Starter
£499($649) a month
Up to 4 posts a month, or the equivalent
The basics put right, then steady upkeep.
Hand it overSEO web design: a new website, built to rank and looked after
When the old site is past saving, or there isn’t one, I build a small, fast site planned around what your customers search for, so it gets found and brings in enquiries. The core pages go live in month one, then it grows every month like a managed site does. No setup fee, no minimum term.
- For
- Small and growing businesses, and anyone replacing a slow site
- Built in
- Astro, hosted on VercelWordPress version available, quoted separately
- Price
- From £499 ($649) a monthNo setup fee. Shops and large sites quoted
- You get
- A fast site with the SEO built inAnd every old URL redirected on launch
- +26%clicks per day for an Arizona studio after its rebuild
- 0plugins to update on an Astro site
- 1 persondoes the research, design, build and SEO
01 The problem
A new website is one of the easiest ways to lose search traffic
The redesign lost the rankings
Old URLs weren’t redirected, so every link and ranking the old site had earned pointed at a 404 the day it launched.
It looks good and loads slowly
Page-builder themes send every visitor the code for every feature, used or not. Phones feel it first, and so do Core Web Vitals.
Nobody searched for the pages
Pages named after what the business calls itself, not what customers type, so there’s nothing for Google to match.
The redirect map
Every old URL gets a 301 to its new home before launch, so links and rankings carry over
Old siteNew site
/services/roof-repairs.php301 →/roof-repair/about-us.html301 →/about/blog/2019/05/flat-roofs301 →/guides/flat-roofs/contact-us301 →/contact02 Who it’s for
Who it’s for
Businesses starting fresh
A new business, or a DIY site you’ve outgrown. You want a site that can rank from day one without paying for a redesign again in two years.
New buildSites that are slow or dated
The current site works, but it’s slow, hard to change, and search traffic has stalled. You want the rankings you have kept and built on.
RedesignTeams set on WordPress
Your team already knows WordPress. I can build the same design as a WordPress theme, with the SEO set up the same way.
WordPress buildProbably not the right fit if
- you’d rather build and edit the site yourself in Wix or Squarespace
- you want a site this week: research and redirects take a little time to do properly
03 The monthly plan
Most people take this as part of a monthly plan
One monthly fee for the website and the SEO. No setup fee and no minimum term. The plan covers the audit, the fixes and the pages, in the order your roadmap sets.
Most common
The usual
£799($1,049) a month
Up to 6 posts a month, or the equivalent
The same work at a faster pace.
Hand it overThe lot
£1,199($1,549) a month
12+ posts a month, or the equivalent
The same work, as fast as it goes.
Hand it overWhat a month is made of
- A new pageResearched, written and built, up to about 800 words.
- A page rewrittenAn existing page brought up to standard.
- A blog postPlanned from keyword research, up to about 800 words.
- A round of fixesTechnical and on-page fixes from the audit or the monthly check.
An example month
Starterup to 4
1 new page, 2 blog posts, 1 round of fixes
The usualup to 6
1 new page, 1 rewrite, 3 blog posts, 1 round of fixes
The lot12+
2 new pages, 2 rewrites, 6 blog posts, 2 rounds of fixes
Examples only, with one square for each post-sized piece of work. Your roadmap sets the mix each month, and you see it before the month starts.
Not counted: small fixes I spot along the way. If something takes a few minutes, it just gets done.
04 One-off and custom
A new build, a redesign, or a WordPress build
Most common
New build
Best for Small businesses that want to rank from launch
The core pages built in month one: home, about, contact and your main services. New pages are added every month after that.
- Pages planned from keyword research
- Designed and hand-built in Astro
- Search Console and analytics set up
From £499 ($649) a monthNo setup fee, no minimum term
Tell me about your new siteRedesign and migration
Best for Replacing a site without losing its rankings
Everything in a new site, plus a full redirect map from the old one and a check once Google has recrawled.
- Every old URL mapped with a 301
- Content kept or improved, not lost
- A post-launch recrawl check
From £499 ($649) a monthSmall sites, a section at a time. Large sites quoted
Get a redesign quoteWordPress build
Best for Teams who need to stay on WordPress
The same research-led design, built as a WordPress theme, or converted later from an Astro site I built for you.
- The same SEO set-up
- Built for your team to edit
- Plugin and hosting advice
QuotedPlugin and hosting upkeep then applies
Ask about WordPressCustom package
Best for A job that doesn’t fit the boxes
Tell me what you need and the budget you have. I’ll say what that buys and put it in writing before you commit.
- Scoped to your site, not a template
- One-off, a fixed run of months, or a mix
- A written quote, usually within a working day
QuotedNothing is charged until you’ve agreed the scope
Ask for a quoteFree tool · Website cost estimator
What should your website cost?
Six scope questions. Pick the side that sounds more like your project.
How many pages?
Selling online?
Design
Integrations
Words and photos
Existing site
0 of 6 answered
Answer the first four
Pages, shop, design and integrations decide which type of site you're buying.
A site this simple could be built on a website builder, which Expert Market puts at £0 to £50 a month including hosting.
Copywriting is usually extra: £50 to £150 an hour from a UK writer (Expert Market), or $60 to $300 a page in the US (WebFX).
Replacing a site that ranks means redirecting every old URL to its new page. Ask whether the quote includes it, because a rebuild done with SEO in mind keeps the rankings the old site earned.
A rough steer, not a quote: the ranges are published market figures, cited in my website cost guide, and a real price needs someone to look at the project. My small business sites are built on a monthly plan from £499 ($649) a month with no setup fee, in Astro and hosted on Vercel. Larger sites and ecommerce are quoted.
