// FIELD NOTES

Straight answers, searchable.

Short, honest guides on what websites and profiles actually cost, and what they actually return. One question per post, one action at the end.

5 min read

Contact form emails that never arrive: why it happens and the fix that works

Your contact form says the message was sent, but nothing is in your inbox. Why form emails vanish into spam filters, and the fix that takes under an hour.

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5 min read

Is your web developer holding your site hostage? (and how to tell)

The difference between a platform that legitimately runs your site and a lock-in arrangement, the five questions that surface it in one email, and the exits for each answer.

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5 min read

Website builder or web developer: the honest 3-year cost comparison

What the DIY builders really cost over three years once the adverts stop, what a paid build costs, where each one wins, and the costs neither side puts on the front page.

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5 min read

Your Google Business Profile: the free page that does more than a website

Why the map pack decides most local jobs, the profile fields that actually move it, how posts and photos and reviews fit in, and the fifteen minute monthly routine that keeps it working.

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5 min read

Why a new website takes months to show up on Google

The sandbox is real: why a brand new site sits invisible for weeks, what genuinely speeds up indexing and first rankings, and what is a waste of time during the wait.

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5 min read

Photographing your own work: a practical guide for trades and small businesses

Phone photography that sells the job: light, angles, before and after sequences, what to include and what to leave out, all with the camera already in your pocket.

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4 min read

When your business does not need a website (yet)

The honest case for waiting: when a Google Business Profile and a phone number genuinely cover you, the signals that change the answer, and the cheapest way to stay findable meanwhile.

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5 min read

The email list question: does a small business actually need one

What an email list is for in a service business, what the honest numbers look like, how much work it really takes, and the point at which it pays versus stays a hobby.

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5 min read

Google Ads for local business: when it makes sense and when it burns money

How to think about clicks, calls and cost before you spend anything: the situations where ads genuinely work for a local business, the ones where the money evaporates, and a cheap way to test.

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5 min read

The maintenance question: what happens after your website launches

What maintenance actually covers, the jobs a good host does automatically, the three checks that are yours, and what a fair arrangement costs when you would rather never think about it.

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5 min read

Website copy that sounds like you: writing for your own site without a copywriter

A practical structure for writing your own pages: the questions that pull out what customers actually care about, what to cut, and the traps that make small business copy sound the same.

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5 min read

One page or ten: how much content a small business website needs

What each page is actually for, why the five page site beats the twenty page site for most trades and clinics, and the thin-content trap that quietly wastes months.

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5 min read

What happens when your web designer disappears

Your developer has gone quiet, the renewal is due and nobody is answering. What you can recover, who to call, and the account checks that stop it happening again.

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5 min read

Do you own your website? The ownership questions every buyer should ask

Domain, hosting, code and content: four things worth owning and one worth sharing. What to check in writing before you pay the final invoice, and the questions that surface the answers.

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6 min read

Website security for small business: the three things that actually matter

Most small business sites are broken into through three boring gaps: outdated software, untested backups and weak logins. The UK breach survey says what gets attacked, what it costs, and what to check this month.

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6 min read

Website speed on a phone: what a slow site costs a trades business

Most trades websites take over eight seconds to load on a phone, and more than half of mobile visitors leave at three seconds. Here is what that costs in real enquiries, and how to check your own site in ten minutes.

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5 min read

Your website and the cookie law: what UK sites must actually do

The UK cookie rules changed on 5 February 2026. When a small business website still needs a consent banner, when it does not, and the half-hour audit that shows which one yours is.

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7 min read

What a website audit actually checks (and why you should see one before buying)

What a real website audit checks, what the free ones are really for, and how to read an audit before you pay. Includes the official speed numbers and what a fair audit should cost.

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5 min read

How many Google reviews do you need? The real numbers

How many Google reviews does a small business need in 2026? Real numbers on review count, star rating and recency, how to ask for reviews honestly, and how to handle a bad one.

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5 min read

Why Google ignores your small business website

The four technical reasons a small business site never appears on Google, how to find them in the free Search Console reports, and the fixes that work.

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6 min read

AI workflows that actually save small businesses money

Three AI workflows with honest setup costs and effort, the AI purchases to avoid, and the point at which it is cheaper to keep doing things by hand.

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5 min read

How long a website build should take

Realistic website build timelines for 2026: what a five page site, a shop and a custom build actually take, what stalls projects, and how to keep yours on the fast end.

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5 min read

Invoice chasing automation for freelancers and SMEs

What late payments really cost UK small businesses, the automated chasing schedule that gets invoices paid, what to keep human, and the GDPR lines you should not cross.

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5 min read

AI phone answering for clinics: what works, what doesn't, what it costs

A reality check on AI receptionists for UK clinics and practices: what the tools actually do, what the first GP surgery trial revealed, patient data compliance, and honest pricing for 2026.

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5 min read

Questions to ask a developer before paying a deposit

The questions that separate a safe web build from a money pit: ownership, hosting, security, support and change requests, what good answers sound like, and the answers that should make you walk away.

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6 min read

What a booking system really costs a service business

Real numbers for 2026: what online booking software actually costs a solo operator or small team, the payment and per-seat fees hidden behind the sticker price, and when it pays for itself.

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6 min read

Wix, WordPress or custom: when each actually makes sense

A straight answer on Wix versus WordPress versus a custom build for a UK small business: the three year total cost, who genuinely needs custom software, and the lock-in question nobody asks.

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5 min read

What to write before you hire anyone to build your website

The five pages every small business site needs, the copy blocks each one requires, and how a half-page brief cuts both the cost and the build time.

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5 min read

Local SEO for trades: what actually moves the map pack

Which Google Business Profile signals move the map pack for trades, what is worth paying for versus doing yourself, and the mistakes that quietly sink local rankings.

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5 min read

Missed calls are costing your business: the real math

What a missed call really costs a trade or a clinic, how many calls go unanswered, and every option for answering them, priced honestly.

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6 min read

Lighthouse 90: what that score actually measures

What a Lighthouse score of 90 is made of, what it does not measure, and how to check your own website in five minutes. The honest version of the number every builder quotes.

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6 min read

WCAG 2.2 AA: what accessibility compliance really involves

What WCAG 2.2 AA actually requires, who is legally on the hook in the UK and EU, and what doing it properly costs a small business.

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5 min read

Why your website quote is a guess: fixed scope vs open-ended projects

Why website quotes vary so much, what fixed price actually means in writing, and the seven things a quote must pin down before you pay a deposit.

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3 min read

Google Business Profile: the 20-minute setup that wins emergency call-outs

The exact GBP setup that puts a trade business in the map pack when someone searches "plumber near me" at 7am, categories, services, photos, Q&A, done in 20 minutes.

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2 min read

The £295 website: what you actually get

We are selling five plumbing businesses a complete website for £295. Here is exactly what that buys, why it is so cheap, and the catch (there is one).

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2 min read

The constructor that prices everything

One ladder from £395 to a full platform: websites, AI workflows, MVPs and sprints, every line priced before you pay, nothing behind a contact form.

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2 min read

How much does a website cost for a small business or trade?

Real numbers for 2026: what a small business or tradesperson should pay for a website, what it must include to win emergency call-outs, and where the money is wasted.

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