FAQ

Itomic is an Australian web and app development agency, founded in 2000 and based in Perth and Melbourne. We design and build websites on WordPress and Drupal, web applications on Laravel and mobile apps on Flutter. We also look after them with Australian hosting, website security, SEO, Google Ads and AI search optimisation. We work with businesses, government, not-for-profits and education providers across Australia.

Since 2000. We’re one of Australia’s longest-running web agencies, with more than 25 years of building and looking after websites and apps. Our largest markets are Perth and Melbourne, and we work with organisations right across Australia, including regional areas.

We’re experts in both WordPress and Drupal. We also work with other platforms including Laravel (for web apps) and Flutter (for mobile apps). We’ll recommend the platform that best suits your business needs, budget, and technical requirements. We also manage CMS migrations, including proprietary systems, usually to WordPress or Drupal.

No. We specialise in WordPress, Drupal, Laravel, Flutter and native iOS and Android because that focus gives you deep expertise, but we regularly work with other technology too, including JavaScript frameworks such as React, Vue and Next.js, Shopify, headless CMSs, third-party APIs and older PHP applications. We’ll recommend what genuinely suits your project, and if another specialist would be a better fit, we’ll tell you.

We create bespoke websites – never cookie-cutter templates – including business sites, government sites, e-commerce platforms, intranets, and membership systems. Every project is tailored to the client’s goals, whether they’re in Perth, Melbourne, Sydney, or elsewhere in Australia.

A template website is quicker and cheaper, and can suit a small business with straightforward needs. A custom website is designed around your brand, users and goals, is easier to extend as you grow, and helps you stand out. Most of our clients choose a custom design built on a proven platform such as WordPress or Drupal, which gives them the best of both.

WordPress suits most business, not-for-profit and marketing websites: it’s flexible, easy for editors and economical to build and support. Drupal suits large, complex, content-rich sites with detailed permissions and integrations, which is why it’s popular with government. We work with both, so we’ll recommend whichever fits your needs and budget.

We normally design and build a bespoke WordPress theme for each client, so your site is unique to your brand, fast and free of the bloat that comes with off-the-shelf themes and page builders. Your team still gets an easy-to-use editor to manage content.

Yes. We build every site so your team can update pages, news and images without needing a developer, and we provide hands-on training at handover.

Yes. We follow the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) on every build, and where your organisation must meet a specific conformance level, we can build to it.

Yes. Before launch we map your existing pages to the new site, keep important addresses where possible and set up 301 redirects for anything that moves, so your search rankings and backlinks carry across. We also carry over page titles and descriptions, and monitor Google Search Console after launch.

A website mainly presents information. A web application lets people do things: log in, manage data, submit and approve requests, or process transactions. Portals, booking systems and SaaS platforms are all web applications.

When off-the-shelf tools force your team into workarounds, can’t connect to your other systems, or become expensive as your user numbers grow.

We start with a discovery phase that maps your workflows, users, data and integrations. That gives you a clear estimate and a staged plan, so you can prioritise features and control your budget.

Yes. We regularly connect applications to CRMs, marketing platforms, booking systems and identity providers such as Salesforce and Azure AD.

You do. Once the project is paid for, you own the code we write for your application.

If people will use it occasionally, or mainly on a computer, a responsive web app is often cheaper to build and easier to maintain. A mobile app makes more sense when you need push notifications, offline use, device features such as the camera or GPS, or a presence in the app stores. We can help you decide before you commit.

A simple standalone app, with a handful of screens and little or no backend, typically sits at the lower end of the $10,000 to $200,000+ range. The final cost depends on the design, the features and whether you need iOS, Android or both.

A simple app usually takes about 6 to 12 weeks to design, build and launch. More complex apps, with accounts, payments, integrations or custom backends, typically take 4 to 9 months.

As a guide, plan for around 15 to 20% of the original build cost each year. That covers updates as iOS and Android change, bug fixes, hosting, app store memberships and any third-party or AI services your app uses.

Flutter lets us build for iOS and Android from a single codebase, which usually saves time and cost. We recommend fully native development when an app needs deep integration with device hardware or platform-specific features.

