Web design in Ely that turns visitors into enquiries, at a fixed price.

I’ve been designing websites since 2001, more than 1,200 of them, and I still build every one myself from a studio ten minutes from Ely. Built around your own words and photographs, most are live in about four weeks, with the price and the launch date in writing before any work starts.

Book a 30-minute call Email me

Websites from £1,700
Online shops from £4,800
Care from £87 a month
Each price is a starting price, fixed in writing before any work begins. See how we’d work together.

The Old Warehouse, Ely: website by Lord Knows

Flora Laura Flowers, Ely: website and online shop by Lord Knows

Windmill Cottage, Ely: website by Lord Knows

Three Ely sites: The Old Warehouse, Flora Laura Flowers and Windmill Cottage.

A cathedral city where most customers still start with a search.

Ten minutes from the cathedral, by the river if the dog has any say in it.

Ely is small enough that people still ask a neighbour for a recommendation, and big enough that the neighbour usually says “have a look at their website” first.

I work from a studio in Littleport, ten minutes up the road from Ely, and most of the sites I’ve built over the years are for businesses within a short drive of the cathedral: holiday lets by the river like The Old Warehouse and Windmill Cottage, a florist with an online shop in Flora Laura Flowers, Ely Rowing Club, Elyte Chauffeurs, and Woodlands Farm Units on the edge of Littleport. When someone in Ely searches for a plumber, a florist or somewhere to stay, they are not comparing you with the whole country. They are comparing you with the four or five businesses on the first page, and that’s a contest a well-built site can win.

Ely searches are mostly local ones, which means Google’s map results and your Google Business Profile do a lot of the work, and I set both up properly as part of the build rather than leaving them for later. Cambridge, twenty-five minutes down the A10, is a different game with bigger competitors, and there’s a separate page on web design in Cambridge if that’s where your customers are.

If you would rather talk than type, I’ll come to you, or we can meet for a coffee in Ely. Plenty of my clients I’ve only ever met on Zoom, and the work is no different either way.

One built ten minutes from the cathedral, shown whole.

Woodlands Farm Units

Littleport

Commercial units and storage to let ten minutes from Ely, with a brand, site and photography to match.

Visit the site

See the full portfolio

The proposal, as it arrives after the first call.

One page: the price, the launch date, what the price includes and the four weeks. Nothing starts until you have it.

This is what I send within a week of the first call, laid out as it arrives. The two things you can plan around go at the top, and they do not move once you have signed.

The price: From £1,700for a website around your own words and photographs. Online shops from £4,800.; One figure for your job, fixed before any work begins, and it is the figure you pay however long the work takes me. If you would rather I handled the research, the words and the photography too, that is quoted here as well.
The launch date: About four weeksfrom the first call to launch for a website, and about six for an online shop.; A date, not a season. It goes beside the price, and I plan the work backwards from it.

What the price includes

A proper conversation firstBefore anything is designed we talk about your business, your customers and what a good result looks like for you. The site gets built around that, not around a template.
Bespoke designNo theme pulled off the shelf. A layout, look and tone of voice designed for your business and the people you want to reach, so it looks like you rather than everyone else.
Your words, editedIf you would rather write them yourself, I edit them so they sound like you and read well on a phone. If you want them written, that is quoted to the job.
SEO from day oneTechnical setup, on-page work, schema, sitemap, local search and your Google Business Profile, done as part of the build rather than bolted on later.
Built for the phone firstMost of your visitors are on a phone, so that is the version I design first. Desktop follows, and both load fast.
Training and handoverA 30-minute walk-through of the editor and a short written guide for the things you will change most: opening hours, prices, photos, news.

The four weeks

Drawn to scale. Before the clock starts there is one 30-minute call, free: you and me, no pitch deck, no homework.

Plan
Week 1
The page plan, the design direction and the points where I will need something from you, agreed before anything is built.
Build
Weeks 2 to 3
Design, words, development and the SEO setup. You see real pages on a real address as they take shape, with a check-in at the end of each week.
Launch
Week 4
We go live together and I show you round the editor. From here on I am the person you email, with a reply the same day, Monday to Friday.

If the scope changes, the new price is agreed in writing before the extra work happens. Nothing creeps once we have started.

Sign it or sleep on it. There is no obligation either way, and nothing is designed until you have.

Afterwards, if you want it: hosting, daily backups, security, updates and a monthly report, with care plans from £87 a month, or a partnership from £275 a month with up to two hours of changes made by me. Monthly rolling, and you keep everything if you ever leave.

“Outstanding service. Always there when you need a little help getting to know the ins and outs of your website.”

Keith Wilson, The Old Warehouse, Ely

What people in Ely ask before they say yes.

The questions that come up on almost every first call about a new website. If yours isn’t here, send it across and I’ll answer plainly.

How much does a website cost?

Websites start at £1,700 and online shops at £4,800, designed and built around your own words and photographs. If you’d rather I handled the research, the words and the photography as well, I quote that to the job, so you only pay for what you need. Each is a starting price, fixed in writing before any work begins, and that’s the price you pay however long the work takes me. If the scope changes, the new price is agreed in writing before the extra work happens.

How long does it take?

About four weeks from the discovery call to launch for a website, and about six for an online shop. The launch date goes in writing alongside the price before we start, and I plan the work backwards from it.

Do I need to write the words and take the photos?

Only if you want to. If you’d rather I wrote the words and arranged a photography shoot, that’s quoted to the job. If you’d rather write them yourself, I edit them so they sound like you, and photography can be arranged.

Can I update the site myself afterwards?

Yes. Sites are built on WordPress with a clean, simple editor. You get a 30-minute training session at handover and a short written guide for the things you’ll change most often: opening hours, prices, photos, news.

Will the site show up on Google?

Every site I build has SEO set up from day one: the technical side, the on-page work, local schema and your Google Business Profile. Rankings are earned over months rather than weeks, so the build gets you started and ongoing SEO keeps you moving if you want it.

Do you work with businesses outside Cambridgeshire?

Yes. Most projects run remotely with calls on Zoom, and I’ve clients across the UK. If you’re near Ely we can meet for a coffee, and there are separate pages on web design in Cambridge and web design in Newmarket if one of those is closer to home. Everyone else gets exactly the same standard of work.

Are you actually based in Ely?

Near enough to walk the dog by the river. I work from a studio in Littleport, about ten minutes from the cathedral. Most of my clients are in and around Ely, Cambridge and Newmarket, and a fair few are further afield. If you’d rather meet than talk on Zoom, say so and I’ll come to you.

Which Ely businesses have you built websites for?

The Old Warehouse and Windmill Cottage (holiday lets by the river), Flora Laura Flowers (a florist with an online shop), Ely Rowing Club, Elyte Chauffeurs and Woodlands Farm Units in Littleport, among others. They are all in the portfolio, and I’m happy to put you in touch with any of them.

Do I have to use WordPress?

No, but for most Ely businesses it’s the right answer: you can edit it yourself, it isn’t tied to any one designer or host, and it doesn’t charge you a slice of every sale the way some shop platforms do. If your job needs something else, I’ll say so on the first call.

Tell me what your website should be doing for you.

Thirty minutes on a call, or a few lines in the form. Tell me what isn’t working and where you would like to be. If I can help, I’ll say how and what it costs, and the proposal follows within the week. If I’m not the right fit, I’ll say that too.

I take on just two website or shop projects at a time, so each one has my full attention.