Website and web application development
A site that does the job you commissioned it for: explains the offer, brings in enquiries, and looks as good on a phone as on a large screen.
I build websites from the first conversation through to the moment they are live and in use. That covers content structure, design, the build, testing on real devices, and setting up the domain and hosting. What the client ends up with is something they can maintain themselves, not something that depends on me every time a phone number changes.
There is no single type of site that suits everyone. A small business brochure site, a property catalogue and a single-goal landing page are three different problems and need three different answers. So I start by asking what the site has to achieve, and only then do we pick the technology.
Price and timeline depend on scope, so I do not publish a fixed rate card that would be wrong for half the enquiries anyway. After a short conversation I can tell you whether the project is feasible, roughly how long it takes and what it costs, and you get that before anything is agreed.
What you get
- Design built around your content, not a template that content is later forced into
- Responsive layout tested on real phones, not only in developer tools
- Technical SEO groundwork: semantic headings, meta data, clean URLs and optimised images
- Fast loading, because most visits arrive over mobile networks rather than office wi-fi
- Going live with domain, hosting and certificate, plus instructions for maintaining it yourself
How it runs
- 01Conversation and scope. We go through what the site has to achieve, who the audience is and what content already exists. That produces a page list and a time estimate.
- 02Structure and design. Content layout first, visual design second. Most corrections happen in this phase, because changing things here is the cheapest it will ever be.
- 03Build. Development in the agreed technology, with regular progress reviews so there are no surprises at the end.
- 04Handover. Device testing, a speed and SEO check, deployment to the domain, and handover with documentation.
Who it is for
- Small businesses needing a first proper site instead of a social media profile
- Companies with a site a few years old that handles badly on mobile
- Clients who need a landing page with one clear goal, a sign-up or an enquiry
- Projects that call for a custom application rather than bending an off-the-shelf system
What I watch most closely
- Content before design. A page arranged around empty boxes always falls apart when the real text arrives.
- One clear action per page. Five equally prominent buttons means the visitor presses none of them.
- Speed is not fixed at the end. Decisions about images, fonts and scripts are made during the build, because retrofitting performance always costs more.
Stack
Examples from real work
Common questions
How long does a website take?
It depends on the number of pages and on whether it is a presentation site or an application with its own logic. In practice the largest share of the time is not development but gathering content: text, photography and details of the offer. If the content is ready at the start, the timeline shortens more than any technical decision could manage.
React or WordPress?
WordPress makes sense when you change content often and want to do it yourself without development work. React makes sense when the site does something specific that off-the-shelf systems handle badly, or when speed and interface behaviour are critical. The decision follows who will maintain the content, not what is currently fashionable.
Can I edit the content myself?
With WordPress yes, and that is usually the main reason for choosing it. With a React build, content is either connected to a dedicated editing system or changed in code. We answer that question before the build starts, because it materially changes both approach and cost.
Do you do design too, or do I need it ready?
I do design as well. If you already have a visual identity, logo and colours, I work inside it. If you do not, the design emerges through the project. Either way I start from the content, because design without content ends up as a nice arrangement of empty frames.
What if I already have a domain and hosting?
Not a problem, I work with what exists. If the hosting is materially slowing the site down I will tell you and explain why, but the decision to move stays yours.
Who writes the copy?
The best result is when the text comes from you, because you know the business and the customers, and I arrange it into a structure that works on the web. If there is no text, we build it together through a handful of questions. What I will not do is fill a page with empty phrasing so it looks full.
Have a project in mind?
Send a few lines about what you need and I will come back with questions and a proposed approach, with no obligation.