Yes. AI tools help our developers move faster on routine coding, testing and documentation, which makes builds more cost-effective than a few years ago. Quality still depends on experienced developers designing, reviewing and testing the work, so AI lowers cost without cutting corners on security or reliability.

Yes. We provide fully managed Australian hosting on shared servers and VPS, with uptime averaging above 99.95%. All hosting includes free SSL and a comprehensive backup regime.

In Australia, with servers in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth.

Our uptime averages above 99.95%.

Shared hosting suits most websites and is the most cost-effective option. A VPS gives you dedicated resources, which suits multiple sites, high-traffic platforms, or organisations with strict security requirements. Both are fully managed by us.

Yes. We handle the migration for you. The cost depends on the size and complexity of your site, and we’ll quote it upfront.

Hosting includes server-level security. Keeping your website’s own software patched is a separate service, which we cover under website security.

Yes. We offer proactive security patching and other website hardening for popular open source website platforms including WordPress, Drupal, and Laravel.

WordPress, Drupal and Laravel are open-source platforms whose communities release security fixes as new threats emerge. Those fixes only protect your site once they’re installed. An unpatched site is more vulnerable to malware, defacement, downtime and data loss.

No one honestly can. Keeping your site patched drastically reduces the risk, and if the worst does happen, we can repair your site or restore it from a recent backup.

You can, but it needs developer access, technical skills, a way of knowing when updates are released, and the know-how to fix things if an update doesn’t go smoothly. That’s the work we take off your hands.

Yes. We can keep your site patched wherever it’s hosted, though the arrangement may differ from sites on our own hosting.

No. Moving to a new major version (for example Drupal 10 to 11) is a larger project, and we quote it separately.

Yes. We offer SEO to improve your organic search rankings, Google Ads campaigns to generate leads quickly, and AI search optimisation to help your organisation show up in tools like ChatGPT and Google’s AI Overviews.

SEO builds over time. Most sites start to see movement within a few months, but it typically takes six months or more to see the full value, which is why we recommend committing to at least six months. Google Ads can deliver traffic from day one while organic rankings build.

Often both. Google Ads delivers leads quickly and shows you which keywords convert, while SEO builds long-term visibility that doesn’t stop when the ad budget does. We’ll recommend the right mix for your goals and budget.
See our Google Ads management service.

It’s the practice of making your organisation easy for AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Google Gemini and Google’s AI Overviews to find, understand and recommend. It builds on good SEO: clear content that answers real questions, structured data, and consistent information about your business across the web.

No. There are no lock-in contracts. We recommend giving campaigns at least six months to show results, but you’re free to stop at any time.

Yes. We can audit and improve any website. If it runs on WordPress or Drupal, we can make technical fixes directly. For other platforms, we’ll work alongside whoever manages it.

It depends on scope and complexity. A small website can start from around $5,000, while large custom websites and web applications with integrations can be $200,000 or more. We’ll give you a clear quote after a discovery discussion. We can also work to a fixed price, which needs a detailed brief or specification agreed before we commit.

Most small websites take six to ten weeks from kick-off to launch. Larger sites with lots of content, integrations or custom features typically take a few months. Having your content ready and giving quick feedback are the two biggest things that keep a project on track.

Our proven workflow takes you from discovery and planning through custom design and development, into thorough testing and QA, before a confident launch and ongoing support to help you grow.

Absolutely. Itomic provides ongoing website support and maintenance. In more than 25 years, we’ve built and retained a substantial client portfolio, underpinned by maintenance and website support.

We’ve delivered projects for government agencies, education providers, non-profits, tourism operators, professional services firms, and more. Our adaptability means we can deliver results whether you’re a Perth startup, a Melbourne corporate, or an interstate organisation.

Yes. We can audit, maintain, and improve existing WordPress or Drupal websites – even if they were built elsewhere.

No. Perth and Melbourne are our largest markets, but we support organisations anywhere in Australia, including Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Canberra, Darwin and regional areas. Most projects run by video call, so location is rarely a barrier.
Find out more about our web developers in Perth and Melbourne.

Yes. We meet clients in person in Perth, and for the right project we can travel interstate. Most of our client work happens by video call, so we work just as easily with organisations in Melbourne and across Australia.