Website design in Manchester that looks like your business means business.
I design and build considered websites for businesses that have outgrown the one they have. Clear structure, strong visual direction, responsive design and search foundations are planned together from the start.
Every design decision should have a reason behind it.
A good business can still be let down by its website.
Sometimes the business has moved on and the website has not. What once did the job can start making the company look smaller, less established or harder to understand than it really is.
The issue is rarely just that a website "looks old".
It is usually a combination of presentation, structure, usability and search visibility no longer supporting the business properly.
The first impression feels behind
The business has improved, but the website still reflects an earlier version of it.
People have to work things out
Services, information or next steps are buried, unclear or spread across a structure that no longer makes sense.
Mobile feels like an afterthought
The layout may technically fit on a phone, but the experience is cramped, awkward or harder to use.
Search was never part of the plan
Pages exist without a clear purpose, useful hierarchy or strong relationship between services and what people are actually searching for.
Making changes has become difficult
Updating content, adding pages or keeping the site useful creates more friction than it should.
Replace the weak link with a website that is easier to understand, easier to use and far more representative of the business behind it.
See what goes into the websiteMore goes into a website than what ends up on screen.
A website project is not just the visual design. The structure, content, usability, search foundations, technical build and launch all need attention. Those parts are handled together so you are not left trying to coordinate them yourself.
one build
Structure & Content
Before the website is styled, it needs to be clear what information belongs where and what each important page needs to communicate.
Organise the website around the business and the people using it.
Give each page the information it needs to do its job.
Design & Usability
The visual design should represent the quality of the business while making important information, actions and navigation straightforward to use.
Layouts are considered properly across desktop, tablet and mobile.
Hierarchy, contrast, controls and interactions remain clear.
Search & Performance
Search foundations and technical quality are considered during the build so they are not treated as problems to solve once the website is already finished.
Clear page structure, headings, internal links and crawlable content.
Images, scripts and layout behaviour are considered as part of the build.
Launch & Handover
Finishing the design is not the final step. The website still needs to be checked, put live cleanly and handed over with what happens next understood.
Important pages, forms, links and responsive layouts are checked.
Handover and any ongoing support arrangements are made clear.
The right pages come before the right pixels.
Before the visual design starts, I work out what the website needs to say, which pages need to exist and where each one should lead. You do not need to arrive with a sitemap, keyword list or finished content plan.
Decide what actually needs its own page.
Important services, information and customer needs are separated where that makes the website clearer rather than forcing everything into one overloaded page.
Give each important page a clear job.
A page should help someone understand something, evaluate something or take the next step. That purpose shapes the information and hierarchy used on the page.
Connect the pages in a way that makes sense.
Navigation and internal links should help people move naturally between related information rather than leaving them to work out where to go next.
One broad page cannot always do four different jobs well.
A services overview can help someone understand the overall offer. More specific pages can then deal properly with the individual services people are comparing or searching for.
The structure becomes clearer for the visitor before visual design is asked to make it look good.
A website project
Organic visibility
Google Business Profile
Hosting & maintenance
A clear process. No unnecessary hand-offs.
You work directly with the person planning, designing and building the website. I guide the project through five clear stages, so you always know what we are working towards and what needs to happen next.
Start with the business, not the template.
We start with what the business does, who the website needs to speak to, what is working now and what you want the new website to improve.
Decide what the website needs to say.
I work out the pages, content priorities and route through the site before the visual design is expected to solve them.
Turn the structure into something distinctive.
The plan becomes a visual direction shaped around the business, the content and the experience people should have when they use the site.
Build it properly across every screen.
I turn the agreed direction into the working website, including responsive behaviour, search foundations, usability and the technical details behind the experience.
Check it, launch it, then make the next step clear.
Important pages, forms, links and responsive layouts are reviewed before launch. Handover and any ongoing support arrangements are then clear from the outset.
You do not need to manage the web-design process. I need your knowledge of the business and your decisions at the points where they matter.
Explain what you do, who you serve and what needs to improve.
Share the existing information, assets or access the project needs.
Review the important stages and confirm the direction as we progress.
The person you discuss the website with is the person planning, designing and building it. There is no chain of account managers between the conversation and the work.
