Jonathan Bird Web Development
  1. Website Solutions
  2. Web Design & Web Development

Web Design & Web Development Brisbane

Your website is the first impression most customers have of your organisation. If it is slow, outdated, or hard to navigate, you are losing them before they even reach out.

I design and develop high-performance websites for medium to large organisations across Brisbane and Australia, with a content-and-audience-first approach that drives real outcomes. The Impact Office Supplies B2B platform I built runs at a 33.5% conversion rate on 3.4 million annual pageviews. Many of my clients have stayed on for five years or more.

With over 15 years working across government, health, enterprise, and not-for-profit sectors, all design, development, and ongoing maintenance is delivered in-house. No outsourcing, no junior handoffs, no agency layers.

You're in good company

Culture Kings All4Adventure Creative Conversions ROH Wheels Museum of Brisbane Griffith University Wotif Group Healing Foundation
Culture Kings All4Adventure Creative Conversions ROH Wheels Museum of Brisbane Griffith University Wotif Group Healing Foundation
FurnX Commercial Furniture Impact Office Supplies Blue Ink Velg Training Gippsland PHN East Coast Bullbars Inspiring Brighter Futures Triple P Positive Parenting Program Brisbane South PHN Burger Urge
FurnX Commercial Furniture Impact Office Supplies Blue Ink Velg Training Gippsland PHN East Coast Bullbars Inspiring Brighter Futures Triple P Positive Parenting Program Brisbane South PHN Burger Urge

What you get - What every project delivers

The standards I build to on every web design and development project, from a brochure site to a complex web platform.

Audience-first design with clear conversion goals

Every project starts with your audience and the actions you need them to take. Content hierarchy, page structure, and user journeys are designed around the outcomes that matter to your organisation, whether that's qualified enquiries, donations, applications, or sales.

SEO-first architecture for long-term organic growth

Search visibility is built in from day one, not bolted on after launch. Semantic HTML, structured data, fast load times, clean URLs, and a content model designed for ranking. Every site ships with proper meta data, sitemaps, schema markup, and Core Web Vitals tuned to keep you climbing the rankings.

Performance-optimised builds & Core Web Vitals

Slow websites lose visitors, conversions, and rankings. Every site I deliver is engineered for speed: lightweight code, aggressive caching, image optimisation, server-level tuning, and a CDN where it makes sense. Core Web Vitals are measured during development and verified post-launch.

Accessibility & WCAG 2.2 compliance

Accessibility is built into every project to WCAG 2.2 standards, not retrofitted at sign-off. Semantic HTML, keyboard navigation, screen-reader compatibility, sufficient colour contrast, and accessible forms come standard. Full WCAG 2.2 AA conformance is available as an optional upgrade for clients with stricter legal or governance obligations, including government, health, and not-for-profit organisations.

You own the platform, code, and content

Every site is built on open-source platforms (Laravel, Statamic, or WordPress) with no proprietary lock-in. You own the codebase, the content, the hosting account, and the domains. Any competent developer can pick the project up if you ever choose to move on. Most of my clients don't, but the option is always yours.

A long-term partnership, not a hand-off

Launch day is the start, not the finish line. Most of my clients have been with me for five to seven years because the same developer who built the site keeps building, maintaining, and improving it. Optional website maintenance plans keep your site secure and up-to-date, handled by the developer who built it rather than a separate maintenance team you have never spoken to.

Industries - Sectors I Work With

I build and maintain websites for organisations across a range of industries, each with their own unique requirements and audiences.

Government & Public Sector

Accessible, secure, and compliant websites for government departments and public sector organisations with strict governance requirements.

Health & Not-for-Profit

Purpose-driven websites for health organisations, PHNs, and not-for-profits that need to communicate effectively with diverse audiences. Trusted by Brisbane South PHN and Gippsland PHN.

Enterprise & Corporate

Scalable, high-performance websites and web applications for medium to large organisations with complex requirements and integrations.

B2C & B2B eCommerce

Online stores, dealer portals, trade pricing, and complex product catalogues for both consumer-facing and wholesale eCommerce. From Shopify storefronts to BigCommerce and custom B2B ordering platforms with tiered pricing and account management.

