The website your business deserves. Without the upfront bill.

High-performance websites and automated lead systems for Gold Coast businesses — built by a senior developer with 15 years of agency experience, and paid monthly instead of upfront.

$0 upfront One flat monthly subscription Everything managed for you
Get Started Today

You're great at what you do, but your website is letting you down.

Slow load times. Broken on mobile. Embarrassing next to your competitors. You know it needs fixing, but a proper build has always meant a five-figure invoice before you see a single lead.

Do It Yourself

Wix, Squarespace, or your mate's nephew. Cheap to start, but you'll pay for it in weekends lost, leads missed, and things that quietly break.

Commission a Full Build

For a large, complex site this is the right call — and worth every dollar. But it's $15–30k upfront and a few months of lead time. A lot of runway if what you actually need is the phone to ring.

Best Fit for Most

The Local Business Project

The same standard of work, structured differently. I build it, I run it, and you pay for it monthly instead of all at once.

  • $0 upfront — the build cost spread across the year, not charged before launch
  • Built to generate leads — not a brochure, a tool that brings in enquiries and bookings
  • One flat fee, one senior developer — the person you brief is the person who builds it

See If We're a Fit

30 seconds, no commitment.

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Hayden Stapleton, founder of The Local Business Project, with 15 years of web development experience
Hayden Stapleton
15+ Years Experience
Meet Hayden

Big Agency Experience.
Small Business Focus.

I've spent 15 years leading web development inside creative agencies — national brands, complex custom builds, and everything down to the local trade with one van and a phone number.

I still take on the big projects. But I started The Local Business Project because the businesses that need a good website most are usually the ones who can't hand over five figures to get one. Same standard of work, structured so it's actually reachable. No sales team, no project managers, no briefing someone who'll never touch your site. You talk to me, I build it, and I keep it working.

Sub-1s Load Times Mobile-First SEO Built In Instant Lead Alerts
Over 300
Projects Delivered
Gold Coast Local
Southport Based
How It Works

From Sign-Up to Live in Weeks. Not Months.

Here's what working together actually looks like.

01

We Have a Chat

A quick 15-minute call to understand your business, what you need, and which plan fits. No pressure, no jargon. Just a straight conversation about what's going to work for you.

02

The Setup

Domain, professional email, Google Business Profile — I handle the foundations so you don't have to. If you've already got some of these, I'll work with what you have.

03

I Build Your Site

A fast, mobile-first website designed around your business and built to bring in enquiries. You'll see a draft, give feedback, and we'll refine it until you're happy.

04

Launch and Grow

Your site goes live, leads start coming in, and I stick around. Ongoing hosting, security, updates, and support are all included. Need new features, extra pages, or want to upgrade your lead system down the track? No worries — as your business grows, your site grows with it.

Ready to get started? Register your interest and I'll reach out for a chat.

Get Started
Pricing

Simple Pricing. No Surprises.

Three subscription plans, every site designed and built from scratch — never a template. No upfront cost, no hidden fees.

Foundation

Get Found

$199 /mo

12-month plan, billed monthly

  • Hand-built, individually designed website
  • Single-page site built for speed and SEO
  • Google Business Profile setup
  • Google Workspace and professional email
  • Contact form with email notifications
  • Hosting, security, and updates included
Let's Talk
Most Popular

Growth

Get Leads

$349 /mo

12-month plan, billed monthly

  • Hand-built, individually designed website
  • Everything in Foundation, plus:
  • Up to 10 pages
  • Lead workflows with SMS alerts and AI-assisted follow-up
  • Google Business Profile optimisation playbook
  • 1 monthly maintenance/update credit
Let's Talk

Authority

Get Booked

$499 /mo

12-month plan, billed monthly

  • Hand-built, individually designed website
  • Everything in Growth, plus:
  • Dedicated service pages for every service you offer
  • Location-targeted SEO pages to rank in the suburbs that matter
  • Integrated booking and quote-request tools
  • 3 monthly maintenance/update credits
Let's Talk

Need something more complex? Every site I build is designed from the ground up — these plans define scope, not craft. But when a project needs bespoke functionality engineered around how your business operates, e-commerce, or integration with the systems you already run on, that's a different build, scoped and quoted on its own terms. It's a large part of my work — let's talk about it directly.

