How much does a website cost?

Our plans start at £79/month for a professional, custom-built website. No upfront costs, you just pay monthly and can cancel anytime. We also offer Growth (£119/month) and Premium (£179/month) with additional features like booking systems and advanced SEO.

How long does it take to build a website?

One week. You tell us about your business in a 15-minute conversation, we design and build your site, and it goes live. All within a week.

Do I need to provide content for my website?

No. We handle the writing, design, images, and SEO. All we need is a 15-minute chat about your business so we understand what you do, who your customers are, and what makes you different.

What if I want to cancel my website subscription?

No contracts, no tie-ins. Cancel anytime with no fees. We believe our work should speak for itself.

Do you include SEO with your websites?

Yes. Every website we build includes on-page SEO as standard. That means proper meta tags, structured data, fast load times, mobile optimisation, and a sitemap submitted to Google. Our Growth and Premium plans include ongoing SEO work.

What areas do you cover for web design?

We work with businesses across the UK. We're based in Northampton but everything is done remotely, so your business can be anywhere. If you're a local business that needs a professional website, we can help.

Can I see examples of your web design work?

Yes. We have three demo sites showing exactly what we build. Each one is a fully designed, functional website with real content and features so you can see the quality before you commit.

What happens after my website goes live?

We don't just build and disappear. Your monthly plan includes hosting, SSL, security updates, and content changes. Need to update your phone number, add a new service, or swap out some photos? Just ask and we'll sort it, usually within 24 hours.

Does My Small Business Need a Website in 2026?

Yes. But probably not for the reasons you've been told.

Most articles on this topic are written by hosting companies or website builders trying to sell you something. They'll rattle off stats about "online credibility" and "24/7 availability" without ever acknowledging that plenty of local businesses get by just fine without a website.

So let me be honest with you. I build websites for local businesses. I have a clear bias here. But I also talk to business owners every week who are trying to figure out whether a website is actually worth the money. Here's what I tell them.

The short answer

If customers find you through Google (or increasingly, through AI search like ChatGPT or Perplexity), you need a website. If 100% of your work comes through word of mouth and you're fully booked, you probably don't. Most businesses are somewhere in the middle.

When you genuinely don't need one

Let's get this out of the way. You might not need a website if:

All your work comes from referrals. If you're a sole trader who's fully booked through word of mouth, a website won't add much. A Google Business Profile and a Facebook page might be all you need.
You're testing a business idea. If you're just starting out and testing the waters, spend your money on doing the work well. A website can come later.
You only serve people you already know. Some businesses (childminders, private tutors) work exclusively through personal networks.

But here's the thing: if any of those change, if a quiet month hits, if you want to grow, if a competitor starts appearing above you on Google, then you'll wish you had one.

When you absolutely need one

People are searching for what you do

80% of consumers search for local businesses online every week. If someone in your area types "plumber near me" or "end of tenancy cleaning Northampton" into Google, and you don't have a website, you're invisible to them.

Your Google Business Profile helps, but it has limits. You can't explain your services in detail, show off your best work, or give people a reason to choose you over the next listing.

You need to build trust quickly

84% of consumers say a business with a website is more credible than one with only a social media page. That's not surprising. A website says "I'm established. I'm serious. I'm not disappearing tomorrow."

For trades especially, trust is everything. When someone's about to let a stranger into their home to fix a boiler or rewire a kitchen, they want to see reviews, accreditations, and proof you know what you're doing. A Facebook page with a few photos doesn't cut it.

[LUKE: Can you add a real example here? Something like "I spoke to a plumber in Kettering who was losing jobs to a competitor with a basic website. His quote was..." or a story from your actual conversations with local businesses.]

AI search is changing the game

This is the one nobody's talking about yet. 45% of consumers now use AI tools like ChatGPT for local business recommendations. When someone asks ChatGPT "who's the best electrician in Northampton?", the AI pulls its answer from websites with clear, structured information.

No website? You don't exist in that world. And it's growing fast.

You want to stop renting your audience

Facebook can change its algorithm tomorrow. Instagram can tank your reach overnight. Google Business Profile can suspend your listing for no clear reason. It happens.

Your website is the one piece of the internet you actually own. Everything else is rented space.

Social media is great for staying visible to people who already know you. It's rubbish for being found by people who don't.

Here's the difference:

Social media = staying in touch with existing customers
Google/website = being found by new customers searching for what you do

Most local businesses need both, but if you had to pick one, a website with good SEO will bring in more new enquiries than social media alone.

[LUKE: Do you have any real examples of this? Like "I know a cleaning company that was getting all their leads from Facebook, then reach dropped and enquiries dried up overnight." Real stories land much harder than stats.]

What does a website actually cost in the UK?

Here's where most articles get vague. I won't.

DIY (Wix, Squarespace, WordPress): £10-30/month. You'll spend a weekend building it. It'll look... fine. It won't rank on Google without ongoing SEO work, which you'll either have to learn or pay someone for.

Freelance web designer: £500-2,000 one-off. Quality varies wildly. Some are great, many use templates and charge as if they built from scratch. You'll need to pay again for any updates.

Agency (traditional): £3,000-10,000+ one-off. Potentially excellent, but overkill for most local businesses. And you'll still need someone to maintain it.

Monthly retainer model (what we do): £79-179/month. No upfront cost. Site built within a week. Ongoing updates, hosting, and support included. You're not locked in.

[LUKE: This is where your genuine pricing transparency is the differentiator. Consider adding why you chose the retainer model. Something like "We chose this model because..." or "The one-off model doesn't work for local businesses because..." Your reasoning is the unique value here.]

What makes a good local business website?

Not much, honestly. You don't need 20 pages and a blog (although a blog helps with SEO, which is literally what you're reading right now). You need:

A clear headline that says what you do and where you do it
Your phone number visible without scrolling, especially on mobile
Your services listed clearly, not buried in paragraphs
Reviews or testimonials from real customers
A simple way to get in touch (form, phone, or both)
Fast loading on mobile (most of your visitors will be on their phone)

That's it. A 3-5 page site that does these things well will outperform a 20-page site that does them badly.

Want to see what that looks like? Here are three examples we built:

Trades demo (plumber/electrician)
Cleaning demo (domestic cleaning company)
Landscaping demo (garden services)

The numbers that actually matter

Here's a quick summary of the stats, all from real sources:

80% of consumers search for local businesses online weekly (BrightLocal, 2024)
76% of people who search for something nearby visit a business within a day (Google)
84% say a business with a website is more credible than one with only social media (Verisign)
97% of consumers read online reviews for local businesses (BrightLocal, 2026)
45% now use AI tools for local business recommendations (BrightLocal, 2026)

[LUKE: If you have any of your own data, even rough numbers, that would be gold here. Something like "Of the X local businesses I've spoken to this year, Y% were losing leads to competitors with websites." Or "Our clients typically see X enquiries per month through their website." Real, first-hand data is exactly what sets this apart from every other article on this topic.]

So, do you need one?

If you're a local service business in the UK and you want to grow, yes. Not because some hosting company told you so, but because that's where your next customer is looking for you right now.

The question isn't really "do I need a website?" It's "can I afford to be invisible to the people searching for what I do?"

If the answer's no, let's have a chat.