Custom or template: where the real difference sits
A site built on a theme and a page builder ships fast and costs little. The price is paid later: tens of kilobytes of unused code weighing down load time, a structure nobody controls when it needs to change, and a dependency on plugins that must be kept current or become a security hole.
Custom isn't justified for everyone — if three static pages are enough, tell me and I'll say so too. It becomes justified as soon as the site carries something at stake: a conversion funnel to optimise, business data to handle, search visibility to win in a competitive market, or a requirement that will keep evolving for years.
Speed and search, handled during the build
A slow site loses visitors before it is read, and Google knows it: Core Web Vitals are a ranking signal. These constraints are far cheaper to respect while building than to retrofit afterwards — which is why they are part of the work, not an optimisation package sold separately.
Concretely: server-side rendering so the content is readable by a crawler without executing JavaScript, images converted and sized automatically, self-hosted fonts, schema.org structured data, consistent metadata and breadcrumbs, and an automatically generated sitemap.
What a web project actually covers
Beyond the pages themselves, a serious web project includes the parts that decide whether the site stays alive: a content structure your team can actually update, analytics that answer a real question rather than filling a dashboard, and legal compliance — consent, privacy policy, terms — handled before launch rather than after a complaint.
Hosting stays in your name, on your account. It's a detail until the day you want to change provider, and then it's the only thing that matters.
Redesign: the case that needs the most care
A poorly prepared redesign cuts organic traffic by 40 to 60 %. A well-prepared one can improve it. The difference isn't the budget — it's three precautions taken before launch: inventory every existing URL, redirect each of them to its real equivalent, and record current search positions so what moves afterwards can be measured rather than guessed.
What I don't take on
- Projects without a decision-maker. If every page needs three approvals, the announced timelines won't hold.
- Taking over undocumented code without an audit phase. On legacy work, no timeline commitment before a prior audit.
- Design without development, and search work without development. I build what I design.
- Content writing. I build the structure that makes content findable; I don't write your copy.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to build a website?
A marketing site ships in 1 to 3 weeks. A web application — client portal, business platform, e-commerce with specific requirements — takes 6 to 12 weeks. The gap is explained by the number of distinct user journeys and by integrations with existing systems.
Why not use WordPress or a page builder?
For three static pages, they're often the right answer and I'll say so. They stop being the right answer when the site carries something at stake: unused code slows loading, the structure resists change, and plugin dependencies become a maintenance and security cost.
Is search optimisation included?
The technical foundation is: server rendering, metadata, canonical URLs, structured data, sitemap, and Core Web Vitals. These are far cheaper to build in than to retrofit. Content strategy and link acquisition are a separate discipline, and I don't sell them.
Can you redesign a site without losing its search traffic?
Yes, provided it's prepared: a full inventory of existing URLs, a 301 redirect from each old URL to its real equivalent — never all to the homepage — and a position benchmark recorded before launch. Without those three, a redesign typically loses 40 to 60 % of organic traffic.
Who hosts the site once it's live?
You do, on your own account, with the source code handed over. Hosting in your name looks like a detail until the day you want to change provider or work with someone else — at which point it is the only thing that matters.