Enquire about a custom build

Ready to Step Up Your Business?

Fill out the form below and I'll get in touch to have a chat about your business and your needs. No commitments, just pure support and advice to help your business grow.

Register Your Interest

Takes less than 60 seconds

No spam
Quick response
No commitments

Frequently Asked Questions

What's the catch with $0 upfront?
No catch — it just means my incentives are aligned with yours. Instead of taking a big payment and moving on, I earn my income by keeping your site online, performing, and generating leads for you month after month. If it's not working for you, you leave. So it's in my best interest to make sure it works. You're committed for 12 months, which is how I keep the upfront cost at zero.
Why is there a 12-month minimum?
A properly built website represents real time and expertise, and normally that's invoiced upfront. The 12-month commitment is what lets me spread that cost across the year instead — same quality of build, no corners cut, just paid differently. After 12 months, you're free to continue month-to-month, buy out your site, or walk away.
Do I own my website?
You own your domain name and email from day one — they're always yours. The website itself is licensed to you during your subscription. After 12 months, you have the option to purchase full ownership of the site and source code for a flat buyout fee and take it wherever you want.
What happens if I cancel?
If you cancel within your 12-month term, standard contract terms apply. After 12 months, you can leave anytime. If you choose not to buy out the site, it simply comes down. Your domain and emails stay with you no matter what.
How do the lead generation workflows work?
On the Growth and Authority plans, I set up custom workflows tailored to how your business handles leads. That can include instant SMS notifications when someone fills out your form, automated follow-up sequences, AI-powered responses for after-hours enquiries, and integrations with tools you already use. The goal is to make sure no lead slips through the cracks.
How long until my site is live?
For a single-page site, you're typically live within 1-2 weeks. Larger multi-page sites or builds with booking and quote tools take a bit longer — usually 3-4 weeks. Either way, I'll need a few things from you upfront — your logo, some photos of your work, and a quick chat about what you do — but the heavy lifting is on me. This won't become a second job for you.
What if something breaks?
I fix it. Hosting, security, and maintenance are all included. You don't need to worry about updates, plugins, or server issues. If something goes wrong, you've got one person to call who actually knows your site inside out.
My project is bigger than these plans. Can you still help?
Yes — that's a large part of my work. First, to be clear: every site I build is designed and developed from the ground up, whichever plan it's on. Nothing here is a template. What the plans define is scope, not quality. They cover websites — presenting your business properly and turning visitors into enquiries. When a project needs bespoke functionality engineered around how your business actually operates, e-commerce, a client portal, or integration with the systems you already run on, that's a different build. It gets scoped, quoted, and priced on its own terms rather than squeezed into a plan. Get in touch and we'll talk about the actual project.
How is this different from Wix or Squarespace?
Those platforms give you a template and leave you to figure it out. I design and build your site from scratch, optimised for speed, SEO, and lead generation. You also get a real person managing everything — not a help centre chatbot.
Why should I trust one person instead of an agency?
Because one person means no runaround. You won't be passed between a sales rep, a project manager, and a developer who's never spoken to you. I've delivered over 300 projects across 15 years of agency work, from national brands to sole traders. You deal with me directly, and I'm invested in your site actually working because my reputation depends on it.
How do update credits work?
The Growth and Authority plans include monthly update credits. A credit covers one update request — and related changes can be bundled into a single request. For example, updating a service description, swapping out a photo, and adjusting the pricing on the same page would count as one credit. The key is that the changes are part of the same job and reasonable in scope. Larger requests like adding a brand-new page section or reworking a layout would use their own credit. Things like entirely new custom functionality or complete page redesigns fall outside what a single credit covers. If you need more updates in a given month, additional credits are available for purchase.