4WD & Automotive Accessories

Dealer portals, vehicle search, dynamic fitment content, and product catalogues for the 4WD and automotive accessories industry. Trusted by ROH Wheels, Creative Conversions, East Coast Bullbars, and All 4 Adventure.

Education & Media

Engaging, accessible websites for universities, RTOs, education providers, media brands, and production companies that need to reach and engage large audiences.

Case Studies - Featured Web Development Projects

A selection of web design and development projects I've delivered for organisations across Brisbane and Australia.

Impact Office Supplies eCommerce Website (B2B & B2C)
Algolia/TypeSense Search AWS Cloud Management Laravel Development

Impact Office Supplies eCommerce Website (B2B & B2C)

Impact Office Supplies is Australia’s leading independent office supplies store, enabling Australia-wide businesses and communities to order your office supplies online with ease.

Delivery Management Software
Laravel Development Algolia/TypeSense Search AWS Cloud Management

Delivery Management Software

A powerful delivery management solution streamlining logistics, enhancing real-time tracking, and optimising operations.

Hour Cap Time Tracking & Billing SaaS Application
Laravel Development

Hour Cap Time Tracking & Billing SaaS Application

A modern, full-featured time tracking and billing platform built for freelancers, consultants, and small teams who bill client hours and need seamless Xero integration for invoicing.

WorkUP Queensland Website Refresh
Wordpress Development

WorkUP Queensland Website Refresh

A strategic WordPress transformation that refreshed content, improved accessibility, and modernised the platform for long term impact.

Brisbane South PHN Website Refresh
Statamic Development

Brisbane South PHN Website Refresh

Brisbane South PHN required a website refresh that would allow the health professionals in their region to easily find the information required, which involved a sitemap and menu overhaul, full content rewrite and refreshed design.

Culture Kings Shopify & Laravel Websites
Shopify & Shopify Plus Development Laravel Development AWS Cloud Management

Culture Kings Shopify & Laravel Websites

Culture Kings had significant eCommerce growth and as one of the senior web developers employed, I was appointed in redesigning & developing their new website in Shopify, as well as their middleware application in Laravel.

The Difference - Senior web design and development. None of the agency layers.

Most agencies sell a senior name on the proposal and put a designer, a junior developer, a project manager, and an account manager between you and the work. I do it the other way around. The same person scopes the project, designs the screens, writes every line of code, and stays with you through the years of maintenance that follow.

A typical agency

Senior names on the proposal. Juniors on the code.

  • You talk to an account manager who relays questions to a designer, who briefs a developer, who escalates technical issues back through the chain. Three Chinese whispers per decision.

  • Designs are handed to junior developers who cannot push back on bad UX, so problems only get caught once they are already built.

  • Discovery is run as a sales motion, with scoping decisions made by people who will never write a line of your code.

  • Three agencies later, you still do not own a clean codebase. Each one rebuilt or layered on top of the last, often on proprietary platforms that lock you in.

  • After launch, you are handed to a maintenance team you have never spoken to and have to re-explain the project from scratch.

  • “Maintenance” means automated bulk plugin updates pushed without reviewing changelogs or testing compatibility.

Working with me

One senior, doing the design and the build.

  • You talk to me directly. The person designing your screens, writing your code, and making technical calls is the same person on every email.

  • The senior designing the screens is the one building them. UX trade-offs get resolved in the design phase, not discovered in QA after launch.

  • I scope the project, design the architecture, and write the code myself. The decisions are made by the person who will have to live with them for the next five years.

  • You own the code, the content, and the hosting. Everything is built on open-source platforms (Laravel, Statamic, or WordPress) with no proprietary lock-in.

  • The same developer who built it stays with you. Most of my clients have been around for five to seven years.

  • Each update is reviewed against your stack, tested in staging, and logged. No silent breakage two weeks after the invoice.

