Custom Websites Design & Development
We have the technical skills, experience, and ability to deliver.
A Website Should Do More Than Look Good
I love building websites. I’ve been doing it long enough that I probably should have grown tired of staring at WordPress dashboards by now, but apparently not. What I have grown tired of is seeing perfectly good businesses let down by websites that look nice enough but don’t really do anything. A business website isn’t there simply to exist.
It should explain what you do without making people hunt for the answer. It should make your business feel credible. It should help the right people find you through search. It should work properly on a phone. It should load quickly, be easy to navigate, and give visitors a clear idea of what they should do next. Most importantly, it should feel like your business.
That’s what I build at AuthoritySites.
I design and develop WordPress websites for businesses that want something professional, useful, and built with a bit more thought than choosing a template, changing the logo, and calling it finished.
Built Around Your Business, Not a Template
I don’t start a website project by asking what colour you want the buttons. There are more important things to work out first.
I want to understand your business, who you want to reach, why someone should choose you, and most importantly, what you need your website to actually do.
That could mean generating enquiries, getting more phone calls, taking bookings, selling products, or simply giving potential customers the confidence to choose you.
Once we know that, everything else, the pages, content, design, SEO, and calls to action can be built around a clear purpose.
It sounds obvious. You’d be surprised how often it doesn’t happen.
Good Web Design Is About More Than Design
Of course, your website needs to look good. People make quick judgements online, and an outdated or confusing website can make a great business seem less professional than it is.
But looking good is only part of the job.
Good web design combines design, content, usability, performance and SEO. It considers what visitors need to know, how easily they can find it, what might stop them getting in touch, and whether everything works just as well on a phone as it does on a desktop.
Because there’s a big difference between a website that looks professional and one that works for your business.
WordPress Websites Built Properly
I build with WordPress because it gives you something that matters: ownership and flexibility.
Your website belongs to you. You can update everyday content yourself without knowing how to code, or if you’d rather never see the WordPress dashboard, AuthoritySites can handle the hosting, maintenance, security, and updates for you.
I also build with the future in mind. As your business changes, your website should be able to change with it — whether you’re adding new services, locations, or taking the business in a completely new direction.
You stay in control. We’re here when you need us.
Mobile Isn't an Extra Anymore
There was a time when “mobile-friendly website” was something web designers proudly listed as a feature. Those days are long gone. Responsive design is simply part of building a website properly.
Your customers might find you at a desktop computer, but they’re just as likely to be searching on a phone while they’re on the train, sitting in a car park, or pretending to listen in a meeting. Your website needs to work for all of them. That doesn’t just mean shrinking the desktop version until it fits a smaller screen. Navigation, typography, spacing, buttons, forms, images, and content all need to make sense at different screen sizes. I consider that throughout the build, rather than treating mobile as something to check five minutes before launch.
SEO Isn't Something We Bolt On Afterwards
Search engine optimisation needs to be considered while the website is being planned. There’s little point creating a beautiful website and then discovering six months later that the structure makes no sense to Google.
At AuthoritySites, SEO is built into the foundations of the website. That means thinking carefully about page structure, headings, URLs, internal linking, content, metadata, image optimisation, performance, crawlability, and the relationship between the different pages on your site.
It doesn’t mean stuffing every paragraph with keywords until nobody wants to read it. And it certainly doesn’t mean promising you the number-one position on Google by next Tuesday. It means giving your website a technically sound, search-friendly foundation that you can continue building upon.
Your Content Matters More Than You Think
One of the biggest mistakes in website projects is treating the words as something we’ll worry about later. Designing a website full of placeholder text, then trying to squeeze the real content in afterwards, is backwards. Content influences the design.
Before someone contacts you, your website often needs to answer a surprising number of questions: Who are you? What exactly do you do? Is this service right for me? How much might it cost? Can I trust you? Have you done this before? What happens next?
Good website copy answers those questions naturally while helping visitors understand the value of what you offer. If you already have strong content, we’ll work with it. If it’s nearly there, I can help shape it. And if you’re staring at a blank document, wondering what on earth you’re supposed to say about your own business, copywriting can be included as part of the project.
How Much Does a Website Cost?
This is usually the question everyone wants answered, and unfortunately the most accurate answer is: it depends on what we’re building. A straightforward five-page business website and a larger site with dozens of service pages, appointment scheduling, memberships, eCommerce, and custom functionality aren’t really the same product, so it wouldn’t make sense to price them as though they were.
As a general guide, most AuthoritySites custom WordPress website projects fall somewhere between £1,500 and £3,000, depending on the size, content requirements, functionality, and overall complexity of the project. Some projects cost less; more complicated builds can cost considerably more.
Before recommending anything, I want to understand what you actually need. I don’t believe in adding features just because they make a proposal look impressive, and I’m equally reluctant to strip away things that could genuinely make the website more effective simply to reach an arbitrary price. The aim is to find the sensible middle ground: the website your business actually needs at a price that makes sense.
How the Website Design Process Works
A good website project shouldn’t begin with me disappearing for three weeks and returning with something you weren’t expecting. There’s a clear process behind it.
We start with research and discovery so I can understand your business, audience, competitors, goals, and content. From there, we work out the site structure and what each page needs to achieve. Content and SEO are considered early because they shape how the website should be organised—only then does the visual design begin.
Once the direction is agreed upon, we move into WordPress development, responsive testing, performance work, technical checks, and the inevitable rounds of refinement that turn a collection of pages into a finished website. Before launch, we make sure the important things work properly rather than crossing our fingers and hoping for the best.
And once the website is live, you aren’t left with a login and wished good luck. I can continue looking after the site with WordPress hosting, maintenance, security, backups, support, content updates and ongoing SEO if that’s what you need. Or you can take the reins yourself. It’s your website.
Let’s Talk About What You’re Building
If you’re considering a new website, you don’t need to arrive with a finished brief, sitemap, or twenty-page strategy document. That’s part of what I’m here for.
We can start with a straightforward conversation about your business and your current website (if you have one): what’s working, what’s frustrating, and what you’d like the new site to achieve. The initial 15-minute consultation is free, and there’s no obligation to take things further.
Sometimes we’ll find we’re a good fit and start putting a project together. Sometimes I’ll point you towards a different solution. Either way, you’ll leave with a clearer idea of what your website actually needs — because the goal isn’t simply to get you a new website. It’s to build one that’s worth having.