A website is a sales tool first. Success means enquiries, calls, bookings, and quote requests. It also means clear tracking, so you know what worked. If delivery delays block fixes, your ROI drops fast.
Think about the average page today. In October 2024, the median desktop page weighed 2,652 KB. Mobile was 2,311 KB. Heavier pages can feel slow on real connections. So performance is not a “nice to have”.
If things go sideways, it is easier to enforce timelines locally. That “accountability gap” shows up in many comparisons. Clear deliverables reduce disputes.
Offshore quotes can look sharp, then grow. Many posts warn about revision fees and scope creep. Local teams tend to define inclusions more clearly.
Offshore can be cheaper per hour. But you pay a “management tax”. You write bigger briefs, review more drafts, and QA harder.
You also carry more risk when security slips. Australia’s cyber authority reports that small businesses average $49,600 per cybercrime report. In 2023–24, the hotline handled over 36,700 calls. A cheap build is expensive if it ships weak defaults.
Overseas work can be done when the scope is fixed and simple. Think of a brochure site with a few changes. It can also work when you have an in-house lead.
Some overseas teams deliver strong work and rapid progress. That “overnight turnaround” can be real. But only if specs are tight and QA is owned.
A hybrid model is also common. Use local strategy and UX, then offshore developer for cost.
Choose Perth local if you need:
Consider overseas if you have:
Who Owns The Keys?
Ask who controls the domain, DNS, hosting, CMS admin, and analytics. You should have admin access from day one.
What’s Included After Launch?
Ask about updates, backups, uptime monitoring, and response times. Also, ask what costs extra.
How Will You Track Leads?
You want call tracking, form events, and clean conversion reporting. If you cannot measure it, you cannot improve it.
How Will You Handle Performance?
Core Web Vitals still matter for user experience and search. In 2024, 74% of mobile pages had good INP, up from 55% in 2022. Ask what they will do to keep your site responsive.
How Will You Handle Data And Security?
Ask how they manage plugins, access, and patching. Australia recorded 1,113 data breach notifications in 2024. A clear process reduces exposure.
Local Perth teams outperform when you need leads, speed, and accountability. Overseas can work for simple, fixed builds. Use the checklist, ask the hard questions, and keep control of the keys. Book a free 15-minute Perth Website Action Plan with Planted Web Design and we’ll pinpoint what’s blocking leads, what to fix first, and what to leave alone—then send you a clear next-steps roadmap (no fluff, no pressure).
Sometimes. But they must build suburb intent, reviews, and local relevance into the plan