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Custom design and development from Durbanville, Cape Town. Headless when performance matters, WordPress when it is the smarter fit. You get a fixed quote, a dated schedule, and a site your team can update without phoning us.
Four kinds of build. Which one you need comes down to what the site has to do once it is live, and who has to be able to change it afterwards. Every card lists what is in that build, what your team can change without phoning us, and where that build stops and another one takes over. The weeks are build time, and nothing else.
Best for
One campaign, one launch, or one offer that needs somewhere to send people right now.
What is in it
What you can change yourself
Text, images, and the form fields, in the editor.
Not the right build if you need service pages, a blog, or a shop. That is the WordPress website.
Best for
A business whose website is the front door, kept current by its own team.
What is in it
What you can change yourself
Every page, the menu, and new posts. No developer.
Not the right build if you are selling products online, or if page speed is the thing you compete on. Those two are E-commerce and Headless build.
Best for
A business selling products online, where stock, prices, and promotions change often. WooCommerce, or headless commerce if speed matters.
What is in it
What you can change yourself
Add a product, change a price, or run a promotion on a Tuesday afternoon.
Not the right build if you list products and take orders by phone or email. The WordPress website does that.
Best for
A business where page speed is part of what it sells. This site is a headless build, so you are already looking at one.
What is in it
What you can change yourself
The same editor. The front end rebuilds itself.
Not the right build if speed and scale are not the point. Most businesses do better on the WordPress website.
How the quote works
There is no price on this page, and that is deliberate. A figure with no scope attached to it is either a guess or a hook, and both of those cost you time. So we scope the build first: on the first call we go through what the site has to do, who has to run it, and what has to be built rather than reused.
Then you get one fixed number in writing before anything starts. If something you ask for later changes the scope, we tell you what it does to the number before we build it, not after. And if your budget and the build you need do not meet, you will hear that on the first call, not three weeks in.
Scoped before it is priced
One fixed number, in writing
No hourly billing, nothing added later
Most builds run four to eight weeks. Here is where those weeks go, and the four points where we need something back from you. Missing those is the honest reason projects run late, so we agree the dates up front.
Week
1
Discovery and scope
We work out what the site has to do, who it is for, and what it needs to say. You get the fixed quote at the end of this week.
We need you: Kickoff call
Week
2–3
Design
Layouts for the pages that matter, in your brand. You see real design, not a mood board.
We need you: Design sign-off
Week
3–6
Build
The longest stretch, and the quietest. We build the front end, wire up the editor, and set up hosting.
Week
5–7
Content and SEO
Your copy and images go in, page by page. Titles, descriptions, schema, and the sitemap get done here, not bolted on later.
We need you: Your content in
Week
7–8
Test, train, launch
Testing across real devices, then we walk your team through the editor and hand over the accounts. Then we go live.
We need you: Final review
Eight weeks is the usual shape for a full build. A landing page is faster and a large store is longer. Your quote carries real dates, not this picture.
Some agencies keep the domain, put the hosting on their own account, and hand you a login that cannot change much. It is a quiet way of making yourself hard to leave. We do the opposite, on purpose.
Everything is registered and set up in your name. On launch day you get the accounts, full admin access, a walkthrough of the editor, and written notes you can hand to whoever joins next. Our management plan exists if you would rather not think about it, and it is never a condition of the build.
Handed over on launch day
Three we are happy to be judged on. Every one is live, and every one sits on accounts the client owns, whether they run it themselves or keep us on for the upkeep.
We are not a design studio that hands off to a developer, and we are not developers making do with whatever design turns up. Strategy, design, and the code are the same people. Nothing gets lost in the handover, because there is not one, and you only ever have one person to phone.
Your website is the one salesperson that is still working at two in the morning. A slow, generic site quietly tells people you did not take it seriously. That is the whole reason we build the way we do.
Tell us what you are buildingWe do not put a number on this page, because a figure with no scope attached to it is a guess. What we do instead is scope the build properly on the first call, then give you one fixed number in writing before any work starts. That number covers what we agreed. There is no hourly billing, and nothing appears at the end that was always going to be part of the job. If your budget and the build you need do not meet, we say so on that call rather than three weeks in.
Most builds run four to eight weeks from kickoff to launch. A landing page is faster and a large store is longer. The schedule on this page shows where the weeks go and the four points where we need something from you. Content and feedback coming back late is the single biggest reason a project slips, so we agree those dates at the start.
Yes, and we build it that way on purpose. Every site hands over with a content editor your team can use without touching code, so text, images, pages, and posts are yours to change. We train you on it and leave documentation behind. If you would rather we handled updates, our management plan covers that, but it is your choice and not a condition of the build.
You do. The domain is registered in your name, the hosting sits on an account that belongs to you, and the build is handed over with the code and full admin access. We do not hold anything hostage. If you ever want to move to another provider, you can, and we will help you do it cleanly.
No. It is optional and it always has been. Plenty of clients run their own site after we hand it over, which is exactly what the editor is for. The plan exists for people who would rather not think about updates, backups, and monitoring, and you can start it later, or never.
Yes, when it is the right fit. For most business sites, where the editor matters more than raw speed, WordPress is the sensible and cost-effective choice. For high performance or unusual functionality, we build headless. We recommend based on what your site has to do, not on what is quickest for us to produce.
Headless WordPress means WordPress handles content management while a separate, fast frontend (like Next.js) handles what visitors see. You still get a familiar WordPress editor, but the site is far faster and more flexible. This very website is built headless.
Both. We do strategy, design, and development in-house. You get a single point of contact for the whole project, which means fewer gaps, faster decisions, and a cohesive result.
Yes. We are based in Durbanville and we meet clients in person across the Northern Suburbs, greater Cape Town, the Winelands, and the Overberg. Everywhere else we run projects remotely, start to finish, and we have done it for clients well outside the Western Cape. A video call and a shared document does most of what a meeting room does.
The build gives you the technical foundation for it: fast pages, clean structure, proper titles and descriptions, a sitemap, and schema. That is what makes you eligible. Where you actually land depends on your market, your competitors, and whether anyone keeps publishing. We will tell you honestly what the build alone will and will not do for you.
Client reviews
Verified Google reviews from businesses we’ve worked with across South Africa.
“I've recently had the pleasure of working with Whale Coast Web when it came to designing and maintaining our website. They were extremely professional, kept us informed regularly, and we saw our ranking on Google skyrocket to the top. I fully endorse working with Whale Coast Web. Excellent service and excellent prices!”
“What a pleasure it was working with Christiaan, thank you for creating a fantastic web page for Attwood & Associates Physiotherapy.”
“Absolute privilege to work with Christiaan. Did more than I expected and the support, after my website was finished, has been next-level! Highly recommended!”
“Working with Christiaan from Whale Coast Web has been an excellent experience from start to finish. He brought clarity, creativity, and professionalism to every stage of our website and digital setup. His communication was consistent, his timelines were reliable, and the final product reflects real care and attention to detail. Highly recommended if you're looking for someone who blends design skill with integrity and great service.”
“Very ethical company. Provides great advice. Very reasonably priced. Would highly recommend.”
“From the very first interaction, Christiaan displayed professionalism, creativity, and an unparalleled commitment to excellence. He took the time to understand my needs and brought my vision to life in ways I couldn't have imagined. His attention to detail and quick turnaround time was impressive, and the final product exceeded all my expectations. I highly recommend Whale Coast Web to anyone who wants to take their online presence to the next level.”
Tell us what the site has to do. You get an honest scope, one fixed number, and a dated schedule before anything starts.
