Built it yourself
Built your own website? You do not have to start again.
Plenty of good small business websites are built on Wix, Squarespace, Shopify or WordPress by the owner, late at night. The design is rarely the problem. What usually gets missed is the part Google and the AI assistants read, and that can be fixed on the site you already have.
- Platforms
- Wix, Squarespace, Shopify, WordPress
- First step
- A free check, no call
- Fixing what is there
- From £350
- Starting again
- £400, live in 48 hours
01 / Where DIY sites fall short
The six things I find most often.
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01
Page titles left as the builder made them
“Home” or just the business name, so Google has nothing to show for “plumber in Lewes”. It is the single most common thing I find, and a ten minute fix.
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02
Nothing says where you are
The town is in your head, not on the page. “Near me” searches and AI assistants both match businesses to places, and a site that never names a town is not anywhere.
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03
Not connected to your Google profile
The listing and the site do not link to each other, so Google is less sure they are the same business, and customers cannot get from Maps to you in one tap.
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04
Hidden from Google without anyone knowing
A “discourage search engines” box, a page set to hidden, a site still behind its launch password. I have found whole sites that Google was told to ignore.
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05
Photos straight off the phone
Images ten times bigger than they need to be, so the site crawls on a weak signal and Google marks it down for it.
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06
The legal bits missing
No privacy notice, a cookie banner with no reject button, and for limited companies no company number. Easy to fix, and customers do notice.
02 / Three ways I can help
Start with the free one.
Check it yourself, free
Run the free report. It tests more than forty things in about a minute and emails you a task list in plain English, with how to fix each one on your platform. Plenty of people need nothing more.
Have me fix what is there
You keep your site, your editor and your login; I fix what is stopping it being found. The search work starts at £350. I am a Wix Legend Partner and a Shopify Partner, so I know those editors well.
Start again, if the builder costs more than it is worth
If you are paying a monthly plan for something you never edit, a site built for you is £400 and then £100 a year with the domain included. Over five years that is usually cheaper than the builder.
03 / Straight answer
When you should keep doing it yourself.
If you genuinely enjoy changing your site, and the free report comes back mostly green, keep going. A site you look after yourself is better than a perfect one you never touch.
The time to get help is when the site looks fine but the phone does not ring, or when you have spent three evenings on something you suspect a professional would do in an hour. I would rather tell you it is fine than sell you something.
04 / Questions
The things people worry about asking.
Can you help with a website I built myself?
Yes. Most of the Wix work I do around here is on sites people built themselves. You keep the site and your login, and I fix titles, descriptions, your Google profile link, speed and the legal pages. The search work starts at £350.
Do I have to move off Wix or Squarespace?
No. If you like editing it yourself, keep it. I only suggest moving when you are paying a monthly plan for features you never use, because then a site built for you is usually cheaper over five years.
Is my DIY website hurting my business?
Not necessarily. Run the free report: if it comes back mostly green, it is doing its job. The usual problems are invisible from the front, which is why the check looks at what Google and the AI assistants see rather than the design.
How much does it cost to fix a DIY website?
The free report costs nothing and you can do many of the fixes yourself from its task list. If you would rather I did them, the search work on an existing site starts at £350, and I give a fixed price first.
Which website builder is best for a small business?
The one you will actually keep up to date. Wix if you want to rearrange pages yourself, Shopify for a larger shop, WordPress if someone technical looks after it. The comparison post goes through it properly.
Tell me what you are thinking.
Two fields are required and you are not committing to anything. Even if you are only half sure, send it. I would rather talk you out of something than sell you the wrong thing.