Journal
Plain English, about websites.
The Werehouse Media journal is nineteen in-depth, jargon-free articles written for UK small business owners rather than for other web designers. They cover what a website costs in the UK, how to choose a web designer, agency versus freelancer versus one-person studio, how to get recommended by ChatGPT and AI search, local SEO, Core Web Vitals, Google Business Profile and redesigning without losing rankings, plus sector guides for trades, garages, dental practices, e-commerce brands, property developers, regulated firms and design studios. Every article is written by Ed, who runs the studio.
What things cost, what actually moves rankings, and what to ignore. Written for business owners, not for other web designers, and grouped by the sort of business you run.
Portfolio sites for design-led studios: sell the work, not the processYour work photographs beautifully and your site buries it in thumbnails. How to fix that, and how to make the enquiry form do the qualifying for you.
Studios · 9 min
02
Why your garage should take bookings online, not just phone callsTwo mechanics under a car cannot answer the phone. What a booking flow actually needs, and why publishing your MOT price wins the job.
Automotive · 11 min
03
Countdown timers are costing your premium brand moneyCountdown timers were built to shift £9 phone cases. On a premium brand they cost you order value and get you returns. What to use instead.
E-commerce · 9 min
04
How to sell a property development that does not exist yetYou are asking someone to spend seven figures on a drawing. Here is what actually convinces them, and what the three render options really cost.
Property · 10 min
05
Websites for regulated firms: credible without looking like a bankEvery regulated firm's site looks identical. Compliance constrains the words, not the design, and sameness is its own commercial risk.
Finance & professional · 10 min
06
Local SEO for trades: how to be the one they call when the boiler diesWhen a boiler goes at 7am nobody scrolls. How to be the one they ring, starting with the Google category most trades have set wrong.
Trades · 12 min
07
When website animation earns its keep (and when it just slows you down)Animation earns its keep on property and design work. It loses you enquiries when someone came to book an MOT. How to tell which you are.
Design · 8 min
08
Marketing a private dental practice without breaking the rulesPatients delay because they are frightened and because they cannot see a price. Fixing the second one is easier than you think.
Healthcare · 10 min
09
How much does a website cost in the UK in 2026?Real numbers for 2026, by route, plus the costs nobody puts in the quote and the questions to ask before you sign anything.
Costs · 9 min
10
Wix, Squarespace or a web designer? An honest comparisonSometimes a £14-a-month builder is genuinely the right answer. Here is the point where it starts quietly costing you work.
Choosing · 8 min
11
The local SEO checklist for trades and service businessesTwenty things to fix, in the order that actually pays, before you spend a penny on ads. Most of it is free and most of it takes an afternoon.
SEO · 14 min
12
Google Business Profile: the free listing most businesses wasteThe free listing that decides whether you show up in the map pack, field by field, including the ones that get profiles suspended.
Local · 11 min
13
Why is my website not showing up on Google?A twenty-minute diagnostic you can run yourself. Eight causes, in the order to check them, and what to do about the one that is yours.
SEO · 10 min
14
How to redesign a website without losing your rankingsRedesigns tank traffic for three predictable reasons. Keep the URLs, keep the words, ship nothing slower.
Redesign · 10 min
15
Why website speed costs you customers (and how to fix it)What slow actually costs you in enquiries, Core Web Vitals without the jargon, and the five fixes that do most of the work.
Performance · 9 min
16
Six jobs a small business should stop doing by handSix jobs worth handing to a machine, what each one replaces, and the ones you should absolutely keep doing yourself.
Automation · 8 min
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