Clean, Modern, Professional Web Design.
For a website that works. For you.
For small businesses and small non-profits, we take away the aggro of creating and caring for websites and email marketing so that you can grow and succeed.
Relax. We’ll take care of you.
If you’re looking for an effective tool, you need more than the technology. You need experience, knowledge, expertise.
Winch Websites is here to help YOU achieve YOUR goals.Â
Your Business online, with Winch Websites
Get Your Website Now
Host Your Website
business-class reliable webhosting (a ‘good home’)
Design & Build Your Website
conversion oriented (make the site ‘do’ something!)
Take Care Of Your Website
keep your website singing (we do all the tech stuff)
Why Do You Need An Effective Website?
Just why should you invest in a professionally-built website?
For More Reach
It’s hard to be everywhere all the time. Your website is. Whenever your potential customers & clients go looking – on the bus, at work, at home, on the train, on a desktop, on a smartphone – they can pull up your website and find out what you want them to know, what you want them to do.
For Positive First Impressions
Try it yourself – when you visit a website for the first time, what does it immediately convey to you? It’s no different to meeting someone in person, we all make instant judgements. Your website is going to be your first impression for many potential customers.
To Kick Goals
Think a website is a necessary expense? View it as an investment – even though a professional website made by an expert might have a cost, your investment will pay for itself by helping you grow and achieve your goals.
To Improve Customer Service
Websites aren’t just for advertising. Think about what you might be able to offload to a website. Frequently asked questions? Documentation & manuals? Payments? Bookings? There’s all sorts a website can ‘do’ on your behalf. 27/7 too.
For verification
Give potential customers & clients the confidence that you’re who they are looking for – that you really exist, that you’re no fly-by-night. Confidence is important, and your customers will check up on you (at least, they should!).
To Increase Credibility
You want to instill trust in your potential customers & clients. A good-looking website provides confidence that you’re in this for the right reasons, and for the long haul.
To Be At Work 24/7
Take on a representative who works 24/7, 365 days without public holidays, annual leave, or sick days. Ready to respond any time of day, with the message YOU want.
To Do More With Less
Hand off those tasks that you don’t need a human to handle. Reduce phone enquiries, take bookings/sales online, send a series of educational emails, email back brochures/specifications/etc. What repetitive tasks could you outsource right now?
Case Study
Louise at Snowdrop Merino manufactures and sells merino wool jumpers, beanies & scarves for kids. Lovely Australian-made products. Louise completely revamped her online store to move to a smoother buying process with a quick & easy checkout and multiple payment options. Just in time for the peak winter selling period!
Sales (month 1)
Income
Sales, 1st month after launch- Website income in the first month – not a bad start for a quick return on investment!
Visitor Growth
Year on year, Google Analytics- A jump in visitors by more than a third. They look at more pages, and spend more time too.
So why Winch Websites?
You could do it yourself. You could outsource to an online freelancing site. You could use the semi-automated system provided by multinationals. All are valid options.
BUT, if you value the personal touch from someone genuinely interested in seeing your project succeed, if you value working with an Australian small business continuing to adapt and grow with the evolution of online tools and marketing trends, and if you value a focus on YOUR aims and objectives, then Winch Websites could be a great fit.
Ultimately, it’s all about value. Have a think about what it would take for you to cover the cost of a website if it worked properly – how many sales would you need to cover a $3,000 investment? A $7,000 investment? Big-looking numbers, but if you receive $12,000 of new business as a result of an effective website, is the investment worth it? Yes!
Our mission at Winch Websites to do just that. Build you a website of value, that pays for itself and then some, that makes you money by bringing in more business. And to keep it that way. If your organisation recognises the value in an effective website, we should talk.
If this is what you are looking for, then see find out more about…
Congratulations with our web site just tripping 50,000 visits yesterday. Thanks for helping put together a great site.
Your 4-Step Website System
Let’s not overcomplicate things.
Step 1 - Register
Your web-address. Make it easy to remember, say, spell, hear. Avoid hyphens and double letters.
(winchwebsites.com.au, not winch-websites.com.au)
Imagine telling someone your website address over the phone.
And write it down! Eg. speedofart.com (Speed of Art)
Step 2 - Gather
Now it’s time to collect your thoughts.
You’re talking to a potential customer. What do they ask? What should they know? What sways them your way?
