Built for the checkout, not the award
We build websites for small businesses around the thing the site is for: the purchase, the booking or the enquiry. Fast on a phone, written so search engines and assistants can find it, and handed over with the logins and the documentation so you run it without us. Seyr's storefront and zollerhistory.com were both built this way and are both client-run.
In detail
What makes a small business website actually work?
It answers the visitor's question before they scroll, it loads before they lose patience, and it makes the next step obvious: buy, book, call. Everything else is decoration. Most small business sites fail on the first of those, because they open with a slogan instead of what the business does and for whom. The second failure is speed on a phone, where most visitors are. The third is a contact form nobody answers. We build for those three and we test all of them before launch.
Two builds, two jobs
Seyr is an ecommerce storefront. Most storefronts are designed for the portfolio shot; this one was designed around the purchase: what a buyer needs to see, in the order they need to see it, from the first product to the confirmation. It has been client-run from day one, with the build documented so the client can add a product or change a price without a ticket.
zollerhistory.com is the opposite kind of site. Frank Zoller Authentic History sells militaria to collectors who read closely, so the site was rebuilt in an archival, institutional direction, with the accession card as its signature element: every piece presented the way a museum would catalogue it. The checkout matters there too, but the thing that earns it is the credibility of the page above it.
The method was the same for both. Decide what the site is for. Build that first. Make it fast. Hand it over.
How a site gets built
- 01
The one job
We write down the single thing the site must make happen and the page where it happens. Every other page exists to get the visitor there.
- 02
Words before design
The copy comes first, in plain language, with the answer at the top of every page. A site designed around placeholder text is designed around nothing.
- 03
Search baked in
Page titles, headings, structured data, a summary file for assistants and a sitemap, built in from the first commit instead of bolted on when the traffic does not come.
- 04
Fast on a phone
Images sized for the screen that shows them, no script the page does not need, tested on a slow connection, because that is the one your customer is on.
- 05
Handover
The domain, the hosting and every login in your name, plus a written guide to the things you will change most. You keep everything, including the right to leave.
A site from us and a site from a template
| Built by us | A template | |
|---|---|---|
| The words | Written for your buyer, answer first | Placeholder text, then whatever got typed in |
| Speed | Measured on a phone before launch | Whatever the theme ships with |
| Search | Built in from the first page | A plugin added later |
| Who runs it | You, with a written guide | You, with a forum |
| Cost | Priced per build under Tailored | Cheaper, until it costs you a customer |
How much does a small business website cost?
It is priced per build, under Tailored, because a five-page site for a clinic and a storefront with hundreds of products are different amounts of work. What we will say before quoting: what the site is for, how many pages actually earn their place, and whether you need custom work at all. Sometimes the honest answer is a well-set-up store platform and a month of our time on the words and the photographs. Website development is not inside Standard; it is scoped on its own and you are told the figure before anything is built.
What you get at handover
- The domain, the hosting and the content system in your name.
- A written guide to the changes you will make most.
- Analytics set up so you can see what the site is doing without asking us.
- The design files and the source.
- A site that works without us. If you want us to keep improving it, that is a separate conversation.
The questions that follow.
Do you build on Shopify, WordPress or custom?
Whichever fits the job. A store usually belongs on Shopify. A content-heavy or unusual site may be custom. We tell you which and why before quoting, and we never pick the platform that pays us most.
How long does a website take?
A focused site in weeks; a large store longer. We give dates against a written scope, and the words are done before the design starts, which is where most delays come from.
Will the site be found on Google?
It will be built to be: titles, headings, structured data and a summary file for assistants from day one. Being found for a competitive phrase is ongoing work, which is a separate service.
Can I update it myself?
Yes, and you should. Every site we hand over comes with a written guide and a content system you can use without a developer.
Do you do the photography?
Yes, under Tailored. A product sells on its picture, and a site built around stock photographs is built around someone else's product.
The price is published.
Where this leads.
No deck. No discovery theatre. One metric, one date, in the contract.