Small business website design
High-performance websites for small businesses, hand-coded from £480.
A builder subscription costs £300 to £600 a year for a slow site on their platform, not yours. A hand-coded site starts at £480. One payment, and you own everything.
“Agencies charge you thousands to build a Wix website using a template. I took that personally.”
The honest cost comparison.
The monthly fee is the number people fixate on. The structure underneath it is the one that matters.
| Measure | Hand-coded | Wix / Squarespace |
|---|---|---|
| Year one | £800, once | Roughly £324 |
| Year three | Still nothing | Roughly £972, cumulative |
| Year five | Still nothing | And still counting |
| Ownership | Yours. Move host any time. | Cancel and it disappears |
| PageSpeed | 97-100, all vitals green | Slowed by template and app overhead |
| Design | Built for your business only | A template shared with millions |
What makes a custom build different.
Not a template. Not an agency. Something better.
Hand-coded, not templated
Written for your business from scratch. No one else on the internet is using your design.
97-100 Google PageSpeed
Google ranks faster sites higher, and most of your visitors are on a phone. Builder sites typically land far below this.
You own it outright
Source files handed over at launch. Host it anywhere, change it any time, hire any developer. No lock-in, ever.
A CMS you actually use
Change prices, photos and opening hours yourself, in plain English, without touching code.
Found on Google
Local SEO and Google Business Profile setup, so you turn up when someone nearby searches for what you do.
Delivered in days
A real timeline up front, and a fixed price in writing before anything starts.
Case study · JB Sparks
A mobile-first trade site with the essentials done right.
A Chesterfield electrician needed the phone to ring. The number sits in the header, reviews and certifications lead as the trust signals that win the call, and the whole thing is built to load instantly on a phone in a van.
“Technical mastery paired with a designer's eye. James is the rare developer who actually understands branding.”
Simple, transparent pricing.
All tiers →Signature
from £2,500
For large sites, migrations and premium brands, where the site carries the first impression.
What's included
- Everything in Standard, at any scale
- Migrations and large multi-page rebuilds
- Brand kit and logo design
- Advanced animation and booking integration
- Photography and art direction
- SEO action plan and keyword research
Standard
Most popular£800
For small businesses and restaurants. The usual choice, and the one most clients need.
What's included
- 5 to 15 pages, custom built
- Integrated CMS, update content without touching code
- RSVP, event and enquiry forms
- Dynamic menus and service lists
- Advanced SEO, plus 2 hrs Google Business Profile setup
- £0/mo hosting, and you own the code
Starter
£480
For portfolios and personal brands that need to exist properly on Google.
What's included
- One main page, plus up to 4 mini pages
- Mobile-first responsive design
- Contact and enquiry forms
- Base SEO setup
- £0/mo hosting, and you own the code
Donate monthly to one of my giving partners and the Supporter Credit comes off any tier.
Common questions.
Anything not covered here, email me and I'll answer the same day.
The Starter tier: one main page plus up to four mini pages, mobile-first design, a contact or enquiry form, and base SEO setup. It suits portfolios, freelancers and businesses that need a fast, professional presence without the bloat.
For most small businesses, yes. Sites deploy on a free tier, which is £0 a month until you hit significant traffic. I'll tell you honestly if your project needs paid hosting.
Yes, and most clients come to me for exactly that. I replicate and improve your content, build clean custom pages, and migrate you across. Your old site stays live until the new one is ready.
Starter is around 48 hours, Standard is three to five days, Signature is scoped per project. Those are delivery timelines, not start dates - I take one project at a time.
You do, including the code. It is portable to any host, and you can hand it to another developer whenever you like.
Standard includes three free content edits and Signature up to six, both for six months after launch. Anything larger gets a fixed quote before I start.
Let's build something great.
No tech-speak, just solutions. Tell me what the business needs and I'll come back with a straight answer.
Reply within one working day · Free first call · Fixed quote · No obligation