FAQs
Your frequently asked questions, answered in jargon-free plain English.
The Basics
What do you actually do?
I design, build and manage websites for established businesses. That splits into three jobs: a website that makes the right first impression, getting found on Google when someone searches for what you do, and turning those visitors into enquiries and orders. Most businesses have a problem in at least one of the three. My job is to find out which, fix it, and prove it worked.
What makes a website "exceptional"? Isn't that just designer talk?
No. An exceptional website is one that wins work. It looks the part for your market, loads fast, makes sense the moment someone lands on it, shows up on Google, and makes getting in touch effortless. Plenty of beautiful websites fail every one of those tests. Plenty of expensive ones too.
What's SEO, in plain English?
SEO stands for search engine optimisation, but forget the jargon. When someone types "kitchen fitter worcester" or "steel fabrication near me", Google has to decide who to show first. SEO is how you become that answer instead of your competitor. With me it's not a separate service bolted on afterwards. It's built into the website from the first day of the design.
What's the difference between SEO and Google Ads?
Google Ads is renting; SEO is owning. With ads, you pay for every click and the moment you stop paying, you vanish. With SEO, you build visibility that keeps working without a per-click bill. Ads are faster, SEO is more durable, and for many businesses the right answer is a bit of both: ads for quick wins while the SEO takes root. I'll tell you honestly which fits your situation.
I'm on Checkatrade and MyBuilder. Isn't that enough?
Those directories can be a decent source of work, but think about what you're doing on them: paying to stand in a line-up next to your competitors, often competing on price, on a platform that owns the customer relationship. Your own website and Google profile bring in work that's yours alone, with directories as a top-up rather than a lifeline.
Do I even need a website, or is my Facebook page enough?
Facebook is fine for showing off jobs to people who already follow you. It does almost nothing for people searching Google, which is where most new customers start, and next to nothing for B2B buyers checking you out before they call. A simple, fast website that Google can understand and a visitor can trust will beat a busy Facebook page every time.
What's a Google Business Profile and why does everyone go on about it?
It's the panel that shows up on Google and Google Maps with your reviews, photos, opening hours and phone number. For local businesses it's arguably more important than your website, because it's what appears in the map results when someone searches "electrician near me". Setting it up properly is part of every website launch I do, and feeding it is part of ongoing management.
Costs
How much does a website cost?
My rates are published on this site here, no hidden extras and no locked-in contracts. As a guide, website projects start from £2,950 as a fixed price, ongoing management starts from £500 a month, and a one-off audit is £950 if you want to know where you stand first. What I won't do is quote you a number before I understand your business, because the honest answer depends on your market and your goals.
Is it worth it for a smaller business?
Do the sums with your own numbers. If your average job is worth £3,000, a website project pays for itself in a single job, and the monthly management works out at a fraction of one job a month. For businesses selling work worth four figures and up, it's one of the best-value ways to win customers there is.
Why is the management a monthly cost? Can't you just build it once?
The build is exactly that, a one-off, and you own it outright. The monthly part is what happens after: Google rewards businesses that stay active, your competitors don't stand still, and reviews, content and local signals need feeding. Think of it like a van. Buying it is the start; it still needs fuel and servicing to keep earning. That said, if a one-off build is genuinely all you need, that's what I'll recommend.
What happens if I stop paying? Does it all disappear?
No, and be wary of anyone whose work does. The website is yours, your domain, your content, your accounts. If we part ways, you keep the lot. What stops is the ongoing gains: rankings gradually settle back as competitors keep pushing while you don't.
Can I just do this myself?
You could, the same way I could plaster my own ceiling. The information is all out there, and if you've got the time and interest, I'd genuinely encourage you to learn the basics; my blog is free and written for exactly that. The honest question is whether evenings spent learning this are worth more than evenings spent quoting, working or with your family. Most of my clients did the maths and decided their time was better spent running the business.
Timescale and Process
How long does a website take to build?
Most projects are live within four to six weeks, depending on how much content we're starting with. I build fast, clean sites made to win work, not sprawling projects that drift for months.
How long until I see results?
It depends which lever we're pulling. A new website often shows up in your enquiries within weeks, because the first impression changes for every visitor from day one. Search visibility is months, not weeks: local improvements within two to three months, competitive national terms six to twelve. One client saw enquiries up 30% inside two months because his fundamentals were quick to fix, but I'd rather set honest expectations and beat them than promise the moon and hide when it doesn't arrive.
How much of my time will this take?
Very little, and I've built it that way deliberately because my clients are running businesses all day. Expect a proper conversation at the start so I understand yours, your input on the content I draft, then the occasional photo of a finished job, a quick answer to a question, or a nudge to ask a happy customer for a review. I handle the rest and report in plain English.
