Web Development for Traverse City Businesses
The problem
Many business websites are slow on a phone, hard to find in local search, and hard to update. Changing your hours shouldn’t require calling a developer.
What I do
I build websites that do a job for your business, not just sit there looking nice.
- Fast, and built for phones first. Most local searches happen on a phone, often by someone ready to call. Your number is one tap away, and the page loads before they lose patience.
- Built to be found. Clear page titles, descriptions, and structured data so search engines understand what you do and where you do it. I’ll also walk you through your Google Business Profile, which does more for local search than anything on the site itself.
- Connected to how you work. Online orders, pre-orders, booking requests, and contact forms can feed straight into the systems you already use, instead of into an inbox someone has to retype from.
- Documented. Where your domain is registered, where the site is hosted, and how to get into both, written down and handed to you.
New sites and moving existing ones
For most small businesses, I build fast, low-cost sites with a simple editor so you can change text, photos, hours, and events yourself. Hosting costs a few dollars a year, and you own the domain and the code.
If you already have a site you can’t easily update, I can move it to a user-friendly platform so you can be your own webmaster. I handle the move and show your staff how to use it.
Which platform?
It depends on who will be editing the site. I don’t resell any of these, so I’ll recommend what fits your business.
Static site with a simple editor — best for most small businesses. Fast, inexpensive, and low maintenance.
Squarespace — easy to learn and hard to break.
WordPress — for sites with lots of pages, frequent posts, or special features.
Shopify — for selling products online, especially when orders need to reach systems you already use.
Who it’s for
- Restaurants, bakeries, and cafés that want online ordering or a menu that’s actually up to date
- Wineries, breweries, and venues selling tickets, events, and club memberships
- Contractors and trades who need to show up in local search and get the phone ringing
- Medical and dental offices where people need hours, directions, and forms on a phone
- Nonprofits that need to take donations and registrations without a fragile tangle of add-ons
- Any business with a website that’s out of date
What it costs
A straightforward business site runs $2,000 to $4,000. Adding online ordering, booking, or connections to systems you already use moves it to $5,000 to $12,000.
Migrating an existing site onto something you can edit yourself starts at $1,200 — Squarespace, WordPress, or Shopify, depending on who's going to be editing it.