01 SEO web design
Most new websites are designed first and handed to an SEO afterwards. I do it the other way round: keyword research decides the pages, then I design and build them myself in Astro, and launch without losing what the old site had earned. For small and growing businesses, wherever you’re based.
02 The problem
Old URLs weren’t redirected, so every link and ranking the old site had earned pointed at a 404 the day it launched.
Page-builder themes send every visitor the code for every feature, used or not. Phones feel it first, and so do Core Web Vitals.
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
/services/roof-repairs.php301 →/roof-repair/about-us.html301 →/about/blog/2019/05/flat-roofs301 →/guides/flat-roofs/contact-us301 →/contact03 Who it’s for
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 websiteThe 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.
RedesignYour 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
04 Ways to work together
Most common
Best for Small businesses that want to rank from launch
Keyword research, page plan, design and build in Astro, with the SEO set up on every page.
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.
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.
Need something different? Custom quotes are available. I like to tailor the work to your needs and budget, so send me a message with what you have in mind.
Free tool · Website cost estimator
Six scope questions. Pick the side that sounds more like your project.
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 this guide, and a real price needs someone to look at the project. My small business sites start from £1,500 ($1,999), built in Astro and hosted on Vercel. Larger sites and ecommerce are quoted.
05 What’s included
06 How it works
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
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
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
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
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
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.
Optional extra
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
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
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
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
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.
My builds start from £1,500 ($1,999) for a small business site. Larger sites and ecommerce are quoted after a look at what you need. What websites cost, and why covers the wider market.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Yes, if you want it. Monthly SEO retainers start from £999 ($1,299) and pick up where the build leaves off: content, technical checks and reporting.
— Next step
Tell me about the business and the site you have now, if any. You’ll get a rough page plan and a quote, with the redirects included.