I design and build websites for small businesses in the UK: designed around your business, fast on every phone, built on WordPress so you can edit it yourself, with hosting and setup sorted for you. Each site is written so Google can understand what you do and where you do it, and so a visitor knows within a few seconds how to get in touch.
What do you get?
A website that does one job well: turns the people who find you into people who call, message or book. For most small businesses that means a handful of clear pages rather than a big, complicated site.
- Designed around your business. Not a template with your logo dropped in. The layout, the words and the photos follow what your customers need to know before they get in touch.
- Works on every phone. Most visitors to a local business website arrive on a mobile. Every page is built and checked at phone, tablet and desktop widths, with buttons big enough to tap and text big enough to read.
- WordPress you can edit yourself. Change your opening hours, add a photo, update a price list or write a new page without calling anyone. WordPress runs a large share of the web, so help and plugins are easy to find.
- Hosting and setup sorted for you. Domain, hosting, email forwarding, security certificate, backups and the boring technical settings. You do not need to know what any of those words mean.
Who is it for?
Small businesses that need customers to find them and trust them quickly: trades and workshops, cafes and restaurants, salons and studios, garages, consultants and local services. Typically:
- you have no website, or one you are embarrassed to send people to
- your current site looks wrong on a phone
- you rely on a Facebook page or a directory listing and want somewhere you control
- you cannot change anything on your site without paying someone
If you are a bespoke maker who sells through architects, the website is part of a bigger job. Architects check your site after a first conversation, so it needs your projects, your technical details and a clear way to ask a question. See LinkedIn for bespoke makers.
How does it work?
1. A short call
We talk about your business, your customers and what you want the site to do. Calls, bookings, enquiries, directions to your door. I ask what people usually ask you before they buy, because those questions shape the pages.
2. A first version you can click through
I design the site and write the first draft of the words with you. You see a working version, on your own phone, before anything goes live. You tell me what is wrong and it changes.
3. Launch
When you are happy, the site goes live on your own domain, with hosting set up, Google Search Console connected and the site submitted so Google can find it. Your old site, if you have one, is redirected so you do not lose the people who already link to it.
4. You take it from there
I show you how to change text, swap photos and add pages. If you would rather not touch it, you can ask me to make small changes for you.
How is it built for Google?
A good-looking site that nobody finds is a brochure in a drawer. Every site I build covers the basics that small business sites most often get wrong.
- One page for each thing you sell. A page about "kitchen fitting in Banbury" can rank for that search. A single page listing ten services rarely ranks for any of them.
- Proper titles and descriptions. Each page gets its own title and description written for the search results, so the person searching sees what you do before they click.
- Enough useful words. Google needs text to understand a page. That does not mean padding. It means answering the questions customers actually ask: prices or how pricing works, areas covered, how long it takes, what happens first.
- Structured data. Behind the scenes, each page tells Google who you are, where you are, what you offer and how to contact you, in a format search engines read directly.
- Speed. Images are compressed and sized for each screen, and nothing loads that the page does not need. A slow site loses visitors before it loads, and Google notices.
- Your Google Business Profile. For local businesses, the map listing often brings more calls than the website itself. I make sure the two point at each other and say the same thing.
None of this guarantees a first-page ranking. Nobody honest can promise that. It does mean the site gives Google everything it needs, and gives you a fair chance against competitors whose sites do not.
What do you need to bring?
- Photos of your real work, if you have them. Real photos beat stock photos every time. If yours are poor, I will tell you which ones to retake and how.
- Your answers. What you do, where, for whom, and what customers ask before they buy. I do the writing, but the facts have to come from you.
- Access to your domain, if you already own one. If you do not, I set it up.
- An hour or two across the project to look at drafts and tell me what is wrong.
What does it look like in practice?
The site you are reading is built the same way: WordPress, a custom theme with no page builder, every page checked at phone, tablet and desktop widths, structured data on every page, and images served in modern formats at the right size for each screen. The guides and the case study are ordinary WordPress pages, edited in the normal editor.
Questions about websites
How much does a website cost?
It depends on how many pages you need and what the site has to do, such as bookings, a shop or a gallery. After a short call I give you a clear quote for the whole job, so you know the full cost before anything starts.
Can I really edit it myself?
Yes. It is built on WordPress with the standard editor, not a page builder. If you can write an email and attach a photo, you can update a page. I show you how before handover.
Do I own the website?
Yes. The domain is in your name and the content is yours. If you ever want to move to another developer or another host, you can take it with you.
How long does it take?
A small site is usually a matter of weeks rather than months, and most of the time goes into getting the words and photos right. The biggest delay is usually waiting for content, which is why I help write it.
Will it work on phones?
Yes. Every page is built for phones first and checked at phone, tablet and desktop widths before it goes live, with no sideways scrolling.
Do you work outside Banbury?
Yes. I am based near Banbury in Oxfordshire and work with businesses across the UK. Most of the work happens on calls and in shared drafts, so distance does not matter.
Can you fix my existing website instead?
Sometimes. If it is on WordPress and the structure is sound, improving it can make more sense than starting again. If it is built on a closed platform, rebuilding is often cheaper in the long run. I will tell you which after a look.
Need a website that brings in work?
Tell me about your business and I will tell you what I would build.
Read more: About Peter Solarski · Voice OS · All questions