Proper websites for local businesses.

There isn't one, but it's a fair question. I'm early on and I need a portfolio of real businesses more than I need to make much per site, so I've priced it at what I'd want to pay in your position.

The honest trade is that you're not getting a large agency with a project manager and a phased rollout. You're getting one person who will build you a genuinely good site in about a week. For most local businesses that's the better deal anyway.

You tell me and it stops. There's no contract, no notice period and no exit fee.

Your domain is registered in your name, so that stays yours regardless. If you want to keep the site running elsewhere I'll hand over all the files, and you or anyone you hire can host it somewhere else. I'd rather you left easily than felt trapped.

Yes. The domain goes in your name from the start, not mine, and the site itself is yours. I'm the technical contact so I can look after the boring parts, but you're the owner and you can take it with you.

A Facebook page is genuinely useful and I wouldn't tell you to drop it. But it does a different job. People who already know you will find you on Facebook. People who don't know you exist are typing "barber near me" into Google, and that's where a website picks them up.

There's also the trust side. Plenty of people will look for a website before booking something they're paying real money for, and not having one quietly costs you those customers without you ever hearing about it.

Most people don't, and it's not a problem. I can use good stock photography that suits your trade to get you live, and it'll look far better than you'd expect.

That said, real photos of your actual place always win. If you're up for it I'm happy to come and take some on my phone while we're talking, at no extra cost. Even a few decent shots of the inside make a noticeable difference.

Nothing at all. You don't need to log into anything, remember any passwords or install anything. There's no dashboard for you to learn.

When something needs changing you send me a text or an email and I do it. That's the whole system, and it's deliberately that way.

About a week from the point I've got your details. You'll see a working version on a real link within a few days, so you can look at it on your phone and send it to whoever you want a second opinion from before it goes live.

Nothing upfront. You pay the build cost once the site is finished and you're happy with it, and the monthly fee starts from the month after you go live.

If you look at what I've built and decide it isn't for you, you don't owe me anything.

The most sensible question on this list, and the honest answer is that I've set things up so you're not stuck if it happened.

Your domain is in your name. Your site is built from ordinary web files rather than some system only I understand, so any web developer could take it over without needing to start again. And if I ever couldn't continue, I'd hand you everything: the files, the hosting login and the domain, so you could carry on with someone else.

I'm not going to promise that, because anyone who does is guessing. What I can tell you is that your site will be built properly for local search, with your area, services and opening hours set out the way Google expects to find them.

The other half of it is your Google Business Profile, which is free and matters just as much as the website. I'll help you get that sorted at the same time. Ranking builds over months, not days.