Best Web Design Companies for Small Businesses in the UK

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It doesn’t matter if you’re a multinational corporation or a small, local business – a well-designed website will increase traffic and conversions, instill trust and improve your brand image and online presence.

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Every business needs a website that looks good and reflects their brand, mission and values

 

Best web design companies for small businesses

There are many companies across the UK offering excellent web design services tailored for small business. We’ve rounded up 6 of our favourites:

Web design companyStar ratingBest for…
1YellBest for: personal service at an affordable price
2Web.comBest for: building websites that rank well
3Ace DigitalBest for: tackling more complex website types
4Envious DigitalBest for: unusual industries or products
5Popcorn DigitalBest for: combining graphic design and web design
6DigiryteBest for: building apps to complement websites
7it’seezeBest for: building websites that are easy to manage
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1. Yell

Best for: personal service at an affordable price

Yell provides the UK’s biggest online directory, but it also offers bespoke web design services for small businesses. Specifically, Yell aims to support very small, or ‘micro’, businesses build an online presence to attract new customers.

Yell has recently partnered with the world’s most popular and recognisable website builder, Wix, which means Yell’s expert designers are using a trustworthy brand to create your website for you. If you don’t have the time or skills to create your own professional-looking website, then this offering from Yell could be just what your small business needs.

“Twice now Yell has built new websites for me and on both occasions, I wasn’t told “this is what you can have”. Yell worked with me to find out what I liked & what I didn’t. So as well as getting a website that looked good, I also got what I liked.”Claire Woodard, Brookwood & Normandy Dog Training

2. Web.com

Best for: building websites that rank well

Web.com have been building websites for small businesses for 20 years. They’ll craft a website that will perform well for both search engines and customers, encoding best practice SEO techniques from the off. This means you won’t have to worry about hiring outside experts in accessibility and responsive web design because Web.com is always on hand to make any future changes to your website.

“We’re a family company that’s been in business for 55 years, before Web.com, we were receiving 40 calls a month now, with our online marketing presence, we’re fielding 185 calls a month. Without Web.com, we wouldn’t continue to grow as a family business.” – Patricia Henefeld, Henefeld Garage Doors

3. Ace Digital

Best for: tackling more complex website types

Ace Digital’s own website is a testament to their fun yet functional design style. As a small business themselves, they really understand the huge positive impact that a well-designed website can have. Their development team are always working on custom templates and plugins, allowing them to tackle more complex projects such as crowdfunding and marketplace websites.

“When I need a simple MVP, a business-card site, or a generic SaaS sales site, Ace Digital is my first call. They’re ideal for producing simple, functional sites with a minimum of fuss.”– Andrew Lockley, Investments and Consultancy
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4. Envious Digital

Best for: unusual industries or products

Employees of this boutique, London-based design agency all have their own specialist skills and niche areas. This has allowed them to cover a wide range of sectors in their projects. Their client list includes universities, luxury chess set retailers, and everything inbetween.

“I’ve hired Envious to design a website from scratch as the existing one was a bit dated. Not only did they meet the brief but they far exceeded it, and blew me away with a design that is not only stunning, but also amazingly intuitive and responsive, with a more than impressive SEO to go with it.” – Pierre Maubouche, The French Voice

5. Popcorn Digital

Best for: combining graphic design and web design

Popcorn offer clients the magic combination of fantastic website design and creative graphic design. They have created bespoke websites for a range of high-profile clients, including Jelly Belly, as well as for smaller businesses. They also provide a professional hosting solution, offering clients their own space on a Popcorn’s owned virtual dedicated server.

“Thank you so much for all your hard work to get Churchill’s website up and running in such a short amount of time & for doing such a fantastic job”
– Amy & James Lipscombe, Churchill’s Ltd

6. Digiryte

Best for: building apps to complement websites

If you are keen to develop an app to complement your website, Digiryte may be the answer. Digiryte have worked with some very high-profile clients, including the NHS, but also throw themselves wholeheartedly into projects with smaller companies, producing some great results.

