Website design & development
Website design and development in Ann Arbor
Every other channel sends people to your website, so it has to do its job: load quickly, work for everyone, explain what you do and make the next step easy. We design and build sites that do exactly that, and that your team can keep up to date.
A website is a tool before it is a brochure
A good-looking site that loads slowly, confuses visitors or hides the contact form costs you customers quietly, every day. We design from the outside in: who visits, what they need to know, what makes them trust you and what you want them to do next. The visual design then serves those answers.
We design mobile-first, because for many businesses a phone is where the first visit happens. Layouts start on the small screen and scale up, rather than squeezing a desktop design down.
Speed and accessibility are part of the build, not extras added at the end. We design with Google’s Core Web Vitals in mind, which measure real-world loading performance, interactivity and visual stability. We follow the W3C’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), which explain how to make web content more accessible to people with disabilities.
Moving from an old site? Changing URLs without redirects can lose the search visibility your old pages had earned. Google’s guidance on site moves and migrations recommends mapping old URLs to new ones and using server-side permanent redirects. We build that map before any old page is switched off.
We also build with growth in mind: clean, crawlable pages with sensible titles and structured data, analytics and conversion tracking working from launch day, and a content management system your team can use without calling a developer for every small change.
What's included
Everything a new website needs, start to finish
Whether you need a full rebuild or a focused refresh, we cover the whole journey from first conversation to launch.
- Discovery: your goals, customers and competitors, plus a frank review of what your current site does well and badly.
- UX and conversion planning: site structure, wireframes and calls to action that make the next step obvious.
- Visual design: layouts built around your brand, designed for phones first and scaled up for larger screens.
- Accessibility: color contrast, keyboard navigation, alt text, clear headings and usable forms, following WCAG.
- Performance: optimized images, lean code and sensible hosting choices, with Core Web Vitals in mind.
- SEO-ready build: clean URLs, page titles and descriptions, structured data and an XML sitemap from day one.
- Content management: a CMS chosen to fit how your team works, with a handover so you can edit pages confidently.
- Launch and migration: analytics and conversion tracking, redirects from old URLs, and checks before and after go-live.
How it works
From first conversation to launch day
Clear stages and sign-offs keep a website project on track and free of surprises.
Discover
We learn about your business, customers and goals, audit your current site and agree what the new one must achieve.
Design
We plan the structure, sketch key pages as wireframes, then design the look, starting with how it works on a phone.
Build
We develop the site with speed, accessibility and search in mind, load your content and set up tracking.
Launch and monitor
We test, put redirects in place, go live, then watch search and analytics data closely in the weeks after launch.
Is it right for you?
When a new website is the right investment
Sometimes a rebuild is essential. Sometimes a few targeted fixes do more. We will tell you which.
A strong fit when…
- Your current site is slow, hard to use on a phone or embarrassing to send people to.
- You cannot update your own website without paying a developer every time.
- Your business has changed and the site no longer explains what you do.
- You plan to invest in ads or SEO and need a site that can turn that traffic into leads.
Worth waiting if…
- Your current site works well and only needs better content or a few fixes. A focused refresh is the smarter move.
- You have not settled your services, pricing or positioning yet. Decide those first, then design around them.
- Nobody will look after the site once it launches. Agree who will keep it updated before you build it.
Frequently asked questions
How long does a website project take?
It depends on the size of the site, how much content needs writing and how quickly decisions can be made. A small brochure site moves much faster than a large site with integrations. We agree a timeline with milestones at the start, and because content is often what holds a project up, we plan it early.
Will our new website be accessible?
Accessibility is part of how we design and build, not an add-on. We design to WCAG 2.2, the latest published version, in line with the W3C’s own advice to use the latest version of WCAG. We check color contrast, keyboard use, headings, forms and alt text, and we recommend ongoing checks after launch, because new content can introduce new issues.
Will we be able to update the site ourselves?
Yes, if you want to. We choose a content management system that suits your team and budget, set it up so everyday edits are simple, and walk you through it at handover, so changing text, images or opening hours does not need a developer.
Will we lose our Google rankings when we switch to a new site?
A redesign does not have to cost you rankings, but a careless migration can. We map every important old URL to its new home, set up permanent redirects, keep or improve page titles and content, and watch Search Console closely after launch. Google itself says to expect temporary fluctuation in rankings during a move, so we plan for that rather than panic about it.
Whose name should the domain and hosting be in?
Yours. We recommend that your domain, hosting, analytics and Search Console accounts are all registered to your business, with us added as users. That keeps you in control of your website and its data, whoever looks after it in future.
Works well with
Related services
Search Engine Optimization
Technical fixes, content and local signals that help the right people find you in Google.
Content Marketing
Articles, guides and landing pages written to answer real customer questions.
Pay-Per-Click Advertising
Google Ads and Microsoft Ads campaigns built around cost per lead, not clicks.
Thinking about a new website?
Send us your current site and tell us what it needs to do better. We will give you an honest view on whether to refresh or rebuild.