And VERY IMPORTANTLY, what do you want them to do next if they’re interested?
We have some handy tools to guide you through what’s needed.
Step 3 - Build
Time to make a start. It doesn’t need to be perfect from Go.
Send in what you’ve got and let’s put it up. See how it actually looks on the screen.
Chop & change, refine and adjust.
When it’s good – launch and publicise!
Step 3 - Improve
Over the next month or two, go back and and review the site.
Ask friends, colleagues and especially new customers for feedback.
Adjust and amend and improve.
A website’s not just for Christmas. 🙂
At Winch Websites, the website development process has been honed over years to make sure that we do the right things at the right time in the right way. On top of that, we have all sorts of tools and facilities to make it easier for you be actively involved throughout, so that you get the website that you are proud of, that reflects your values, and which works to achieve your goals and objectives.
Did You Know?
Micro Business
(1-4 people),
NO WEBSITE
%
Small Business
(less than 20 people),
NO WEBSITE
%
(as at 2015, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics)
Latest Blog Posts
Creating Content for Your Business Without Getting Overwhelmed
Feeling overwhelmed by content creation for your business? It doesn’t have to be daunting. Set clear goals, understand your audience, and use simple techniques like recording and transcription to make the process manageable and enjoyable. Happy writing!
WordPress Maintenance Tasks You Should Be Doing Regularly
Regular WordPress maintenance is essential for a smooth, secure, and efficient website. From updates and backups to security scans and speed optimization, these tasks keep your site in top shape. Don’t wait for issues to arise—stay proactive with regular upkeep.
Turn Your Ad into a Scroll Stopper
Capturing attention on social media is vital in today’s digital landscape. Learn how to create scroll stoppers—visual or textual elements that compel users to pause and engage with your content. Discover the key components of effective Facebook ads, including audience targeting, compelling headlines, clear copy, and striking imagery.
Latest Projects
Here’s a few of the recent website projects Winch Websites has put together.
If you’d like to find out more about one of these projects, and how it relates to what you’re looking for in your own website, get in touch.
Package Prices
For specific circumstances, these packages can be a great fit and give you a definite number to work with.
We do recommend though that we have a chat about what you are aiming to achieve, and what sort of tools and functions would help you best achieve it, and customise a proposal just for you. It doesn’t hurt to ask!
Get Me Online!
A 1-pager with your essential information- Just need the basics to get your business details online?
- domain name registration (2 years, .com.au or .com)
- webhosting (1 year)
- custom design single webpage (with your logo and text)
- contact form
Bring Me Leads
Tell the world what you do, why they should choose you, and how they can get it from you!- This bundle gives you all you need for your business/organisation website – up & running and published.
- Responsive, mobile-friendly, search-engine friendly, and we’ll register it with Google too.
- Custom design and layout for your Home Page, Contact Us page, an About Us page, and up to 3 product/service pages.
- domain name registration (2 years, .com.au or .com)
- webhosting (1 year)
- WordPress content management system install & setup, with recommended add-ons for security, performance & SEO
- Website design & build
- 3 months Website Care (find out more)
Sell My Stuff
Selling a few items online? This is for you.- We’ll help you build a multi-purpose website with a shopping cart subsystem included.
- Up to a dozen pages
- Up to a dozen products/items (add unlimited additional pages/items yourself)
- Customised design and layout, to match branding
- Domain name registration (2 years, .com.au or .com)
- Webhosting (1 year)
- WordPress content management system installed & configured, with recommended add-ons for security, performance & SEO
- Shopping cart sub-system
- +3 months Website Care (find out more)
And After Your Website Has Been Published?
Website Maintenance
Your website DOES need maintenance.
- your car needs servicing once in a while (you DO check your tyres, screenwash and oil every week, yes??)
- your laptop/desktop PC gets its operating system and anti-virus updates every day (yes?)
- your important data is being backed up regularly?
Your website has similar needs. It is a chunk of software living in a webhosting account. While you can expect your webhosting provider to take care of the server that powers your webhosting account (that’s what we do at Winch Websites), your website is basically your responsibility to manage and maintain unless you outsource that job.
