Fast, affordable websites you own
Most small business websites are doing one job: telling people what you do, where you are, and how to get hold of you. That job doesn't require a database, a login system, a thousand plugins, or a monthly subscription to a platform that locks your content inside its walls. It requires a handful of pages that load fast, read well on a phone, and stay online without anyone having to log in and patch something every other week.
That's what I build. The technical name for it is a "static" site, which just means the pages are written out in advance and then served as plain HTML, the same way the early web worked - which turns out to be the right shape for the kind of sites that most small businesses actually need. They load fast (pages feel instant once you've started browsing, because the next page gets quietly preloaded in the background), cost almost nothing to host (I can host a typical brochure site for £10/month, or £5/month if you qualify for the charity rate; you can also host elsewhere for free, since you own all the code - see the prices page for the supported version), and you own all the source so you're never locked in.
You don't need to be technical to edit one of these. If you can edit a document, you can update your site.
If you're a charity or co-op, head to my Charity Web Development page for the 50% discount on all of this.
The tool I build with is Eleventy, a modern static site generator. The reasons that matters technically are in my Eleventy developer page; what it means for you is a website that loads fast, gives Google a clean foundation to index, and is easy to edit without breaking.
A few examples of what this looks like in practice:
How do I edit the site?
You edit your site through a browser-based admin interface called PagesCMS, or, if you're more comfortable, by editing plain text files on your computer directly. Either way it's much simpler than it looks - you're changing words in fields, not writing code. Everything is backed up automatically through Git, so if you do break something I can roll it back.
Can you tell me how it works?
I'll happily explain every part of your site to you - the templating, the stylesheets, the build process, anything you're curious about. The aim is for you to feel confident taking charge of the site as it grows, rather than feeling stuck whenever you want to add a new page.
To rank well on Google over time you need to know some basics about how to structure a site and how to write its content, and understanding how your site is put together is part of that. It's not a separate skill from running the site - it's the same skill.
If you're in Prestwich we can do this in person over a coffee at Cuckoo or wherever you fancy. Bring a laptop.
Will I rank well on Google?
A site that loads fast, works on phones, and presents its content clearly is doing the things Google rewards in search rankings - which is what these sites are built for from the foundation up. That gives you a strong technical starting point.
But the foundation is just the foundation. Ranking well also takes ongoing work like writing useful content, building links from other sites, and keeping the site current. The technical bit gets you to the start line; the content work is how you actually compete.
If you host with me you get help with all of that - I provide free marketing guides and videos and personal support working through them.
What is the process?
- I build your site using my starter template, or a fully custom design if that's what you need
- Your content is stored in plain text files you can read and edit
- You can edit through PagesCMS, or send me changes to make
- Backups happen automatically through Git
- You get the full source code on GitHub - it's yours, and your repo can be private if you'd rather
Everything is built on my open-source template and tools, so any web developer can pick it up later if you ever need someone else to work on it. You're never locked in - though you're very welcome to stick around.
You can host with me, or you can take the site to any hosting provider. If you do the latter, I'll make the move easy.
What does it cost?
Like every job, I work to a flat hourly rate and break down where each hour went. Rough estimates for a typical business website:
- 2 hours: Base setup
- Creating an empty site
- Backing it up via Git
- Adding a CMS
- Inviting you to the CMS
- Auto-publishing to your static host of choice
- 1-6 hours: Base template
- Cloning an existing template and adjusting the text to fit your business, or building a new template from scratch
- 1-4 hours: Images
- Cropping and resizing your images, or sourcing a designer
- 1 hour: Domain names
- Pointing your domain at its new host
- 1 hour: Email setup
- Setting up email accounts with your host of choice
- 1-6 hours: Content
- Filling in the actual words on the site, or sourcing a copywriter
Use my static website price calculator to figure out how much your website build will cost
Not every site needs every stage, and if you can do some of it yourself I'll happily guide you through it.
If you also run events, this pairs well with Chobble Tickets for flat-fee ticketing. And if you'd rather build it yourself, the Chobble Template is the open-source base most of these sites are built on - it's free.
Get in touch
If a static site sounds like the right fit for your business, fill in the form below.