Straight answers about websites, written for people who run businesses.
No jargon and no gated PDFs. These are the questions we get asked most often, answered properly, including the bits that are not in our interest to tell you.
How much should a small business website cost?
What you will actually be quoted in the UK, the running costs nobody puts in the proposal, and how upfront compares to monthly over three years.
Read the guide Local searchHow to get your business on Google Maps
Claiming and verifying your profile, the fields that actually affect ranking, getting reviews without being annoying, and the mistakes that cost you calls.
Read the guide Getting startedDo I need a website if I have Facebook?
When social media genuinely is enough, when it quietly costs you work, and why we will tell you if the answer for your business is no.
Read the guide Pricing£20 a month or £2,500 upfront?
The two ways to pay for a website compared over five years, including the case where paying once genuinely works out cheaper.
Read the guide Buying adviceHow to choose a web designer
Twelve questions to ask before you pay anyone, the answers that should worry you, and the ones we would rather you did not ask us.
Read the guide TroubleshootingWhy is my website not showing on Google?
Eight reasons a site fails to appear, in the order worth checking, with the free tools that tell you which applies.
Read the guide PlanningWhat should a small business website include?
The pages that earn their place, the details customers look for and cannot find, and what to leave out.
Read the guide PlanningHow long does it take to build a website?
Realistic timescales by type of site, and the delays that turn two weeks of work into three months.
Read the guide ContractsDo I actually own my website?
What you own, what you rent, and the four questions to ask any designer before you pay.
Read the guide ComparisonWix vs a custom website
An honest comparison, including when building it yourself is the better answer.
Read the guide ReviewsHow to get more Google reviews
When to ask, what to say, the one tap link, and the rules that get reviews removed.
Read the guide TradesDo I need a website if I am on Checkatrade?
What directories do well, what they really cost, and when you genuinely do not need both.
Read the guide Local searchWhat is local SEO and do I need it?
Plain English: the map pack, the three ranking factors, and what you can do yourself for free.
Read the guide PricingShould you put prices on your website?
Why silence on price costs you customers, and four ways to publish when every job is different.
Read the guide LegalGDPR and your small business website
Cookie banners, contact forms and privacy policies, in plain English with a checklist.
Read the guide WritingHow to write your own website copy
A method that works if you can talk about your job, plus the phrases to delete.
Read the guide PerformanceWhy your website is slow
How to test it properly, the four causes of almost all slowness, and the order to fix them.
Read the guide MistakeThe location page mistake
Why thirty near identical town pages is bad advice, and how to do local pages properly.
Read the guide How it worksSchema markup explained
What structured data does, which types matter, and the two Google quietly retired.
Read the guide Myth vs realityDoes a page need 2,000 words?
Where the word count myth came from and how long your pages should really be.
Read the guideBecause most of what is written about this is written to sell you something.
Search anything about small business websites and you will mostly find articles designed to make you feel behind, followed by a form. We would rather write the thing we would want to read if we ran a garage.
So these guides include the bits that do not help us. When you do not need a website. When a freelancer is a better fit than an agency. What questions to ask us that we would rather you did not.
If one of them saves you from a bad decision and you never hire us, that is still a decent outcome. When you are ready, here is what we build and where we work.
Got a question we have not covered?
Send it over. If it comes up more than once it usually becomes the next guide, and either way you will get an answer.
Ask a questionRead enough? Let us get you online.
Nothing to pay up front, live in about three days, and £20 a month after that.