Winch Websites would love to look after your website on an ongoing basis for you. For a flat monthly fee, we’ll make sure that your website system (WordPress) is kept up-to-date, and all its ‘extras’ are also updated as new versions come out. That usually happens a few times a week. Our maintenance service also takes off-server backups (in the unlikely event it REALLY hits that fan), regularly scans your site for unwanted additions (malware), includes uprated security, and 24/7 monitoring to make sure the website is there whenever a visitor arrives (or we’ll be all over why not).
Pricing starts at just $80 ex GST. Find out more!
Frequently asked questions from our customers
What's a domain name?
Your domain name is where it all starts. A domain name is absolutely unique, worldwide. It is what people will use to get to your website, or to send email to your customised business email address.
Much like your business name, you need to register a domain name with a central ‘registrar’ so that you own it, and nobody else can use it. So “winchwebsites.com.au” belongs to Winch Websites, for example, and is only used by Winch Websites. With a domain name, Winch Websites can create a website (www.winchwebsites.com.au) and also set up business email addresses eg. email@winchwebsites.com.au, sales@winchwebsites.com.au, finewebsites@winchwebsites.com.au (!).
Of course, there are many variations of a domain name that could be registered, and each one has to be paid for. For example;
- winchwebsites.com.au
- winchwebsites.com
- winchwebsites.website
- winchwebsites.melbourne
- and on and on…
The cost for each variant will depend on who controls it (.com being US, .com.au being Australian, etc). You can get creative with your domain name variant, but bear in mind that many people will automatically stick .com or .com.au at the end. You also want to make sure that another business or person can’t register an important variant ie. .com or .com.au – or you’ll have a fight on your hands to stop them doing what they want, which may confuse or steal your customers.
Winch Websites is happy to help with the registration of any domain name(s) you need. We can also help with configuring domain names that have already been registered eg. so you can use the business version of GMail, or link to your website. Winch Websites always registers domain names with your business details – so that you ‘own’ the domain name. Be careful that your domain name isn’t held hostage by someone registering your domain name with their own details or you’re up for a legal stoush. Contact us now to find out more.
What domain name should I register?
Picking a domain name to register and use is not easy, and you’ll need to put a bit of thought into it. The most important thing to bear in mind is that this is the name that humans will be using. So your domain name should be;
- easy to remember
- easy to tell someone over the phone (avoid dashes eg. go-for-gold.com.au, double letters eg. besttrophies.com)
- easy to spell (or be sure to register all commonly mis-spellings eg. philip.com.au and phillip.com.au
- reasonably short so you can fit it into business cards, printed ads, people’s address books (so avoid getagreatwebsite@winchelseawebsitedesigner.com.au)
Your domain name is a marketing tool. Registering something very close to your business name is usually the way to go. But you might also like to go for something related to what you do/provide – mygeelonglawyer.com.au, for example.
The domain name does count for search engines – but only to a minor degree. Much more important is being able to communicate it to humans. Memorable, spellable, tellable! Get inventive.
Winch Websites can assist if you need a second opinion or some ideas. We can also check what is or is not available, and register any domain name(s) you’d like to get. Feel free to get in touch
What's included?
Our goal is to build you a website to help you achieve your goals – be that more online sales, more qualified leads, more members, more regular readers, more awareness – whatever your objective. So it’s less about drawing a box about exactly what you can and can’t have, and more about what is needed to achieve your objective(s).
The packages include domain name registration and webhosting for the first year, and everything needed to get your website up and running. Obviously there are sensible limitations on the amount of time spent on your project (but we’re very generous on that front), and if you have special requirements that need additional functionality (for example, a membership system) there may be additional cost to obtain, install and configure it.
However, we don’t like unexpected cost surprises any more than you, so we aim to make sure you know what you’re up for as much as we can.
Our websites come as standard with;
- Webhosting Account
- Domain Name Registration
- Advanced Webpage Builder
- Free SSL (secure connection between visitors and your site)
- Overlays (those fly-ins like our own Contact Us page that save time & space on a page)
- Testimonials tool
- Hundreds of fonts
- Search Engine Optimisation tool
- Image Optimisation tool
- Webpage Speed Optimiser
- Website Security tool
- Broken Link Checker
- All sorts of fancy display options to add visual interest
- Google Analytics integration (website visitor statistics)
- Google Maps integration
- Social media links
Do you have something in mind that you’d like to get your website to ‘do’? Get in touch, there’s a good chance it’s a whole lot easier than you think!
What's webhosting?
