Frequently asked questions.

It depends on what the site has to do. A one-page site that says who you are and how to reach you is a smaller job than one with a page for each service, bookings or a shop. Our day rate is £275, and most small business sites take 3 to 10 working days to build. With time for your feedback, they go live within 1 to 6 weeks. After a free call, we send you a fixed quote in writing.

It varies with who you hire and what the site has to do. When you compare quotes, look at what each one includes as well as the total, because a cheap site that never brings in an enquiry is poor value. Ours comes in writing after a free call, so you can compare it the same way.

A web agency designs and builds websites for businesses, and often looks after them once they're live. We do that, and we also build the systems behind a business, with every customer, job and invoice in one place and the routine work automated. That means the enquiries your website brings in can go straight into the system you run the business on.

It depends on the size of the site and how quickly the words, photos and feedback come together. You see each stage of the design and build and sign it off before the next one begins, so you always know where your site is up to.

Yes, if you want it to do a job social media can't. A profile sits on someone else's platform, which can change its rules, or who sees your posts, without warning. A website can be found through search by people who don't follow you yet, answers the questions they ask before getting in touch, and makes the next step easy.

Look at real sites they've built, and click through them on your phone. Check that they explain things in plain English and ask about your customers before they talk about colours and fonts. Ask how the site will bring in enquiries, and get everything that's included in writing before you agree to anything.

A freelancer works on their own; an agency is a business that brings several people or skills together. Either can be right. Look at work they've done that's like what you need, and ask who does the design, who does the build and who looks after the site once it's live.

It depends on what the site runs on and what it connects to. The regular costs are hosting, the domain name, email, and any plugins or tools the site relies on. For a site we build, a care plan looks after the hosting, the security certificate (SSL), your domain, backups and updates.

AI website builders put a site together quickly from the details you give them, which can work as a stopgap. What they build depends on what you tell them about your customers. We plan each site around the questions your customers ask before they get in touch, so it's made to turn visitors into enquiries.

At the least: a home page that says what you do and who it's for, a page about your services, an easy way to get in touch from any screen, and something about you that builds trust. Reviews, photos of real work and answers to common questions help people decide. All our sites work on phones, tablets and desktops, with a contact form, click-to-call and the basics set up for search.

The usual causes are large images that haven't been resized for the web, page builders and plugins that load more code than the page needs, and cheap shared hosting. Speed matters to your visitors and to Google, whose ranking systems look at how quickly and smoothly pages load. Every site we build is made to load fast.

It means designing for a phone screen first, then building up for tablets and desktops. Many of your visitors will be on a phone, and Google uses the mobile version of your site when it decides where to rank it. A site that's awkward on a phone loses people before they get in touch.

Start with a fast website that has clear page titles and descriptions, a complete Google Business Profile, and pages that answer what your customers actually search for. On every site we build, the page titles, descriptions and headings are set up for search, and your Google Business Profile is linked.

SEO (search engine optimisation) is the work that helps your website come up when people search for what you do. If your customers look for businesses like yours online, you need at least the basics: clear page titles and descriptions, sensible headings, and a site that loads fast and works well on a phone. Every site we build has those in place.

WordPress and Squarespace suit a simple site you want to edit yourself. A custom site makes sense when yours needs something your platform or template can't do well. We design bigger sites in your own brand, and can connect them to the tools you run the business on, such as your calendar, customer records or payments. Which suits you depends on what the site has to do, and we talk that through on the free call.

Update it whenever something changes, such as your services, opening hours, contact details or recent work, because out-of-date details cost you trust and enquiries. Software and security updates need doing regularly, whether you change anything or not. For a site we build, a care plan covers software and security updates, with a set amount of time for changes each month.

Web accessibility means people with disabilities can use your website, whether they use a screen reader, a keyboard instead of a mouse, or larger text. In England, Scotland and Wales, the Equality Act 2010 requires businesses that provide services to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people, and the Equality and Human Rights Commission's code of practice says that can include a website. Clear text, strong contrast and simple navigation help other visitors too.

Yes. We start with a free 30-minute call about what your current site isn't doing for you. Then we show you real sites in the styles we've discussed, and send you a written proposal.

