The usual worries, answered by clients.
Hiring someone to build your website is a leap of faith. Here are the worries people bring to us, what clients wrote about each one, and the facts that back it up.
“I’ll end up talking to an account manager, not the person building it.”
“If you need help there is always James to respond and give your proper guidance, not the automated AI system”
VJ Tran, Construction consulting, NSW & ACT · Google review
“James is incredibly helpful and efficient. He had some great suggestions I hadn’t considered when I was starting my business beyond my website requirements. Highly recommend.”
Jake Hoskin · Google review
There is no account manager. James Duong designs and builds every site himself and is the person you message, from the first brief to after launch. The one exception is Meta ads, which run with a specialist, and even then you keep one point of contact.
“It’ll look like every other template site.”
“far beyond a typical drag-and-drop build — it’s properly coded and is a premium custom website”
MBS, Remedial massage clinic, Sydney · Google review
“James was very attentive, patient and very helpful, the website design is impeccable and exactly what I wanted!”
Grumpy Dads Place, Café & deli, Narwee · Google review
Every site is hand-coded from scratch in Astro. No WordPress theme, no page builder, no template. That's also why the sites are fast: there are no plugins to load. More on why that matters for search.
“A nice-looking site won’t actually bring in work.”
“My revenue has tripled as online traffic went from non existent to 66% of my leads.”
Karan Menon, Mortgage & lending advisory, Sydney · Google review
“The design and finish was modern and suited my niche well — a great tool for converting clients.”
Gabz · Google review
Results depend on the business, and nobody honest can promise a number. What every build does include is the groundwork: a clear next step on every page, mobile-first layout, proper headings and metadata, a sitemap, and load times that don't lose people. Karan's numbers are his own, from his review.
“It’ll drag on for months.”
“James was very professional, helpful, responsive and fast with building my website for my company. Would highly recommend!”
David Marich, Electrical, ACT & NSW · Google review
“He worked around the clock and was attentive to our needs”
Irfan Mahboob · Google review
Most sites go live 2–4 weeks after the brief. The usual hold-up is content and photos, not the build, so we tell you early what's needed. A fixed quote comes back within 48 hours, and you can ask to see a homepage design before you commit to anything.
“The price will blow out halfway through.”
“Great service and very easy to deal with at amazing prices !!! Would recommend to anyone”
John Li, Construction, NSW · Google review
“fairly priced”
Irfan Mahboob · Google review
The price is fixed in writing before work starts. No hourly billing and no revised invoice later; if a job runs long, that's our risk, not yours. Pay a lump sum, or monthly with hosting and edits included. See how pricing works.
“What if I’m stuck when something needs changing?”
“James was instrumental in helping us maintain and improve our platform following our transition from the agency.”
Danny Thai · Google review
“Our journey continues together & we are super excited to keep developing this website with you as our business grows”
Laura Westra, Home building, NT · Google review
After launch, a care plan covers hosting, updates and edits. If you're coming off another agency or an AI builder, we've taken over existing sites before and can pick up where they left off.
How that compares
| Compared on | rice | Typical agency | DIY builder |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who builds it | One engineer, start to finish | A designer, a developer and an account manager | You |
| Who you talk to | The person writing the code | An account manager | A help centre |
| How it’s built | Hand-coded, no plugins | Usually WordPress plus a theme and plugins | A drag-and-drop template |
| Price | Fixed quote within 48 hours | Often a range, then hourly for changes | Monthly subscription, plus your time |
| Typical timeline | 2–4 weeks | Depends on the team’s queue and hand-offs | As long as your evenings allow |
| Speed and SEO basics | Built in from the first line | Depends on the plugins | Limited by the platform |
| After launch | Hosting and edits via a care plan | Billed per change | You maintain it |
The facts, in one place
- Who builds it
- James Duong, software engineer. Rice Web Design is his own business; his day job is at Canva, which isn’t affiliated with rice.
- Where
- Narwee, Sydney NSW 2209. Clients across NSW, the ACT and the NT, worked with remotely.
- ABN
- 30 329 235 346, registered to the business name Rice Web Design. Check it on ABN Lookup.
- Reviews
- 5.0 stars from 13 Google reviews. Read them all, unedited, on the reviews page.
- What we don’t do
- WordPress, standalone SEO retainers, link building. If that’s what you need, we’ll say so.
Read every review in full, browse the work, or see more about James.
Questions
Because on a site for a service business, the work is usually done by one person either way. With rice, that person is also the one you talk to, so nothing is lost passing messages along. An agency is worth its higher price when you need several specialists at once or guaranteed cover. There's a fuller comparison in freelancer or agency.
It's the right question to ask any small studio, and worth asking before you hire anyone. A rice site is plain hand-written code with no proprietary builder underneath, so another competent developer can pick it up. Ask how the domain, hosting and code are set up for your project, and get the answer in writing. The guide to choosing a web designer covers what to check.
Yes. Every one is on our Google Business Profile, posted by the client. The reviews page shows them word for word, and the link there goes straight to Google so you can check.
If you want to rearrange your own pages every week, a template builder suits you better. Same if you need something live this week on almost no budget, or you want the cheapest quote available. We say this plainly on our fact sheet too.
Ready to grow?
Tell us what you need. We'll come back with a clear scope and price, no call required.