A safe pair of hands for your website, since 2001.
Whether the business is yours or you're choosing on someone else's behalf, its website should match the standard of everything else it does. I'm Adam Lord, and from my studio near Ely I design and build every site myself, write the words if you'd like, and fix the price in writing first.
I've designed and built more than 1,200 websites, and on yours I'm the one senior person from the first conversation to launch, and for as long as you'd like me afterwards.
Some of the names I've worked for.
Over the years I've worked on the intranets for RWE, npower and Thames Water, on websites for joint research projects between the NHS and the University of Cambridge, and for the Blood and Transplant Research Unit. I also built the Surgical Research Society's website, through which it runs its memberships and ticket sales, and the Tropical Agriculture Association International website. I have also worked with many SMEs throughout Cambridgeshire and as far afield as Rwanda.
Two ways to work together.
Both are complete projects, usually larger sites with more bespoke design and features: I research your market and the searches that matter, plan every page, write the words, arrange the photography, design and build the site, and manage every supplier along the way, so one person is responsible from the first conversation to launch. Each price is where a project starts, and yours is fixed in writing before any work begins; if the scope changes, the new price is agreed in writing before the extra work happens.
-
The complete website
from £9,500
For established businesses, professional firms and organisations that need a substantial, considered website, and want one accountable person handling all of it, from the research to the photography to the accounts.
- A 90-minute discovery conversation, then research into your market, your competitors and the searches that matter
- A full page plan before anything is written
- Every page written in your voice and approved by you before design begins
- A half-day photography shoot, arranged and managed by me
- Your logo and brand refined, where the existing ones would hold the site back
- Bespoke design and build, with the features the business needs, search engine set-up and the site tuned for speed
- Every account set up in your name: domain, hosting, email, Google Business Profile and analytics
- Launch, with a 30-minute training session and a written guide
- The first three months of the £275 monthly partnership, included
Your part. One 90-minute conversation, then three sign-offs: the words, the design and the finished site. Everything else, every supplier and all the chasing included, is mine.
Timing. Around four weeks from the discovery conversation to launch, with the date agreed in writing at the outset.
Book a 30-minute call -
The complete online shop
from £14,500
For businesses that sell online, or are about to, and want the shop built properly, with nothing left for the office to puzzle out after launch.
- Everything in the complete website: the research and page plan, the words, the photography, the accounts in your name, launch, training and three months of the £275 partnership
- A WooCommerce shop built into your own WordPress site
- Your products loaded
- Payments, shipping and VAT all set up and working
Your part. The same conversation and sign-offs, plus your product details and prices in whatever form you keep them.
Timing. Around six weeks from the discovery conversation to launch, with the date agreed in writing at the outset.
Book a 30-minute call
Already have your words and photographs? I also design and build around them, usually for smaller sites with simpler needs, with websites from £1,700 and shops from £4,800, each fixed in writing before anything starts. More about design and build
An ongoing partnership.
Once the site is live, someone has to keep it fast, secure and current, and in a partnership that someone is me. Both levels include managed UK hosting, daily backups, security, updates, uptime monitoring and a clear written report each month. The difference is the hours of changes and the quarterly review, and the hours are a ceiling rather than a target, so you always know exactly what each month costs. The £37, £87 and £147 care plans remain available for everyone else.
-
Partnership £275 a month
- Managed UK hosting with daily backups
- Security, updates and uptime monitoring
- A clear written report every month
- Up to two hours of changes each month, made by me
-
Partnership with quarterly review £495 a month
- Everything in the £275 partnership
- Up to four hours of changes each month
- A review call every quarter
Also available when the work calls for it: SEO from £450 a month, Google Ads management at £450 a month with no markup on spend, bespoke WordPress plugins from £1,800, branding from £700 and apps from £15,000, each priced in writing before anything starts.
Recent work, shown in full.
Every site is shown whole, top to bottom, on the screens its visitors use.
Coach You
Website, search and copywriting for Jill McCulloch, a leadership coach in Cambridge: a warm site in her own colours where clients can book a session or a place on a course, with every word written to sound like Jill rather than like a website.