Start by checking whether Google has found your pages at all. Google's free Search Console shows which of your pages are in its index (the pages it can show in results) and flags problems it finds. If they're in the index but hard to find, check that each page has a clear title and description and uses the words people search with.

Make the next step obvious on every page, whether that's calling, booking or sending a message. Make sure the site loads fast and works on a phone, and show proof: reviews, real photos and examples of your work. Sites often lose enquiries because the contact details are buried, or because the page doesn't answer what people want to know before they get in touch. We plan every site around those questions, and getting in touch is easy from a phone or a laptop.

The best CRM is the one that fits how your business handles enquiries, quotes, jobs and invoices. Many off-the-shelf CRMs have free versions, so try one out on a few real jobs before you pay for more. Where a tool you already pay for can do the job, we connect it rather than replace it. Where nothing fits, we build a system around how you work.

A CRM (customer relationship management system) keeps everything about each customer in one place: enquiries, calls, emails, quotes and jobs. If you're tracking customers in spreadsheets, a notebook or your head, a CRM makes it easier to see the next step for each one. We either connect the tools you already have or build one system around how you work.

Yes. If you're pulling this week's numbers together by hand, a dashboard can show your enquiries, jobs, payments in and money owed on one screen, without anyone building a spreadsheet.

It depends on what it needs to show and how many tools it pulls from. A dashboard of your enquiries and bookings is a smaller job than one that brings together your customer records, invoicing and reports. We start with a focused look at what you need to see, then quote in writing.

For simple appointments, an off-the-shelf scheduling tool is often enough, and many have free versions. Check that it handles what you need, such as several people's diaries, payment at the time of booking or your own availability rules. We can connect it to the rest of your system, or build bookings into a new website, so each booking reaches the customer's record without anyone retyping it.

Put every enquiry in one place and give each one a next step. Where your tools can connect, we can build your system so new enquiries land there and get a first reply, even after hours.

A website people can find, a way for customers to book or get in touch, one place to keep track of customers, and accounting software. As the work grows, automatic follow-ups and one view of the week's numbers are usually the next things worth adding. We build what the business needs and connect it to what you already use.

Usually, yes. We start by checking which of your tools can connect. Then a website enquiry can land in your customer records, a booking can reach your calendar and a finished job can raise its invoice. Where a tool you already pay for can do the job, we connect it rather than replace it, and you enter each detail once.

One screen with the numbers you check most, such as new enquiries, bookings, jobs in progress, money in and money owed. What yours should show depends on the decisions you make each week, so we start by asking what you need to know and build the dashboard around that.

Automation means the repetitive jobs run on their own: replying to new enquiries, chasing invoices, sending reminders, putting together the weekly report. The system follows rules you agree, so you can get on with the work that needs you. If a process changes, we can change the rules to match.

By handling routine replies, reminders and invoice chasing, so nobody has to send each one. When a reply waits for someone to be free, the job may go to someone else. We can automate the first reply to every new enquiry, even after hours.

It's software that helps you find or attract people who might need what you sell, then sorts out who's interested. Some systems capture interest through forms on your website; others contact businesses directly. If you use one, we can usually connect it to your system, so every enquiry it brings in lands in one place and gets a reply.

Yes, and it's often a good place to start. A simple sequence thanks someone as soon as they get in touch, follows up if they go quiet, and stops once they reply. We can build this into your system, so follow-ups go out without anyone having to remember them.

It depends on what the routine work costs you now. The return comes from the hours that stop going on repeat jobs, and from the work you stop losing to slow replies and missed follow-ups. A Business Systems Review measures what each leak takes in time and money, from your own figures, and shows which fix pays back first.

It can be, when it's set up with clear limits. We use AI where it earns its place, for example drafting a reply or a quote for a person to check before it goes. Plenty of fixes don't need it at all, and we tell you which do and why.

A morning briefing gathers what's happened since you last looked, such as new enquiries, bookings, payments in and jobs due today, and sends you one short summary before you start. We can build one around what you check first thing.

Start where a slow or missed step loses you money. For many small businesses that's the reply to a new enquiry, appointment reminders and a weekly summary of the numbers. A Business Systems Review shows which of yours cost the most, so the first fix is the one that pays back first.