“We have used Jonathan for a number of years to develop and maintain our rather complicated Online Portal and website. Jonathan is always extremely responsive to requests and proactive in ensuring our online presence is safe, presents well and is functional to our customers needs. We would definitely recommend Jonathan for your custom web development needs.”
Nathan Smith Marketing Manager, East Coast Bullbars
“Digital Bird is my first pick for delivering web projects on time, on budget and to the brief — every time. Beyond being a delight to work with, Jonathan Bird is that rare breed of developer who is both masterful on the tools (an absolute Laravel whizz!) while also being adept at engaging the client in UX-thinking, to which he applies expert insights, gained through years of experience, to help further improve the end design for the target user’s experience. This powerful combination of skills means that 4 years on and a variety of projects later (from search directories to corporate website developments), Digital Bird firmly remains my first pick for developer.”
Emma Keller Communications Manager, Brisbane South PHN
Brisbane South PHN
“We’ve been working with Jonathan Bird for our website maintenance, and he has been nothing short of exceptional. Jonathan consistently goes above and beyond, responding quickly whenever we need help and resolving issues with impressive turnaround time. His communication is clear and thorough — he always explains what the problem was, how he fixed it, and provides helpful recommendations for long-term solutions. It’s rare to find someone this reliable and proactive. Highly recommend!”
Nichola Ross Marketing Manager, Rapidline (FurnX Commercial Furniture)
“Digital Bird has had a huge influence on our business providing many solutions besides just a fantastic reliable website. Jonathan is great to work with and has a solution to every challenge. Jonathan also has the ability to “dumb it down” and provide timely advice and assistance if something goes astray. With Jonathan we have in excess of 99% uptime on all three websites.”
Jeff Ross Director, Impact Office Supplies
Impact Office Supplies Logo
“Velg Training has had an excellent experience working with Digital Bird. Jonathan has supported us with a complex Laravel/PHP website and has brought a rare mix of deep technical knowledge, practical problem solving, and clear communication. He has assisted with major infrastructure and platform work across AWS, Laravel Forge, Cloudflare, Redis, S3, Sentry, PayWay, Mailchimp/Mandrill and related integrations. His work has included setting up and migrating infrastructure, improving performance, resolving production issues, monitoring errors, modernising legacy code, and strengthening the reliability of key business workflows such as checkout, invoicing, membership exports, PDF generation, transactional emails and background queues. What stands out most is that Jonathan does not just “fix the ticket”. He investigates properly, explains the cause in plain language, and looks for the right long-term solution rather than quick patches. He has helped us move away from fragile legacy processes, improve automated testing, reduce errors, improve email reliability, address performance bottlenecks, and make the platform easier to maintain into the future. He is responsive, thorough and highly professional, with an obvious understanding of business-critical websites and custom web applications. We would happily recommend Jonathan to any organisation needing a skilled, reliable and commercially minded Laravel/PHP web developer.”
Leonie Davis Director, Content and Strategy, Velg Training
“Was an absolute pleasure to work with Jonathan. Could not be happier with our new website! Professional, responsive, brilliant communication from the beginning to go live. If you are fortunate enough to be in a conversation with Jonathan for a new site - just do it!”
Alex Brennan Director, Blue Ink Office Supplies
“I’ve worked with Jonathan from Digital Bird for several years and found him to be a highly competent developer who often exceeds expectations. Together, we’ve collaborated on a number of medium-sized platforms serving hundreds of thousands of users, including learning management systems, a widely-used school well-being platform, trade promotion competition sites, and more. Jonathan is very skilled in API and platform integration, payment systems (such as Stripe), AWS, internet security, and more. As a Project Manager/Product Owner, I feel very confident working with Jonathan and recommending his services to our clients.”
Zachary Bavas Technical Operations, Invision Media
Invision Media
“Highly recommend Jonathan for anything web development in Brisbane and Australia-wide. Have worked with a lot of developers over the years and Jonathan’s work and communication on projects has been a clear standout. A very talent developer if you’re looking for anything from WordPress, Shopify, Laravel, or anything in-between.”
Brodie Clark Director, Brodie Clark SEO Consulting
Brodie Clark Consulting Logo
“Jonathan Bird is one of the best I have worked with in this space. He is responsive, clever and contributes to the brief, and most importantly, he is a great person to work with. It can be hard to find the right people who can take on something and lift it to another dimension. Jonathan does that and more.”
Mark Gold Director of Corporate Affairs, AMA Group Ltd
AMA Group Logo
“Jonathan Bird was instrumental in redesigning my business’ website and provided invaluable feedback throughout the entire process. The results far exceeded my expectations. They then went above and beyond and met all deadlines in revamping the site again, when we re branded our business. Jonathan has been managing our website updates and hosting ever since and, with more than 10 years industry experience, is always able to add value, solve problems and exceed expectations. I highly recommend him.”
Craig Dobbs Partner, Apiary Financial
Apiary Financial Logo

Website Project Process

My website project process includes a comprehensive approach encompassing phases for website discovery, design, development, quality assurance, training, and post-launch review.

