Fix what you have
Speed, missing pages, tracking and the problems a search audit finds, on your current site.
Best for: Your site works and the platform is fine. Usually the cheapest win.
Websites built
to be found.
Most small business websites are designed first and thought about for search later, if at all. I build the other way round: work out what your customers search, plan a page for each of those searches, then design it to load fast on a phone and turn visitors into enquiries. Google indexes the mobile version of your site, so that's the version I build for first. You own the domain, the code and the hosting account.
Written by Dan Picken, founder. Last checked 1 November 2026.From my audits
What I see
on most small business sites.
The same handful of problems, on sites that often cost a lot to build.
- 1
One page for every service
A single 'Services' page with six bullet points. It can't rank for any of them.
- 2
The owner can't change anything
Every new photo or price change needs the developer, so the site goes stale.
- 3
Slow because of what it was built with
Page builders, sliders and a dozen plugins. It looked fine at launch on the office wi-fi.
- 4
A redesign that lost the rankings
New site, new addresses, no redirects from the old ones. Months of search traffic gone overnight. The site migrations page covers how to avoid it.
- 5
The business doesn't own it
The domain or hosting sits in the developer's account. Leaving means starting again.
What a website needs for search
Looks matter.
These matter more.
Google doesn't see your colours. It sees whether it can read the site, whether it's fast on a phone, and whether each page clearly answers a search.
- 01
A page for each search
One page called 'Services' can't rank for six different services. Google's own SEO starter guide is built around pages that each serve a clear purpose.
What I do: Plan the pages from real searches before anyone designs anything.
- 02
Mobile first
Google uses the mobile version of a site for indexing and ranking. A site that's fine on a laptop and clumsy on a phone is clumsy to Google too.
What I do: Design and test on a phone first.
- 03
Speed
Google's guidance is for the main content to load within 2.5 seconds, with INP under 200 milliseconds and CLS under 0.1.
What I do: Fewer plugins, smaller images, little script. Check every page in PageSpeed Insights.
- 04
Readable by AI tools
ChatGPT and other AI tools can only recommend what their crawlers can read. A hosting setting can block them without anyone noticing. More in how ChatGPT picks who to recommend.
What I do: Allow the search crawlers, and keep key facts in plain text, not images.
- 05
Accessible
Since April 2025 the Australian Human Rights Commission's guidelines recommend WCAG 2.2 level AA as the baseline for digital services, private businesses included.
What I do: Good contrast, real buttons and links, alt text, and a site you can use with a keyboard.
Design still matters: people judge a site in moments. But a beautiful site that nobody finds, or that takes six seconds to load on 4G, is a brochure in a drawer.
Site plan builder
Which pages does
your site need?
Most small business websites have a home page, an about page and one page called 'Services'. Then they wonder why they don't show up. List what you do and where, and it builds the page plan a search-first site starts from. The boxes start with an example.
Pages to start with
0
What I build
Four ways
to start.
Not every business needs a new website. Sometimes the right answer is smaller.
Landing pages
A few fast pages for your ads, in your branding, on their own subdomain.
Best for: You run ads and your current site isn't converting them.
A search-first website
A new site planned from your searches: a page per service, area pages where you have proof, built fast and easy to edit.
Best for: Your site is old, slow, hard to change, or simply doesn't show up.
Rebuild and move
A new site that keeps what the old one earned: every old address redirected, rankings checked before and after.
Best for: You rank for things now and need a new site without losing that.
How most small sites are built.
How I build them.
Most web designHow I do it
Starting pointA theme and a mood board.The searches your customers make, mapped into pages.Search Relationship Mapping
PagesHome, About, Services, Contact.A page for each service and each real job a search does.
SpeedChecked on a fast office connection.Built light and tested on a phone, against Google's Core Web Vitals.
EditingCall the developer for every change.A simple editor for your text and photos, for the things you change often.
OwnershipDomain and hosting in the developer's account.Everything in your name from day one. No lock-in.
After launchHanded over and forgotten.Tracking that shows which pages bring enquiries, and a list of what to add next.
How it works
Four steps.
Nothing hidden.
- 01
Free search audit
What your current site does well, what it misses, and whether you need a new one at all.
- 02
Plan the pages
From the searches your customers make, with the content each page needs.
- 03
Design and build
Your branding, fast on a phone, accessible, and easy for you to edit.
- 04
Launch carefully
Old addresses redirected, tracking checked, Search Console watched for the first weeks.
What you get
- A page plan built from real searches
- Design in your branding, phone first
- Fast pages, checked against Core Web Vitals
- A simple editor for text and photos
- Accessibility to WCAG 2.2 AA as the target
- Redirects from every old address, if you have a site now
- Tracking for calls and enquiries in GA4
- Domain, code and hosting in your name
Signals this works on
Out of the 8 signals every page and ad sends.
- Relevance signal
- AI legibility
- Friction removal
- Trust architecture
Questions
people ask.
Do I need a new website?
Not always. If your site is reasonably fast, you can edit it, and the platform isn't holding you back, adding the missing pages and fixing the basics usually does more for less. The free search audit will tell you which side of that line you're on.
What do you build websites with?
Usually Astro, a modern framework that makes very fast, simple sites, with a small editor so you can change text and photos yourself. Big online shops are different: a shop platform like Shopify handles stock, payments and shipping better than a custom build, so I'll say so, and work on the SEO and ads for it rather than build the shop. If you're set on WordPress, I'll tell you honestly whether I'm the right fit.
Will I own my website?
Yes. The domain, the code and the hosting account are in your name from day one. If we stop working together, you take everything with you.
Can I update the website myself?
Yes, for the things that change: text, photos, prices, team, FAQs. Bigger changes like new page layouts are better done by me, so the site stays fast and tidy.
Will a new website hurt my Google rankings?
It can, if old page addresses aren't redirected to the new ones. I map every old address before launch and check rankings before and after. More on the site migrations page.
Do you do websites on the Central Coast?
Yes. I'm based on the Central Coast and build for businesses here and across Australia. The Central Coast web design page covers the local side.
See what your site
is missing.
Takes a minute. Audits come back within 1 to 2 business days. For anything else, I'll get back to you as soon as possible.
What happens next
- 1I'll ask for read-only access, or just your website for a search audit.
- 2I go through it and write up the 3 biggest fixes.
- 3A 20-minute call to walk you through it. No pitch unless you ask.
Keep going