- #203050
- #70c0a8
- #f05028
- #f0b828
Reco Heart
A WooCommerce shop for a post-surgery bra, on a bespoke theme that replaced a page-builder template. It has a page for each operation, a proper sizing guide and VAT relief built into the checkout, because in a shop like this the details are what earn a customer's trust.
- #b48747
- #e8d799
- #72562b
- #1d1712
Cambridge Pianoforte
A website for a Cambridge piano dealer and tuner, presenting grand, upright and digital pianos alongside the brands they carry, with a Book a Tuning button on every page. Removals and servicing sit just beneath, so every part of the business has its proper place.
- #131e1f
- #a1e6e1
- #452d27
- #f4f4f4
If you're choosing on someone else's behalf.
If you've been asked to find a web designer for a director, the partners or a committee, you may well be asked afterwards why you chose this one. Everything below is in place today, and I'm happy to confirm any of it in writing.
Book a 30-minute callOne named person
You brief me, I design and build it, and I'm still the person you email about it a year later, with no account manager in between and no ticket queue.
A fixed price in writing
One figure, agreed before any work begins. On the complete website and shop it's usually paid in three stages: a deposit, a payment at design approval and the balance before launch. If the scope changes, the new price is agreed in writing before the extra work happens.
A written proposal within two working days
After our first call you'll receive a PDF you can forward as it stands, setting out the price, the launch date, the payment stages, what's included and what's needed from you.
Professional indemnity insurance
It's in place, so it's one less thing to check when you're making the case for your choice.
References you can speak to
References from past clients are available, and you're welcome to speak to them yourself before anything is signed.
Purchase orders and 30-day terms
If your organisation needs a PO number on the invoice and 30 days to pay, mention it on the call and the proposal will be written that way, with the payment dates and the launch date set out side by side.
You own everything
The domain, the hosting, the code and every account are held in your organisation's name, so nothing is ever tied to me if you decide to move on.
Cover when I'm away
A trusted associate is on call for anything urgent while I'm away, and the site itself runs on managed UK hosting with daily backups, so it never depends on one person's diary.
A note from Adam.
I work from a studio at Espace North Business Centre in Littleport, a few miles outside Ely, with Eric the cockapoo for company, who joins most of the walks and none of the calls. When you email, I'm the person who reads it and replies, the same day Monday to Friday, and I'm the same person who designs and builds your site and takes care of it afterwards.
I've run Cambridge Web Solutions and the web department at Simpsons Creative, so I know what each extra layer of people adds to a budget. Working on my own means yours goes into the work itself, and you never have to explain the job twice to someone who wasn't on the first call.
Nor does it stop at launch. Your site runs on managed UK hosting with daily backups, and in a monthly partnership I keep it current and make the changes myself. You own every part of it, so if you ever wanted to take it elsewhere, you could.
I've been designing and building websites since 2001, which makes it 25 years this year, and I'm still the one person on every project, from the first conversation to launch day.
In their own words.
Three of the people I’ve built for.
“Outstanding service. Always there when you need a little help getting to know the ins and outs of your website.”
“An amazing job, including a bespoke interactive map. He went above and beyond.”
“Creativity and expert technical knowledge, and he takes the time to understand what his clients want.”
From Ely independents to names you’ll know.
Some of these I built directly for the business. Others were larger projects for agencies and corporate clients, where I designed and built the web side, which is why not all of them appear in the portfolio. Every one counts towards the 1,200.
Questions worth asking.
The questions that come up on almost every first call. If yours isn't here, send it over and I'll give you a straight answer, without the sales talk.
How much does a website cost?
How long does a project take?
What does the discovery call involve, and how much do we have to do?
What happens if you're ill or away?
Can I update the site myself afterwards?
Do you work outside Cambridgeshire?
What's included in hosting and support after launch?
Are you insured, and can we see references or raise a purchase order?
What happens after launch, and who makes the changes?
Start with a conversation.
Book a 30-minute call, or send a few lines below about the business and what the website needs to do, and I'll reply the same day, Monday to Friday. Within two working days of our first call you'll have a written proposal you can forward, setting out the price, the launch date, what's included and what's needed from you. Take your time with it, as there's no obligation either way.
I take on just two complete website or shop projects at a time, so each one has my full attention.
Whatever you share stays between us. Every message is read by me and nobody else.