Jonathan Bird Web Development - Website Process

Web Design & Development FAQs

Common questions about working with me on your next web development project.

How much does a web development project cost?

Web development projects typically start from $15,000 for a standard brochure website and scale depending on complexity, custom functionality, and integrations required. I provide a detailed proposal and fixed-price quote after an initial discovery conversation so there are no surprises.

How long does a website project take?

Most website projects take between 8 to 16 weeks from kick-off to launch, depending on the scope and complexity. This includes discovery, content strategy, design, development, testing, and training. I will provide a clear timeline as part of your project proposal.

What's actually included in a website project?

Every project includes a discovery phase to map your audience, goals, and content; UI/UX design; full custom development on Laravel, Statamic, or WordPress; SEO setup with structured data and sitemaps; accessibility and performance testing; content migration; CMS training for your team; and 30 days of post-launch support. You receive a fully documented codebase, a CMS your team can confidently use, and a clean handover with no loose ends.

What platforms do you build on?

I build on WordPress, Laravel, and Statamic depending on the needs of your project. WordPress is ideal for content-managed marketing websites, Statamic is excellent for content-led sites that need a clean editor experience without a database, and Laravel is suited to organisations that need custom functionality, complex integrations, or a more tailored solution.

Do I own the website and code after launch?

Yes. You own the code, the content, the hosting account, and any domains. Nothing is built on proprietary platforms that lock you in. Your website is built on open-source frameworks (Laravel, Statamic, or WordPress) so any competent developer can pick the project up if you ever choose to move on. Most of my clients have stayed with me for five years or more because they want to, not because they have to.

Are your websites accessible and WCAG-compliant?

Yes. Accessibility is built into every website I deliver to WCAG 2.2 standards. Semantic HTML, keyboard navigation, screen-reader compatibility, sufficient colour contrast, accessible forms, and proper heading hierarchy come standard. Full WCAG 2.2 AA conformance is available as an optional upgrade for clients with stricter legal or governance obligations, which is common for government, health, and not-for-profit organisations.

How do you handle security and compliance?

Security is engineered in from day one: secure coding practices, vetted dependencies, HTTPS everywhere, strong authentication, role-based access control, regular security patching as part of ongoing maintenance plans, and Australian-based hosting with daily encrypted backups. For government and enterprise clients I work to ISM-aligned practices and can support privacy impact assessments where required.

Do you work with existing designs or brand guidelines?

Absolutely. I regularly work with existing brand guidelines, style guides, and designs provided by your internal team or agency. If you do not have existing designs, I handle the full design process in-house as part of the project.

What happens after my website launches?

After launch, I offer ongoing website maintenance packages starting from $540 per month to keep your website secure, updated, and performing at its best. I also offer more comprehensive Care and Enterprise plans that include priority support, ongoing development, and strategic planning. You can find out more here.

How is working with a freelance developer different from an agency?

When you work with me, you get direct access to a senior developer with over 15 years of experience. There are no account managers or junior developers in between. This means faster turnaround, clearer communication, and a more cost-effective engagement without compromising on quality.

Do you work with organisations outside Brisbane?

Yes. While I am based in Brisbane, I work with organisations across Australia. Most of my client communication happens via video calls, email, and project management tools, so location is never a barrier.

Can you help improve an existing website?

Yes. I regularly work with organisations that need to improve, redesign, or rebuild their existing website. Whether it is a performance overhaul, a design refresh, or migrating to a new platform, I can assess your current website and recommend the best path forward.

What industries do you work with?

I work across a range of sectors including government, health, not-for-profit, enterprise, eCommerce, education, and media. Each industry has unique requirements and audiences, and I bring experience from delivering projects across all of them.

Do you offer website hosting?

Yes, I offer managed website hosting as part of my maintenance plans. All hosting is on high-performance Australian-based servers for the best speed and reliability. I handle server management, security, and updates so you do not have to. I can also work with your existing hosting provider if preferred.

Talk to me about your web development project