Website Design & Development

Custom websites built for local businesses

Every business I work with gets a website built from scratch. No templates, no themes, no drag-and-drop page builders. I write the code myself, which means your site does exactly what your business needs - nothing more, nothing less. The result is a website that loads fast, ranks well in search engines, and actually converts visitors into customers.

I specialize in working with small businesses across SE Michigan. Whether you run a contracting company in Brighton, a law firm in Howell, or a restaurant in South Lyon, I build sites that reflect the quality of your work and make it easy for local customers to find you. Most of my clients come to me after outgrowing a DIY website or getting burned by an agency that handed them a bloated WordPress site and disappeared. They want something better - a site that actually represents their business and does not need constant babysitting.

If you need a site that works as hard as you do, get in touch and I will show you what a custom-built website can do for your business.

What you get

Every website I deliver is a complete package. I handle the design, the development, the content structure, and the technical foundation so you launch with a site that is ready to perform from day one.

• Custom responsive design - Your site looks sharp on every screen size, from phones to desktops. No pinching, no zooming, no horizontal scrolling.
• Built on ProcessWire CMS - A powerful, secure content management system that gives you full control over your content without the complexity and risk of WordPress.
• On-page SEO foundation - Proper heading structure, meta descriptions, schema markup, image optimization, and fast load times. Your site is built to rank for searches like web design Brighton MI and the terms your customers actually use.
• Reliable hosting and ongoing support - I offer managed hosting and maintenance so your site stays fast, secure, and up to date long after launch.
• Accessible and compliant - Keyboard navigation, proper contrast ratios, descriptive alt text on every image, and semantic HTML throughout. Your site works for anyone.
• Performance optimized - Clean code, compressed images, browser caching, and minimal HTTP requests. My sites regularly score above 90 on Google PageSpeed Insights.
• Content editing made simple - You can update text, swap photos, and add new pages yourself through an intuitive admin panel. No calling me every time you need a small change.
• Local search visibility - Your site is structured to appear in local search results for your service area. I build in Google Business Profile integration, local schema markup, and location-specific content that helps customers in your area find you first.

Every element is built with purpose. There is no filler code, no unnecessary complexity, and no features you did not ask for. The goal is a site that loads fast, converts visitors, and is easy for you to maintain.

My process

I keep things straightforward. You work directly with me throughout the entire project - no account managers, no project coordinators, no game of telephone. When you have a question, you get an answer from the person actually building your site.

I start by learning your business. What services drive the most revenue? Who are your ideal customers? What do competitors in your area do well, and where do they fall short? This research shapes every decision I make about your site's structure, content, and design.

From there, I map out the site architecture - which pages you need, how they connect, and what content goes where. I plan the navigation, the calls to action, and the user flow so that visitors land on your site and know exactly what you do and how to hire you.

Then I build your site section by section in a real-time feedback loop. You see each piece as it comes together - the navigation, the hero section, the service pages, the contact forms - and you give me feedback before I move on. This means no big reveal at the end where half the site needs to be redone. By the time launch day arrives, you have already approved every detail.

Most projects wrap up in three to five weeks depending on the scope. If you need something faster, check out my website packages for fixed-scope options with predictable timelines and pricing.

Why not WordPress?

I get this question a lot, and it is a fair one. WordPress powers a huge percentage of the web. But for small business websites, it comes with real trade-offs that most agencies will not tell you about.

WordPress relies on plugins for almost everything - contact forms, SEO, security, image optimization, caching. A typical business site might run 15 to 25 plugins, each one maintained by a different developer. Every plugin is a potential security vulnerability and a potential point of failure. When plugins conflict with each other or with a WordPress core update, your site breaks. That is not a hypothetical - it is something I help business owners recover from regularly.

The sites I build on ProcessWire do not have this problem. ProcessWire is a lean, developer-focused CMS with a clean codebase and no plugin dependency chain. There are no surprise updates that break your layout overnight. There is no bloated theme code slowing down every page load. Your site runs on exactly the code it needs and nothing else.

The practical difference shows up in three areas. Speed - my sites load in under two seconds because there is no wasted code. Security - fewer moving parts means a dramatically smaller attack surface. Stability - you do not wake up to a broken site because a plugin auto-updated at 3 AM.

This is not about being anti-WordPress for the sake of it. WordPress is a fine tool for blogs and large-scale publishing. But for a local business that needs a fast, reliable website that ranks well and converts visitors, ProcessWire is the stronger foundation. I have built on both platforms, and I consistently see better results with ProcessWire for the types of sites my clients need.

If you already have a WordPress site that is giving you headaches, I can migrate your content to a faster, more stable platform. Reach out and I will walk you through what that looks like.

Built for businesses in Livingston County and beyond

I am based in Howell, Michigan, right in the heart of Livingston County. Most of my clients are local businesses within a short drive - companies in Brighton, Hartland, Fowlerville, and the surrounding communities. I also work with businesses throughout SE Michigan, including South Lyon, Ann Arbor, and the greater metro Detroit area.

Being local matters when it comes to web design. Working with a local website designer means I understand the market you operate in. I know which directories matter for local visibility, how to structure your site for Google's local search results, and what your customers expect when they land on your homepage. I am not a faceless agency in another state - I am a neighbor who builds websites for a living and stakes my reputation on every project.

Whether you need a brand-new website, a redesign of an outdated site, or a migration away from a platform that is holding you back, I would like to hear about your project. Send me a message or give me a call to get started.