Webhosting is a service that you’ll need to rent – it’s where your website lives. All websites consist of words & images that are stored on a computer somewhere – on a ‘webserver’.
The vast majority of webservers in the world house multiple websites. So one webserver is shared to many webhosting accounts. Each account has its own allocation of disk space and webserver resources (memory, processing power, data upload/download etc).
You don’t need to worry about the underlying webserver, that is (should be!) managed for you. You will typically pay a recurring fee (monthly, annual) and you’ll get a webhosting account with a range of services. There are many, many, many webhosting businesses around that can provide you with a webhosting account.
At Winch Websites, we lease our own webservers, and we know every one of the clients that share them. We keep the numbers of clients per server low to keep website performance up. We actively manage those webservers to keep them up-to-date and follow best practices. And we have absolute control over the servers and webhosting accounts so we can step in as required. Any webhosting issues, and there’s only one point of contact to turn to – Winch Websites.Call us for more info.
Why does a website need maintenance?
Where maintenance is concerned, there are 2 sides to the coin. The ‘under the hood’ stuff, and what people see and read.
Under the hood, a website is similar to your computer, your phone, and your tablet. They’re all powered by software that continues to evolve – fixes for bugs, patches for security flaws, small improvements, and occasional big updates. In the same way that it is important to keep your other infotech devices up-to-date, your website will continue to run smoothly and be less at risk from the bad guys if you keep the website software up-to-date. Usually, this means the underlying “content management system” (eg. WordPress) and also your optional extras that you have had installed. Winch Websites offers a maintenance service to make sure that everything is kept bang up-to-date, plus also take weekly offsite backups so even if there is a disaster with the webserver or its data-centre, your site can quickly be restored somewhere else.
The flip side of maintenance is the words and images that website visitors see and read. You’ll be the best judge of when they need to change. Is your business seasonal? Do you run special limited-time special offers? Do staff photos need to be amended? Most of the time the changes are relatively minor. Winch Websites can take care of it all for you, or you can login to your website and make the changes yourself.
For a fixed monthly amount, Winch Websites will do all the technical maintenance and include one small job (30 minutes or less) a week to tweak words/images. We’ll be your virtual website administrator – email your changes and we’ll take of it from there. Ask for a quote if you’d like us to handle more frequent or larger-scale updates – contact us today.
What's this SSL (Secure site) thing and do I need it?
There’s a fair bit of misunderstanding flying about regarding “SSL”. Strictly speaking, it’s all about making sure that all the data & information that moves between a website and its visitors stays private.
Someone could electronically eavesdrop and record everything that a person does on a website. Think online banking, or email, or online shopping including payment details, or private chat messages. Even seemingly unimportant stuff like which websites a person visits may give clues, for example that a family will be away from home for a while (nobody home, great for burglars).
SSL (or “Secure Sockets Layer”) was invented to make sure that such eavesdropping can’t happen. Everything between the website visitor’s device and the website is encrypted into meaningless gobbeldygook. For this to happen, your website must have an SSL Certificate.
Sometimes you are asked to buy this SSL Certificate and renew it each year (from dozens to hundreds of dollars per year). But at Winch Websites, every webhosting account gets its own unique SSL Certificate at no extra charge. You may need a higher grade of SSL Certificate eg. if you collect credit card details directly in your website (not the same as accepting credit card details using a service like Paypal or Stripe). But the vast majority of sites are fine with standard SSL Certificates.
So do you need SSL on your site? Yes, because the likes of Google are preferring secure sites that have SSL. It’s good for search-engine ranking. And it’s good for touchy-feely confidence in your website visitors too!!
How do you know if a site has SSL? Look for the green bar or (usually green) padlock up at the top of the browser window. You can see it right now on this site. Another clue is the “https://” at the start of the web-address up at the top (the “s” being “secure”).
Here’s a thing though – SSL means a website is “secure”. Traffic between website and browser is private. SSL does NOT mean a site is “safe”. Scammers are using SSL to indicate that it is a trusted site that you can assume is just what it says it is. A secure site can quite easily be a scam website, so you still need to double-check a site with SSL and be sure you can trust it.
If you’d like the benefits of SSL for your website, please get in touch
Winch Websites would love to deliver you a site that will both impress you and deliver great results for your business!
Get in touch with us for a friendly chat about what you want the perfect website to do for you