Guides
Straight answers to the questions we get asked most
No gated PDFs, no email capture, no "book a strategy call to find out". These are the answers we would give you on the phone, written down so you can read them at eleven at night without ringing anybody.
Choosing a supplier
How do I choose a web designer?
Ask who owns the finished website, ask to see sites they built that are more than two years old, ask what happens each month afterwards and what it costs, and ask them to explain something technical in plain English. How they answer that last one tells you more than the portfolio.
Read the answerDo I actually own my website?
Check three things: whether the domain is registered in your name, whether you have the hosting account login, and whether you have a copy of the website files. If any of the three sits with an agency rather than with you, you do not fully own your website — though it is usually recoverable.
Read the answerGetting found
How long does SEO take to work?
For a local business in a market like Mansfield, expect the first movement on long-tail terms at two to three months, meaningful traffic growth at four to six, and attributable enquiries from month four onwards. Competitive head terms take six to twelve months. Anyone promising page one in thirty days is either targeting a term nobody searches or doing something that will cost you later.
Read the answerWhy is my website not showing up on Google?
Search Google for site:yourdomain.co.uk. If pages come back, you are indexed and the problem is ranking, not visibility. If nothing comes back, you are not indexed — usually because the site is new, blocked in robots.txt, marked noindex, or has never been submitted to Search Console.
Read the answerHow do I get more Google reviews for my business?
Ask every satisfied customer at the moment the job is finished, and make leaving one a single tap using a short link or QR code. That is most of it. Never incentivise reviews and never buy them — Google detects both and the penalty falls on your listing, not the reviewer.
Read the answerShould I spend my budget on SEO or Google Ads?
Google Ads if you need enquiries this month, SEO if you want them to keep coming without paying per click. Most local businesses should run both: ads from day one for immediate work, SEO building underneath, then reduce ad spend as organic takes over. If the budget only stretches to one, start with ads and reinvest the proceeds.
Read the answerComparisons
Should I use WordPress, Wix or Squarespace?
Squarespace if you want to do it yourself and it needs to look good with minimal effort. Wix if you want the most flexible drag-and-drop builder. WordPress if search traffic matters, you need it to grow, or you want to own the site and be able to move it. The deciding question is usually whether you will ever want to leave.
Read the answerShould I use Shopify or WooCommerce for my online shop?
Shopify if you want it simple and are happy paying monthly for that. WooCommerce if you want lower running costs, more control, or a serious content presence alongside the shop. Under about 200 products with straightforward needs, Shopify. Content-heavy, unusual requirements or cost-sensitive at volume, WooCommerce.
Read the answerShould I use an agency, a freelancer, or build it myself?
DIY if the budget is very small and you enjoy it. A freelancer for the best value on a defined project, accepting the capacity risk. An agency when you need several skills, continuity, or somebody to still be there in three years. The deciding factor is usually risk tolerance rather than price.
Read the answerAre cheap websites any good?
Cheap is fine — we start at £250. What matters is not the price but what you get for it: do you own the domain and files, is the copy written for you, is it fast, and can you leave? A cheap website that fails those tests is expensive. One that passes them is a bargain.
Read the answerWhy we publish this instead of gating it
Every one of these answers could have been a lead magnet: give us your email address and we will send you the PDF. We would collect more email addresses that way, and most of them would never become customers.
We would rather you got the answer, made a good decision, and remembered where you got it. If that decision turns out to be that you do not need us, that is a perfectly good outcome — and in a town this size it comes back around.
Question not covered?
Ring and ask. We answer these all day and it costs nothing, whether or not you end up working with us.