Last month I was chatting with Dave, who runs a butcher’s shop on High Street in Sandbach. He told me his nephew built him a website three years ago, and it’s basically invisible on Google. When someone searches “butcher Sandbach”, his shop doesn’t even show up on page one, even though he’s been there for 15 years. That’s the kind of thing that keeps me up at night because I know how frustrating that must be for him.

Thats exactly why we do things differently here in Sandbach.

Here’s the thing – having a pretty website means nothing if nobody can find it. I’ve seen so many local businesses in Cheshire throw money at fancy designs that look great but do absolutely nothing for bringing in customers. One cafe owner near the old market told me she paid £2,000 for a website and got maybe two enquiries in six months. Two! That’s madness.

Your website needs to work as hard as you do. Whether you’re running a plumbing business in Crewe, a solicitor’s office in Middlewich, or a gym in Congleton, people need to find you when they’re searching online. And Google needs to understand exactly what you do and where you do it.

I’ll be honest with you – we build websites with search engines in mind first, design second. That probably sounds backwards, but hear me out.
A local electrician came to us last year after his previous web designer made him this amazing-looking site with all these animations, sliders, and stuff. The problem was that it took forever to load, and Google had no idea what services it actually offered. His competitor, with a basic-looking site, was ranking above him for everything.
We rebuilt his site, focusing on what Google actually cares about – fast loading times, clear service descriptions, proper location tags, and content that matches what people are typing into search. Within three months, he was on page one for “electrician Sandbach” and getting calls every week.

SEO first websites mean:

• Your site loads in under 3 seconds (people leave if it takes longer)
• Every page tells Google exactly what you do
• Your location is clear on every page
• The content matches real search terms people use
• Mobile works perfectly because most searches happen on phones now

I’ve watched too many businesses waste money on websites that look nice but don’t bring in any work. That’s not what we do here.

Before we write a single line of code or design anything, we need to actually understand your business. And I mean really understand it.

I remember working with a women’s clothing boutique in Middlewich. The owner assumed we’d just copy her competitors’ websites and maybe change the colours. But when we sat down and talked about her customers, we found that most were mums aged 35-50 who wanted quality clothes that last, not cheap, fast fashion. Her whole website needed to reflect that – from the language we used to the way we organised products.

Questions We Always Ask

We spend time asking questions like:

• Who are your actual customers? (not who you think they should be)
• What problems are they trying to solve when they find you?
• What makes you different from the competitor down the road?
• What questions do people always ask you?
• What do you want people to do when they visit your site?

One plumbing company told us their biggest issue was people calling for quotes at midnight. So we built them a quote request form that works 24/7 and sends them the details in the morning. Simple fix, huge impact.

The information gathering bit isn’t glamorous, but it’s probably the most important part. Get this wrong, and everything else falls apart.

Let me tell you about Sarah, who runs a physiotherapy clinic in Alsager. She had a website, but every time she wanted to add a new service or update her opening hours, she had to email her web guy and wait days for changes. Sometimes weeks. It drove her crazy.

Website management should be easy. You shouldn’t need a computer science degree to update your own content.

What We Handle for You

We handle all the technical stuff:

• Keeping your site secure and updated
• Fixing things when they break
• Making changes when you need them
• Checking your sites still running fast
• Making sure Google can still find everything

Some businesses want to manage content themselves, and that’s fine – we set you up so it’s easy. Others just want to send us changes and have us handle them. Both work.

The worst thing is having a website that becomes outdated because its to difficult or expensive to make changes. I’ve seen restaurants still showing last summer’s menu because they can’t figure out how to update it. Thats just silly.

Your business changes all the time – new services, new prices, new team members, seasonal offers. Your website needs to keep up without you having to stress about it.

I hate hidden costs. Absolutely hate them.

A mechanic in Sandbach told me he paid for a website build, then got invoiced separately for the logo design, then for stock photos, then for email setup, then for contact forms, then for this plugin, then for that feature. By the end, he’d paid nearly double what he thought it would cost.

Our design stack includes everything you actually need:

• Custom design that fits your brand
• All the pages your business needs
• Contact forms that work properly
• Image optimisation so photos don’t slow things down
• Basic SEO setup from day one
• Mobile responsive design (this should be standard, but some people still charge extra)
• SSL certificate for security
• Initial content writing support

One cost. No surprises halfway through the project.

We quote you a price and stick to it. If we think of something else you might need, we discuss it with you first. No random invoices appearing six weeks later.

I had a landscaping company come to us after their previous designer kept adding costs every time they had a “great new idea.” The final bill was £3,000 more than the quoted amount. Thats not how you build trust with local businesses.