05 What’s included
SEO in the build, not bolted on afterwards
- Keyword research and a look at what already ranks, so every page has a search to win
- Page list, URLs and internal links planned together
- Design and build by hand in Astro: static HTML, only the JavaScript each page needs
- Titles, descriptions, headings, structured data and image alt text on every page
- A clean sitemap and robots.txt, and Search Console set up
- A one-hop 301 redirect for every old URL, tested before launch
- Hosting on Vercel’s global network, with nothing to patch
06 How it works
Web design and SEO as one job, done by one person
- 01
Research first
Keyword research and a look at what already ranks, so every page has a search it’s built to win before any design starts.
You get The page plan
- 02
Structure and design
The page list, URLs and internal links planned together, then a design that makes each page easy to act on.
You get Designs to sign off
- 03
Built in Astro
Hand-coded, no page builder. Pages are served as static HTML with only the JavaScript they need, hosted on Vercel.
You get A preview site
- 04
SEO in the build
Titles and descriptions, headings, structured data, image sizes and alt text, a clean sitemap and robots.txt, set per page.
You get A launch checklist, done
- 05
Launch without losing rankings
Every old URL mapped to its new home with a one-hop 301, Search Console and analytics set up, and the launch checked once Google has recrawled.
You get A live site, checked
— Why Astro
A lighter build is an easier site to rank
Astro is a web framework for content sites. It turns every page into plain HTML and sends no JavaScript unless a page needs it (Astro: “Zero JS, by default”). The site is served from Vercel’s global network, so there’s no server or plugin stack to keep updated.
Typical page-builder siteHand-built in Astro
What each page sendsThe theme and plugin code for every featureThe HTML and styles that page uses
UpdatesCore, theme and plugins to patchNothing to patch on a server
SEO set-upA plugin, added after the designWritten into each page template
Redirects on launchOften forgottenMapped and tested before go-live
Optional extra
Pages CMS
Free to use, and I can set it up if you want to make changes yourself. Log in at app.pagescms.org and edit text, blog posts and images in a form with a rich-text editor. I choose which content is editable, so layouts stay safe.
Recommended for busy teams
CloudCannon
Visual editing: open the page, click the words or image you want to change, and save. It’s built for Git-based sites like this one and is the featured CMS partner in Astro’s CMS guide. Paid, from $55 a month (pricing).
Most clients
Send me the changes
Most clients email changes and I make them. Every save goes to the site’s GitHub repository, and Vercel rebuilds and publishes the site automatically.
07 Proof
What a rebuild has done
+26%Vehicle customisation studio, Arizona. A slow WordPress build rebuilt by hand in Astro. Clicks per day from Google rose from 3.24 to 4.07.Read the case study →
This sitemiketheseoguy.com is built the same way: Astro, hosted on Vercel, with the guides, tools and pages planned from keyword research.
The Arizona rebuild
Since the rebuild, the four latest full months have been the four best on record
BeforeDuring / after
★★★★★
“Another excellent experience working with Mike. Communication is always clear and easy, the work is professional and delivered on time, and he consistently pays close attention to the details and requirements of each project. The quality is reliable every time, and he’s very easy to work with.”
★★★★★
“Mike has been great to work with. He’s been helping improve the SEO and overall structure of my website and has been very thorough with the work. He explains everything clearly and sends detailed updates so I always know what’s being done and what the next steps are. I appreciate that he focuses on building a solid long-term strategy rather than quick fixes.”
★★★★★
“I was looking for someone to go through my website and determine why my pages weren’t ranking with Google. Mike did exactly that and was able to pinpoint the issues and come up with a solution. He even fixed the ones he could before we moved onto the next project.”
From 711 client reviews, averaging 4.9 out of 5. Names removed. More reviews and results.
08 Questions
SEO web design questions
What is SEO web design?
A website planned and built so it can rank from launch: pages based on keyword research, a fast build, clean structure, and SEO set up inside the build rather than added afterwards.
How much does an SEO-friendly website cost?
My small business sites are built on a monthly plan, from £499 ($649) to £1,199 ($1,549) a month with no setup fee. Online shops and larger sites are quoted after a look at what you need. What websites cost, and why covers the wider market.
Will I lose my rankings if you rebuild my site?
Not if the redirects are done properly. Every old URL is mapped to its new page with a single 301 redirect before launch, and I check Search Console afterwards. How to redesign a website without losing SEO explains the process.
Why Astro instead of WordPress?
Astro sends pages as plain HTML with no JavaScript unless a page needs it, which keeps sites fast without plugins to manage. Astro describes itself as built for content-driven sites like business sites, blogs and ecommerce.
Can I edit the website myself?
Yes. I usually make changes for you, but if you want to edit text, blog posts or images yourself, I can set up Pages CMS: a free editor you log into in the browser, with nothing to install. You only see the content I’ve opened up for editing, so the design can’t break.
Can I edit the website visually, on the page?
Yes, with CloudCannon, which lets you click on the page and type. It’s a paid service from $55 a month, and it suits teams who update the site often. For most small businesses, Pages CMS is enough.
Can you build it in WordPress instead?
Yes, if WordPress suits you better, for example because your team already knows it. I can build the same design as a WordPress theme, or convert an Astro site I built for you later. It’s quoted separately, and it means taking on plugin and hosting updates that an Astro site doesn’t need.
Do you do SEO after the site launches?
Yes, it’s part of the plan. After the core pages launch, the same monthly fee covers new pages, technical checks and a report.
— Next step
Tell me about your new site
Tell me about the business and the site you have now, if any. You’ll get a rough page plan and which monthly plan fits.
Tell me about your new site Usually a reply within a working day.
- 01What the site needs to rank for
- 02A rough page plan
- 03Which monthly plan fits