails. Where possible we use your payment provider's hosted checkout, so card details are handled by the provider, not your website. That reduces your Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) obligations.

Secure hosting set-up

The site goes live on hosting set up with secure defaults: least-privilege accounts, HTTPS enforced, and server software, plugins and packages current at launch. You get a short summary of these settings to show customers, insurers or auditors.

03In detail

Website development, in depth

What is website design and development?

It is the work of planning, designing, building and launching your website: the pages your customers see and the parts they don’t, such as hosting, forms, admin access and the code that holds it together. At Catharsis, we treat your website as part of your attack surface, because it is.

How is a secure website different from a normal one?

Secure development designs the common weaknesses out from the start. Beyond HTTPS and MFA on admin access, that means:

  • Fewer moving parts. Each plugin or third-party script is code you have to trust and patch, so we add only what the site needs.
  • Security headers that do a job. A Content Security Policy limits which scripts can run, which helps stop cross-site scripting. Other headers stop the site being framed by another page (clickjacking) and tell browsers to load it over HTTPS only.
  • Scanning before release. Third-party packages are checked against known vulnerabilities, and code is scanned for keys or passwords committed by accident.
  • Less data to lose. At discovery we agree what the site needs to collect, and in design we drop form fields you don’t need.

We use the OWASP Top 10 from the Open Worldwide Application Security Project (OWASP) as the baseline for what must not go wrong. Our secure development page sets out the standards behind this work, and penetration testing can be added if you want an independent test.

What kinds of websites do we build?

  • Business websites for service firms, practices and not-for-profits, focused on explaining what you do and generating enquiries.
  • Redesigns and rebuilds of existing sites that have become slow, insecure or hard to manage.
  • Online stores, new or replacing an existing shop.

Where your site needs to do more, such as a customer portal or booking system, we combine it with custom software or connect it to your existing systems.

If accessibility is a requirement for your organisation, we can design and build to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 Level AA on request. This often matters for government, council, health and education buyers. You can see sites we have delivered on our work page.

How long does a website project take?

Timing depends mostly on page count, custom features and how quickly content and feedback come back. Content is the most common cause of delay, so we agree early who writes what and plan around it.

04The process

How it works

  1. Discovery and quote

    A workshop to agree goals, pages, features and integrations. You receive a site plan and a written quote.

  2. Design

    We design key pages for desktop and mobile and refine them with your feedback until you approve them.

  3. Build and content

    We build the site on a private staging address, load your content and check speed, accessibility and security as we go.

    Typically 4 to 8 weeks for a small business website

  4. Review and launch

    A final review with you, then a planned go-live with redirects in place and the live site checked page by page.

05Frameworks

How this maps to the frameworks

Useful for your auditor, board or procurement team. The mapping shows where this service supports each framework. It doesn't replace a formal assessment.

Website Development: framework mapping
ControlASD EssentialsASD maturity model (current)ISO/IEC 27001NIST CSF
Secure design and buildNot applicableNot applicableA.8.25, A.8.28Protect (PR.PS-06)
Plugins and dependencies kept up to dateNot applicableNot applicableA.8.8Identify (ID.RA-01)
Security requirements agreed at discoveryNot applicableNot applicableA.8.26Not applicable
Separate staging and live environmentsNot applicableNot applicableA.8.31Not applicable
MFA on admin accountsIdentity servicesMulti-factor authenticationA.8.5Protect (PR.AA-03)

06Pricing

Pricing and how to start

Starting from

$1,999 ex GST

per project

What changes the price

The final price depends on the number of pages, custom features, e-commerce, integrations and how much content we write or migrate for you.

  • Discovery workshop and site plan
  • Responsive design for desktop and mobile
  • Secure build with security headers and MFA on admin access
  • Secure hosting set-up with current plugins and packages
  • Launch, redirects and content training

Not included: hosting, updates and monitoring after launch. You can manage those yourself, or our website care and hosting plans can take them on.

07FAQ

Website development, answered.

Can't see your question? Ask a specialist and get a straight answer.

Ask a specialist
How much does a business website cost in Sydney?

Websites start from $1,999 ex GST. A brochure site with a handful of pages sits near that starting point, while a store with hundreds of products, custom features or integrations costs more. Content is a big variable: writing new copy or moving pages from an old site adds time. Once the scope is agreed, the price only changes if you add to it.

Why use a cyber security company to build a website?

Because small business websites are rarely breached by sophisticated attacks. More often the way in is an outdated plugin, a reused admin password or a contact form that accepts anything. A security company designs those risks out from the first day, so security is built in rather than added after a problem.

Will we lose our Google rankings if we rebuild our website?

Not if the move is planned. Before launch we list every page that search engines have indexed and make sure each one either keeps its exact address or redirects permanently to its closest new page. We also carry over page titles and descriptions where they still fit. Rankings can move a little after any launch, but planned redirects protect the traffic you already have.

Can we update the website ourselves?

Yes. We set up an editing approach that suits how often you change content, and we train your team to update text, images and pages without touching code. Where a change needs a developer, such as a new feature or page layout, we can make it for you as a small project or as part of a website care plan.

How do you build security into a website?

Security is part of each stage rather than a final check. At discovery we agree what data the site collects and who needs admin access. During the build we follow OWASP practices and keep third-party code to what the site needs. At launch we set up HTTPS, security headers and MFA on admin accounts. If a contract or insurer asks for independent testing, penetration testing can be added as a separate, optional service.

Do you look after the website after launch?

Yes, if you want us to. A website care and hosting plan covers managed hosting, software updates, backups, uptime monitoring and security monitoring, with coverage and response targets agreed in writing. You can also host the site yourself; we hand over every account and credential at launch so you are not locked in.

Talk to our team

Talk to us about website development.

No obligation. You talk to the people who do the work. Enquiries usually get a reply within 3 business days.