Nothing asks for the job
Plenty of sites explain what a business does and then stop. No number in the header, no obvious next step, a contact form buried three clicks down. Visitors who were ready to enquire quietly leave instead.
Websites built for enquiries
A website’s only job is turning visitors into enquiries.
Most small-business sites are judged on how they look. I build them around what happens next: the phone ringing, the form arriving, the job booked. Everything on this page is about how that gets built — the process, what’s included, how long it takes and what you own at the end.
The problem I fix
Pretty is not the same as profitable
Three things go wrong with small-business sites, and all three are build decisions rather than marketing ones.
It’s slow on a phone
Most local searches happen on a mobile, often on patchy signal. A page carrying huge images and a stack of plugins takes long enough to load that people go back to the results and pick someone else.
You can’t change anything
Adding a service or a new photo means emailing whoever built it and waiting. Sites that are painful to update stop being updated, and a stale site is a dead one.
The build
Four stages, and what actually happens in each
No jargon phases. This is the real sequence, with what I need from you at each point.
Discovery
An hour on the phone or in person: what you sell, which jobs you actually want more of, who you lose work to, and what an enquiry is worth to you. I come out of it with a page list and a written scope. From you: your time, and any existing site logins.
Design
I design the homepage and one inner page first, so you’re approving a real look rather than a mood board. Two rounds of changes are included, and the rest of the pages follow the approved pattern. From you: feedback in one go, not drip-fed.
Build
Hand-built pages, no page-builder bloat. Forms wired and tested, tracking installed, every page checked on a real phone. You get a preview link from the first day of this stage and can watch it come together. From you: photos and any content you want to write yourself.
Launch
Domain pointed, old URLs redirected so you keep whatever rankings you had, Search Console and analytics connected, then a walkthrough of how to edit things. From you: domain access, or permission to ask your current host for it.
Three to five weeks is normal for a small site. The thing that stretches it is almost always content — if photos and copy are ready, it’s quick.
What’s included
Every build comes with this
Not a tiered menu with the useful parts held back for a higher package. This is the baseline for any site I put live.
- Mobile-first pages, built to load fast on a phone on 4G
- A page for each service, so each one can be found on its own terms
- Enquiry form that emails you, plus click-to-call and click-to-WhatsApp
- Analytics and conversion tracking from day one — calls and forms counted, not guessed
- Correct business schema, titles and descriptions on every page
- Redirects from your old URLs so existing rankings survive the move
- Accessible markup: real headings, alt text, keyboard-usable navigation
- Hosting set up and running, with SSL
- A walkthrough at handover, recorded so you can watch it again
Hand-built in code, not templated
These sites are not off-the-shelf templates with your text pasted in. Each page is hand-written in HTML, CSS and JavaScript, which means:
- No bloated page-builder markup or unnecessary plugins slowing the site down
- Correct structured data (LocalBusiness, Service, FAQPage, Organization schema) built in from the start, not bolted on afterwards
- Canonical URLs, Open Graph tags and clean metadata on every page
- Proper heading structure and internal linking so search engines and AI tools can understand the site
- No monthly licence fees for a builder platform you do not control
The trade-off is that structural changes come back to me. Day-to-day edits like text, prices and photos are set up so you can do them yourself.
Ownership
It’s your website, not a rental
The single most common thing I unpick for new clients is a site they thought they owned and didn’t.
The domain stays yours
Registered in your name, in your account, with you as the admin contact. If it’s currently sitting in someone else’s account, getting it moved back is part of the job.
The files are yours
At handover you get the full site — the actual pages, styles and images. No licence that expires, no locked builder account, nothing that stops working if you stop paying me.
You can leave
If you want another developer to take over, they get the files and the hosting details and that’s that. No exit fee, no hostage negotiation. It keeps me honest.
Hosting runs on the same platform I use for my own site. If you’d rather host it elsewhere, that’s fine — the site is standard HTML, CSS and JavaScript and will run almost anywhere.
Cost
Roughly what a build runs to
5-page AI-ready site
Typically from
£500
A fast, mobile-first 5-page site structured for AI, LLM and AEO readiness. Content and extras drive the final figure.
See full pricing15-page multi-page site
Typically from
£1,250
A full multi-page site for businesses that need dedicated service pages, location pages and deeper content.
See full pricing25-page lead-gen site
Typically from
£2,000
A local service lead-generation site with location pages across a 10 to 20-mile radius. Once built, the structure is there to keep.
See full pricingHow quoting works
You get a written scope and a fixed price before anything starts. If the scope changes mid-build, the change is priced and agreed first — nothing appears on an invoice that you haven’t already said yes to. Every site is hand-built in code, not templated, with correct schema, canonicals and structured data included as standard.
Ask for a quoteThese figures are indicative, shown so you aren’t left guessing. They are not a quote — the confirmed price comes in writing once I know what you need.
Common questions
Questions about the build itself
Ranking and visibility questions are answered on the local SEO page — this lot is about getting the site made.
How long does a build take?
Three to five weeks for a typical small-business site, measured from the discovery call to going live. The build itself is rarely the hold-up — waiting on photos, service descriptions and feedback is. If your content is ready when we start, the shorter end is realistic.
Do I own the site, and can I move it later?
Yes to both. The domain is registered in your name, and at handover you receive the complete site files. If you ever want to move to another developer or another host, you take everything with you. There is no exit fee and nothing stops working if you stop paying me.
What platform do you build on?
Hand-built HTML, CSS and JavaScript rather than WordPress or a drag-and-drop builder. It loads faster, there are no plugins to update or get hacked, and there are no monthly licence fees. The trade-off is that big structural changes come back to me; day-to-day edits like text, prices and photos are set up so you can do them yourself. If you specifically need WordPress — say, because your team already knows it — tell me at the discovery stage and we’ll talk about it honestly.
Do you write the copy, or do I?
Either. Most clients tell me about the business in a call and I draft the pages from that, which they then correct — that produces better copy than a blank document ever does. If you’d rather write it yourself, that’s fine and it reduces the price. What I won’t do is fill your site with generic filler about “passion for quality”.
What happens to my existing site and its Google rankings?
The old site stays live until the new one is ready. Before launch I map every existing page to its replacement and set up redirects, so anyone with an old link or bookmark lands in the right place and Google carries the existing value across. Search Console is connected at launch so I can see immediately if anything drops.
What does a website cost?
Three starting points: a 5-page AI-ready site from £500, a 15-page multi-page site from £1,250, and a 25-page local service lead-gen site from £2,000. What moves it above each starting point is the number of pages, how much of the writing falls to me, and any extras like a shop or a booking system. Full breakdown on the pricing page.
Not sure a new site is what you need?
Sometimes the existing one is fine and the problem is that nobody can find it. The free audit tells you which it is, in writing, before you spend anything.