Your website is the one thing that has to do the selling when you're not there. It's what a customer opens after a friend recommends you. It's what a new hire reads before an interview, and what a partner checks before calling you back. Most businesses have a site sitting in that spot that does none of that work.
The problem is rarely just how it looks. A template can be pretty and still fail to say what you do, in the words your customers use, in the order they need to hear it. What's usually missing is a decision: what your business is for, who it's for, and why you're the obvious choice. A site can't say something the business hasn't decided yet. That's why we start with what to say, not with the layout.
So the first step isn't design. It's agreeing on one clear sentence about what you sell and who you sell it to. Then we plan the pages around how you actually make money, not around how your team is organized inside. Almost every confusing menu we've seen on an existing site comes from that: the company's internal setup leaking onto the page.
From there, we design and build the site as one thing. There's no handoff to a separate developer who reinterprets the design. And we don't pick an editing system before we know what your content is. Fonts, movement, photos, and code are decided together. That's the only way the finished site actually looks like the design, instead of a rough copy of it.
What you end up with is a site that says clearly what you do. A stranger can get it in ten seconds, and it can stay accurate for years, because it was built to be updated, not worked around.
Who it’s for
Businesses launching something new, or ready to look like the company they've already become.
The problem it solves
Your current site is a brochure, a template, or a pile of patches. It can't keep up with a new product, a new look, or bigger goals.
How we do it differently
Planning, writing, design, and building happen together, as one job. You don't get a nice look pasted over a template. The words, the design, and the code are made to fit each other.
What you get
- A site that says what you do clearly enough for a stranger to repeat it
- A menu that follows how customers buy from you, not how your team is organized
- From Signature up, a CMS (an easy way to edit your own pages) your team can run without waiting on anyone
- Speed and accessibility that hold up on real phones, not just in a test score
- Consistent design building blocks, so new pages still match three years from now
How it works
Reveal
We talk with you, look at what you have now, and check what your customers actually search for. It ends with the one sentence your site has to back up.
Reimagine
We plan the pages, what goes on each one, and how it all looks. You see real pages with real words, not a mood board.
Build
Design and code happen together. From Signature up, the editing tools are set up around your actual content. You review the site in your browser, not as a static picture.
Refine
We test on different devices, check accessibility and speed, set up visitor tracking and redirects (so old links still work), and launch. Then we watch how people use it and fix what needs fixing.
What’s usually included
- Working out your message together
- A content plan and page structure
- The look and feel, and page design
- Movement and interactive details
- CMS setup, from Signature up
- Visitor tracking, search basics, testing, and launch
What it costs
$5,500Typical starting point
This is the broadest of the four, because it includes working out what to say and writing it. That's what gives the design its meaning. We agree on the scope before anything is built, so there are no surprise hourly bills.
What moves the number
- How many different kinds of page the site needs, not how many pages in total
- Whether your message and copy already exist, or we need to write them with you
- Whether you supply the photos and illustrations, or they need to be commissioned
- How much of the site your team needs to be able to edit
- Whether it has to connect to other tools: booking, ordering, payments, a customer database (CRM)
Questions we get asked
How long does a flagship website take?
Most run two to six weeks from kickoff to launch, depending on complexity. What changes the timeline is almost never design or building time. It's how quickly decisions about the words and photos get made and approved. Projects that send copy and images on schedule finish at the short end of that range.
Do I need to have my copy written before we start?
No, and it's usually better if you don't. Copy written before the pages are planned tends to describe your business in the order it grew, not the order a customer needs. Planning and writing the content is part of the job, and we write it with you instead of waiting on a document.
What CMS will I be able to use?
A CMS is the tool you use to edit your own pages. We pick one that fits your content and how comfortable your team is, after we know what the content is. Either way, the goal is the same: you should be able to add and change the things you update often without asking anyone. A CMS comes with the Signature tier and up. A Foundation build doesn't include one, because setting it up is most of the extra time between the two. On a Foundation site, you send content changes to us, and small ones are included in every care plan.
Will the site be fast and accessible?
Yes. We plan for both from the very first draft, instead of checking at the end. We set speed limits for each page and build to WCAG 2.2 AA (the common standard for sites that people with disabilities can use) from the start. That's the only point where they're cheap to get right.
What happens after launch?
Launch is where you start learning how the site really does. It isn't the end of the project. We set up visitor tracking before you go live, so the first month tells you something useful, and we stay close through it.