Getting Started
How to Place an Order
How to Place an Order: a clear, practical guide from the Digitalx knowledgebase for South African businesses. Part of our Getting Started help.
Two easy ways to order
You can place an order in minutes using our guided Order form, or register on the Client Portal and request a service from inside your account. Either way, your request reaches our team and we confirm the details and pricing with you.
What the order form asks
The order form walks you through three quick steps: choose your service, tell us the project details (with secure file upload for things like your logo or ID), and add your contact details. It takes just a few minutes.
What happens next
We review your order, confirm requirements, send any invoice due, and get started, usually within one business day. You can track everything in your portal. Prefer to talk first? WhatsApp us.
What to get right
- Register the company with CIPC so you can open a bank account and sign contracts
- Get a tax number and understand what SARS expects from you
- Secure a domain and a professional email address on it
- Put up a website people can find and trust
- Decide how customers will pay you
Work down that list in order. Each item makes the next one easier, and skipping ahead is what creates the messy situations we are usually called in to untangle.
How this usually works in practice
- Start with the goal. Write down what you want to be true in three months. Almost every decision about how to Place an Order follows from that.
- Check what you already have. Existing registrations, domains, hosting logins and accounts. People often own more than they realise, and duplicating it wastes money.
- Get a written price before committing. A verbal figure is not a quote. Ask for scope and cost in writing.
- Do the compliance part first. Registration and tax basics unlock the bank account, the contracts and the tenders.
- Then build the visible part. Website, professional email, listings and branding.
- Only then spend on advertising. Sending paid traffic to a weak website is the most common way South African businesses waste a marketing budget.
Costs and timelines, honestly
Exact figures depend on your situation, but here is the shape of it so you can plan.
| What | Typical cost and timeline |
|---|---|
| Company registration | From R990, usually 3 to 7 working days |
| Starter website | From R3,990, usually 1 to 2 weeks |
| Hosting, SSL and business email | From R150 per month |
| Website care and updates | From R350 per month |
| SEO | From R2,500 per month, meaningful movement from about month three |
| Google Ads management | From R2,500 per month plus your ad spend |
| Branded motorbike advertising | From R2,500 per month per bike |
Every one of these prices is published on our pricing page, and you can build your own total in the quote builder without speaking to anyone.
Mistakes we see every week
- Missing the annual return. CIPC deregisters companies for this, and it takes weeks and money to reverse. Diarise it.
- Not owning the domain. If a previous developer registered it in their own name, you do not control your own website or email. Always check who the registrant is.
- Using a free email address on invoices. It costs you credibility on every quote you send.
- Paying for ads before the website converts. Fix the destination first, or you are paying to lose people.
- No written scope. Almost every dispute we hear about started with a verbal agreement about what was included.
- Letting the mailbox fill up. A full mailbox stops receiving mail silently, and people assume clients are ignoring them.
Where to go next
- See every price we charge on the pricing page
- Build your own total in the quote builder, no call required
- Read what we commit to in writing on the about page
- Browse the rest of the knowledgebase
- Or just send us a WhatsApp and ask
How Digitalx can help
Digitalx is a South African creative studio helping businesses launch, market and grow. WhatsApp us for a free consultation, or start a project.