What do you actually do each month?
It varies by business, but typically some mix of: improving and adding pages to your website, testing and refining what turns visitors into enquiries, keeping your Google Business Profile active, building your reviews, creating content that ranks for the work you want more of, fixing technical issues, and watching what competitors are doing. Every month you'll know what I did, why, and what it's producing, in enquiries and orders rather than charts.
How do you measure success?
Enquiries, orders and jobs, tracked back to where they came from. Rankings, traffic and conversion rates are how we get there, and I'll show you those too, but I've sat through enough board meetings to know nobody really cares about impressions. The report you get is the one I'd want if I were paying the invoice: what came in, what it cost, what it returned.
Trust
I get calls saying my website has problems and I'm losing customers. Are they right?
Almost certainly not. Those calls and emails are mass-sent to thousands of businesses, and the "report" they offer finds the same scary-sounding problems for everyone. It's a fear-based sales tactic, and reputable people don't work that way. If you're ever worried something's genuinely wrong, send it my way and I'll tell you for free whether it's real.
Everyone says they're an expert. How do I know who to trust?
Ask three things. Can I see named results, real businesses with real numbers, not "a client in the home improvement sector"? Will I deal with the person doing the work? And will you tell me if this isn't right for me? Watch how they answer the last one especially. Anyone who says yes to every business that can pay is running a sales operation, not a practice. My results, my rates and my face are all on this site, which is rarer in this industry than it should be.
Do you guarantee first page rankings?
No, and you should run from anyone who does, because nobody controls Google. What I guarantee is honest advice, work prioritised by what brings in customers, and clear reporting on what's improving and why. In practice my clients stay for years, and it isn't because contracts trap them. There aren't any.
Will you work with my competitor down the road?
No. I don't take on directly competing businesses in the same sector and area, because I can't honestly push two firms up the same search results. First come, first served, and if you're on board, your patch is yours.
I already have an agency but I'm not sure what they do. Can you take a look?
Yes, and this is more common than you'd think. I'll review what's actually been done on your site and your profile, in plain English, and tell you whether you're getting what you're paying for. Sometimes the answer is "they're doing a decent job, stay put". You'll get the truth either way.
Ranking
People say everyone uses ChatGPT and AI now. Does a website still matter?
More than ever, though it's evolving. When someone asks ChatGPT or Google's AI for a recommendation, those tools pull from the same underlying signals: clear websites, strong reviews, consistent business information, and content that demonstrates you know your field. The businesses winning in AI results are the ones with their fundamentals right. It's not "website or AI". A well-built, well-optimised website is how you show up in both.
Why does my competitor rank above me when my work is better?
Because Google can't see your work, only the evidence of it. If your competitor has more reviews, a faster website, better photos and pages that clearly explain what they do and where, Google reasonably concludes they're the safer recommendation. The good news: that's all fixable. Quality of work wins referrals; quality of evidence wins Google. You need both.
I cover several towns. Can I show up in all of them?
Yes, with the right structure. Google shows local results based on where the searcher is, so a business in Worcester won't automatically appear for searches in Kidderminster. The answer is properly built pages for each area you genuinely serve, plus a well-managed Google profile. What doesn't work is stuffing thirty town names into your homepage. I'll build it the right way.
My work is seasonal. Does this make sense for me?
It's arguably more valuable for seasonal businesses, because your lead time becomes an advantage. The website we build in autumn is what fills your diary in spring, and search visibility built in the quiet months means you capture the demand when it arrives. Most seasonal businesses market hardest when they're busy and go quiet when they're not, which is exactly backwards. A steady presence smooths the feast and famine.
Working together
Who do you work with?
Established businesses that have built a reputation and need a website to match. My home ground is construction and the trades: builders, joiners, blind and shutter installers, kitchen fitters, landscapers, sign makers, fabricators, and the manufacturers and service firms that supply and support them. I also work with health and wellbeing practices, leisure and hospitality businesses, and professional and specialist firms. If your customers search Google or check you out before choosing who to buy from, I can probably help. If I don't think I can, I'll say so in the first conversation.
Do you only work with businesses near you?
I'm based in Great Malvern, Worcestershire, and love working with local businesses across Worcester and the West Midlands, but I work with clients right across the UK. Everything can be done remotely, and I'm happy to meet face to face when it's practical.
What happens in the first conversation?
We talk about your business, your customers, and what a good enquiry looks like. I'll look at your current website and your Google visibility before we speak, so you'll come away with genuinely useful pointers whether we work together or not. No pitch, no pressure, and no follow-up campaign hounding you afterwards.
Got a question I haven't answered?
Ask it. You'll get a straight answer in plain English, and I promise the reply comes from me, not a mailing list.