“Had these guys build our internal systems and a superb job done. requirements well understood from the start, completed on time, and a very well built system to manage our clients and sales process. Overall, top job done. can’t recommend enough.” – Simon Burgess
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7. it’seeze

Best for: building websites that are easy to manage

Uniquely, it’seeze operates a network of consultants across the country, meaning you’ll get a local point of contact for support and advice. With this, plus an incredibly simple drag-and-drop website editor and packages that include ongoing support, site maintenance, hosting, domain name renewal and more, it’seeze is dedicated to making the process as eezy as possible.

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“The it’seeze model works well. Great having a local contact who ended up really understanding our business and certainly went the extra mile to ensure that we had the site we wanted. Very pleased and thoroughly recommend the company. it’seeze, the name says it all!” – Sinotex UK Ltd

Expert verdict

With so many amazing companies on offer, it can be hard to know where to start. As with any tailored service, the only way to find the best deal for you is to compare quotes from multiple suppliers. If you’re interested in finding a UK based web design company that offers specific and dedicated services for small and medium businesses, simply fill out this short form to get tailored quotes from Expert Market-approved suppliers.

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FAQs

1. How much will my small business website cost?
Website pricing is hard to determine because it depends on so many factors. Whether your developer builds custom functions into the website’s design, or you subscribe to plugins instead will greatly affect price. It can be quicker to set up a simple website and then buy several plugins to make it work the way you need it to. This will keep the programmer’s invoice low, but you’ll have to pay to renew the plugins each year (depending on the billing cycle).

A freelance web developer typically charges £50-£100 an hour for building you a website. How long it takes depends on the skill of the developer, the framework, and programming language selected. And, of course, the size and style of website you need.

A very basic business website with fewer than six pages may cost you £500-£1,350. You’ll have to pay maintenance costs such as hosting (up to £45 a month for a medium-to-low traffic website) and content updates (around £250 per month). Depending on the nature of customer data your website stores, you may need to invest extra in security.

2. What should I consider when choosing an agency?
When searching for a web design agency for your small business, there are three main questions to consider:
  1. Will this agency make a website with functional design that suits my users?
  2. What do its portfolio and customer reviews tell me about the quality of work?
  3. Do they have experience in my particular industry?

Lastly, of course, you’ve got to consider if you can afford their services. But the first three questions will determine whether you can trust the agency to begin with, which is the greater concern. We’ve written a guide to the Top Web Design Agencies in London for some inspiration on who to hire.

3. How should the right agency meet my small business needs?

When it comes to getting a perfectly designed site that will help promote and grow your small business, you’ll need different services to those required by a larger, well-established business.

A company that has only worked with larger businesses may try to incorporate elements that aren’t relevant to smaller ones. It’s therefore important to check out some of their past work to see how they could help your business.

Here are three common small business needs, and how good web design companies should be looking to meet these requirements:

1. Price

Web design companies offering services for small businesses should have special packages for simpler design needs. Try to find a company that offers budget rates for five or 10 page websites. This should give you everything you need initially, without breaking the bank.

2. Customisation

Web design agencies that work with large businesses often use pre-designed website templates. These are then personalised for each business, which saves the company time and gives the websites a certain uniformity. However, these templates aren’t always relevant to small, niche businesses and don’t do anything to help them stand out. Try to choose a web design company that offers customised web pages based on unique designs, and will work closely with you to understand exactly what you need. Customer reviews can be a great place to start for assessing this.

3. Search Engine Optimisation

A good web design company should aim to make your website suitable for you, your customers, and for search engines. It must contain enough information presented in the right manner in order to be picked up by major search engines, widening your audience.

Written by:
Dan’s a Senior Writer at Expert Market, specialising in digital marketing, web design, and photocopiers, amongst other topics.
Reviewed by:
Robyn Summers-Emler, Grow Online Editor, Profile Picture
Robyn started working on Expert Market in 2021 as a specialist in business websites and digital marketing. As the Grow Online Editor, she ideates, commissions and optimizes content on Expert Market that helps businesses thrive in online spaces and maximize their ecommerce potential. Covering everything from choosing a website builder to scaling a social media marketing strategy - Robyn uses her expertise to help startups, SMBs, and larger businesses realize digital growth in an increasingly competitive landscape.