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The Start

The Start

Never Stop Starting™
4.7

Perth, Western Australia, Australia

10-49

2014

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The Start is a Perth-based creative studio with seventeen in-house designers, developers, strategists and marketing specialists who Never Stop Starting™. It's more than a tagline - it's how we work and think, day in and day out. Founded in 2014, our integrated agency works across three connected areas: design (web design, UX design, branding, visual identity), technology (web development and support, AI consultancy and development) and marketing (strategy, search engine optimisation, generative engine optimisation, social and paid media). Three pillars, one studio, no handoffs between separate agencies.

We love producing work that excites us and, more importantly, moves the needle for our clients. We've built a client list carefully over more than a decade, that now includes names like Perth Airport, Tourism Western Australia, RTRFM, Perth Festival, Walyalup Fremantle Arts Centre, Hotel Rottnest and The Westin. It's a client list we're proud of, built one relationship at a time. We love to work across arts, events, hospitality, tourism, retail, education and not-for-profits. Different sectors, same standard, every time.

We break rules that deserve breaking and ask the uncomfortable questions early, because that's usually where the real opportunities are hiding. We'd rather ask them now than apologise for them later on. There's no senior pitch team handing over to a junior delivery team. Everything is made here in-house, with no templates and no offshoring, and the person in your kickoff call is the one designing or coding your project down the track. It's a simple set-up, and it's worked for us for over a decade. That approach has earned real recognition along the way: a Webby Award, seven Australian Web Awards, two Good Design Australia Awards and Campaign Brief WA's 2026 Digital Agency of the Year.

If you'd rather push forward than play it safe, we'd love to hear about it. Get in touch, tell us what you're trying to build, and let's start something worth talking about.

Budget per project
$5,000 - 10,000
Project duration
  • 1-3 months
Geographic focus
  • Singapore
  • Australia
  • New Zealand
Languages
  • English
Success stories

Challenge

The Start partnered with RTRFM to refresh its brand identity and create a website that once again made music the hero.

Solution

Integration audit, custom radio and streaming and website design and development

Result

The Webby-winning website elevated RTRFM’s international profile through global press coverage. Post-launch: 39.8% increase in active users and 41% decrease in bounce rate. RTR2, an on-demand platform built by The Start, delivered a 32% year-on-year increase in listenership in Q4 2025.

Challenge

Design and develop a fast, intuitive website and booking platform that captures the beauty of WA’s landscapes while making regional travel effortless.

Solution

Competitor audit, multi-channel strategy, visual branding, reporting frameworks, industry evaluation, social media roll out plan and website design and development.

Result

Paid marketing drove an average 875 bookings per month at $10.80 per booking - down from $64, achieving a ROI of 62x. Website users increased by 54%, and all flight route keywords achieved page one Google rankings.

Challenge

An ambitious council-run arts festival wanted to boost its profile to become a known name in Perth's major event ecosystem and establish itself alongside the big players like Perth Festival and Fringe World.

Solution

A cohesive and visually impactful campaign that included 1000+ digital and print placements across northern suburbs shopping hubs, CBD landmarks, office networks, and rail infrastructure along the Yanchep train line. Using a dual design system, general Festival executions placed the hemispheres as portals in a surreal ocean-and-sky landscape.

Result

A strategically led, multi-channel campaign that became the most successful in the festival's history - exceeding the previous record by 132%. In the first month, programmatic display reached over 946,000 unique users, Meta drove 50,000 website clicks, and paid search delivered 300 ticket booking conversions at just $17.38 CPA - resulting in multiple shows selling out in record time.

Our clients
Perth, Western Australia, Australia agency The Start helped Walyalup Fremantle Arts Centre grow their business with SEO and digital marketing
Perth, Western Australia, Australia agency The Start helped Perth Airport grow their business with SEO and digital marketing
Perth, Western Australia, Australia agency The Start helped Prendiville Group grow their business with SEO and digital marketing
Perth, Western Australia, Australia agency The Start helped Pacific Energy grow their business with SEO and digital marketing
Perth, Western Australia, Australia agency The Start helped PeopleKind Group grow their business with SEO and digital marketing
Perth, Western Australia, Australia agency The Start helped Wesley College grow their business with SEO and digital marketing
Our awards
Perth, Western Australia, Australia agency The Start wins Webby Award: Music Web & Mobile Site award
Perth, Western Australia, Australia agency The Start wins Australian Web Awards award
Perth, Western Australia, Australia agency The Start wins Digital Agency of the Year 2026 award
Perth, Western Australia, Australia agency The Start wins Good Design Award award
Perth, Western Australia, Australia agency The Start wins CSS Design Award: Site of the Day award
Perth, Western Australia, Australia agency The Start wins Webby Award: Music Web & Mobile Site award
Reviews

5

The average rating is based on reviews from both Google Maps and Semrush.
Jacob Dibb
on
Dec 5, 2023

Have worked with Start on two new websites over the last six months and they have been nothing but a dream to work with. Great communication, kept to deadlines (and kept our team on our toes for deliverables which was great) and the finished products exceeded expectations. Thanks for all of your hard work Start Team, can't wait to work on more projects together in the future!

Barclayss
on
Apr 23, 2024

When looking for a new digital agency, we wanted a team that was reliable, knowledgeable, and approachable. The Start Digital team embodies all these qualities and more. They continuously strive to deliver the best results for us, going above and beyond in ways we couldn’t have imagined. Initially, we engaged Start to manage our website maintenance and Google ads, which have been very successful. After a few months of working with their team and seeing great results, we also decided to build a new website with them and develop a new branding. We couldn’t recommend a friendlier and more capable team for your website and marketing needs.

WA PCYC
on
Apr 11, 2025

An absolute pleasure to work with! We’ve just launched our new website, designed and built by the amazing team at Start Digital—and we couldn’t be happier with the result. They took the time to understand our needs, brought fresh and creative ideas to the table, and completely transformed our online presence. Their professionalism, creativity, and collaborative approach made the entire process seamless. We can’t recommend them highly enough!

Angelo Di Carlo
on
Sep 19, 2024

We came to Start via recommendation from one of our clients, to completely rebuild our website. The entire process was excellent from the discovery session all the way through to the launch, the Start team were always clear in their communication and extremely professional. They really came to understand our business and our vision and worked diligently along side us to create a concept which is both visually appealing but also functuionally superb. I have already recommended Start to a number of clients and will continue to do so! Thank You Start Team

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