What changes the cost of a website?
Page count matters, but it does not tell the whole story. Two websites can contain the same number of pages and require very different amounts of planning, design, content work, development and migration.
Price second.
Same number of pages. Not necessarily the same project.
Page Scope
It is not only how many pages exist, but how different those pages need to be and what each one has to achieve.
Content Requirements
Existing content may be ready to use, need restructuring or require a deeper rethink before the design can support it.
Functionality
Forms, filtering, interactive elements or other custom behaviour can add design, development and testing work.
Integrations
Connecting the website to external platforms or existing business systems introduces technical requirements that need to be understood before the build starts.
SEO Depth
Search foundations sit within the build. Deeper research, content strategy or broader optimisation increases the level of work where the project needs it.
Migration Complexity
A rebuild can involve preserving useful content, reviewing URLs, creating redirects and dealing with technical baggage that a completely new website would not have.
Not “how many pages?” What actually needs to be built?
Once the purpose, content and technical requirements are understood, the project can be scoped around the work it genuinely needs rather than squeezed into an arbitrary package.
What this thinking looks like on a real website.
FSR Automotive's old website had technical problems and no longer described the business clearly. The stronger option was a full rebuild: fix the foundation, rewrite the content around how FSR actually operates and give the new site a clearer structure from the start.
FSR Automotive
Rebuild rather than patch. Make the service clearer. Give the new website a stronger structure for customers and search.
Start from a cleaner technical base.
Rewrite around the real service.
Give important pages a clearer purpose.
Consider local relevance during the build.
A simplified view of the rebuild decisions and resulting site structure.
Rebuild instead of patching.
The existing WordPress setup had broken functionality and legacy issues. A rebuild provided a cleaner base instead of carrying those problems into a new design.
Make the website match the real service.
Workshop-style wording did not accurately reflect how FSR operates. The new content was rewritten around the actual service, including collection and drop-off.
Plan search into the rebuild.
Services, areas covered, page purpose, headings and internal links were considered while the new website was being structured rather than bolted on afterwards.
Sometimes the right redesign starts by stepping back. Fix the underlying problems first, then build around what the business actually needs now.
Before the project starts, the important parts should be clear.
Every website project is different, but that should not mean going into the build without knowing what to expect. Scope, timing, responsibilities and what happens after launch are worked through before the project gets underway.
The pages, content requirements, functionality and any existing-site work that form the agreed scope.
Once the scope is understood, the expected timescale can be set around the work actually involved.
What I am handling, what information or content is needed from you, and where feedback or approval is required.
The handover, access and any ongoing hosting or maintenance arrangements are not left until the website goes live.
01 How long does a website project take?
There is not one useful timescale for every website. Page scope, content readiness, functionality, migration work and how quickly feedback or approvals can be supplied all affect it. Once the scope is clear, the expected project route and timing can be agreed before the build begins.
02 Can you replace an existing website?
Yes. The existing website can be reviewed to decide what is still useful, what needs improving and what should be replaced. Content, existing URLs and technical issues are considered before the old site is simply discarded.
03 Will search, mobile and performance be considered?
Yes. Responsive behaviour, accessibility, search foundations and performance considerations are part of how the website is planned and built rather than things left until the end. Where deeper ongoing SEO work is required, that sits within the separate SEO service.
Explore the SEO service04 Will I be able to update the website?
If you want to manage agreed content yourself, that can be considered as part of the build and handover. If you would rather not deal with website maintenance and technical updates, ongoing support is available separately.
05 What about ownership and website access?
Ownership and access arrangements should be clear before the project begins rather than discovered at handover. Domain, hosting, website access and any important third-party services can be confirmed as part of the agreed project setup.
06 What happens after the website goes live?
The website can move into a straightforward handover or continued support, depending on what has been agreed. Hosting and maintenance are available separately where you want ongoing updates, monitoring and technical care handled for you.
Explore hosting & maintenanceBuild the website your business has grown into.
If the current website no longer reflects the business behind it, the next step is to work out what needs changing and why. From there, structure, design and search foundations can be planned together as one considered project.
Considered design, useful structure and search foundations, built around the business rather than dropped into a template.