Guides for running your business

Simple, honest guides about creating and running a website - what it should contain, what it costs and how to get seen on Google. In plain language.

What the guides answer

Most people reading here run a small business and have been putting the website off for a couple of years. The questions are nearly always the same: what should actually be on a business website, what does it cost, is a Facebook page enough, and how do you get found on Google without knowing anything about SEO. Each guide takes one of them and answers it plainly, without a sales pitch.

We don't write anything we can't stand behind. Where a figure is needed it comes from our own price list, and where the honest answer is "it depends", we say so and say what it depends on. The guides are written for someone deciding this week, not for someone reading about web trends.

Where should I start?

I don't have a website at all

Start with what a business website should contain, so you know what you actually need. Then read what a website costs before you contact anyone - that's the guide that usually saves the most money.

What should a business website contain?

I only have a Facebook page

Then the question isn't whether to have a website, but what it gives you that a page in a feed doesn't - showing up in a search, owning the address, and taking enquiries without someone else deciding who sees them.

Website or Facebook page?

I have a website, but nobody finds it

Then it's about what the page says and how it's built, not about tricks. The guide on getting found on Google goes through the basics in the order they actually matter.

Get found on Google

I want to move away from my current provider

It's doable, and the hard part is rarely the technology - it's the domain and the content. The guide on switching website builders covers what you need to bring with you and in what order.

Switching website builder