Low cost web design

The last couple of months have seen me doing lots of exciting things with WordPress, so I thought it was time to explain a little of what I do.

The first thing I need to say is that I am not actually a web designer. There are thousands of clever, talented, creative web designers out there but I am not one of them. What I can do is build low cost websites using the WordPress platform that are straightforward, professional and effective. Because I’m not a designer my sites don’t come with bells and whistles – but equally, they don’t come with a huge price tag either. So these low cost, simple, effective sites are perfect for my three target markets – startup businesses with limited budgets, local charities and not-for-profit organisations, and existing businesses who are venturing onto the internet for the first time.

I’ve been working with all these types of clients over the last few months, and hopefully my customers have been pleased with the websites I produced for them. Sarah recently launched Jetstream Consultancy, a new business offering management streamlining, event planning and business 360 reviews. Sarah wanted to get online quickly and liked some of the other sites I’ve built, so after a free consultation we came up with a plan for her website. I sourced images, designed a banner and worked with text that Sarah supplied to put together a fresh yet professional site that is easy to navigate.


TPS provide pest control services in Oxfordshire and the south west. They’ve been in business for 12 years, yet up till now they’ve been reliant on the Yellow Pages. Recently they realised that people are searching on Google rather than in the phone book, and they were missing out on work by not having an online presence. The company offers a wide range of services, including a natural method of bird control using birds of prey to scare pigeons away! Their site needed to be functional and easy to navigate but they also had a lot of different services to cover. They wanted to feature photos of their birds too. The WordPress theme I selected gives them a practical site with lots of pictures.


The Friends of the Vale and Downland Museum in Wantage were in need of a website and had been quoted hundreds of pounds by a local web designer. Being a charity, they didn’t have that sort of money to spend, so I built them a WordPress website for a fraction of the price. The site is based on one of my favourite themes, Atahualpa, and does everything they needed – there’s information on what the Friends do and how to join, a downloadable membership form and a regularly updated events page. The beauty of WordPress is that, once set up, it’s really easy to change the content … so easy my mum can do it!


Finally, I was contacted by author and journalist (and daughter of poet John Betjeman) Candida Lycett Green the other week. She had a WordPress site that was performing really badly on Google  – buried away on page four or five – and she wanted someone to make it work for her. We met and I had a look at the site, which had really only been half built. I gave it a makeover, added links to her books, videos and lots of new material, and the site is now high on the first page on a Google search for Candida’s name.

I hope this insight into the types of websites I build has been interesting. If you know of anyone who would benefit from a low cost, straightforward website then please direct them to my site – I’ve just streamlined the website page so it’s easy to see what’s on offer.