the dispatch.
what a small business website actually costs — and what moves the number
nobody publishes real numbers, so every quote feels like a guess. here's what actually drives the price of a small business site, and the three quotes worth walking away from.
the most common question we get on a first call is some version of "what am i looking at, roughly?" — and the most common answer in this industry is a deflection. we'd rather explain the mechanics, because once you understand what moves the number you can judge any quote you're given, including ours.
a website quote is not really priced by page count. it's priced by how many decisions and how much raw material have to be created from nothing. two businesses can both want a five-page site and be a factor of three apart, because one of them arrives with finished photography, a written list of services, and a logo, and the other arrives with a phone full of blurry shots and a rough idea.
how to get into google's map pack — the unglamorous version
the three businesses in the map pack get the call. everyone below gets scrolled. here's the actual work that puts you in those three — none of it clever, all of it neglected.
what to post when you think you have nothing to post
"we don't have anything interesting to post" is the most common reason small business accounts die. it's almost never true — it's a sorting problem, not a supply problem.
got a question we haven’t answered?
ask it and we’ll answer properly — and probably write it up for the next person with the same problem.