STARTING SOMETHING NEW?
LET'S BUILD IT RIGHT.
Need a website for your new business? I’ll help you figure out what you need, what you don’t, and build a site that works for you.
A free 30-minute chat to get to know each other and figure out what you actually need (and don't) to get online.
You’re good at what you do.
Building a business is the new part.
You've spent years building experience, skills and expertise. You know your work and you know you're good at it.
But starting your own business comes with a whole new list of things you're suddenly supposed to understand. Websites. Domains. Hosting. Email. SEO. Booking systems. Which platform? What pages? What do you actually need right now?
You don't need to know all of that.
I do.
Here’s what we’ll sort out.
What pages do you need? What should they say? How should everything be organized? I'll design and build a professional site around your actual business, not shove your business into a template.
Your Website
Domain. DNS. Professional email. Forms. Booking. Analytics. The pieces that need to connect so everything actually works.
The tech stuff
You probably don't need every platform, tool, subscription and marketing thing somebody on the internet says you need. We'll figure out what's useful now, what can wait, and what you can skip altogether.
what you don’t need
Let’s Build What You Actually Need
Maybe that's one strong page that does most of the work. Maybe your business makes more sense spread across several. There isn't a magic number.
We'll figure out what fits.
Your business determines what we build, not a pre-set website package.
Your Website.
One Focused Week.
Before your build week, we'll get the decisions made, content gathered and details sorted. Then I block out a Monday-to-Friday week to focus on building your site.
Your build week is yours. I only schedule one website build at a time, so your project gets my full focus instead of sitting in a queue.
Before
We Get Ready
We talk about your business, decide what the site needs and make sure your content, images and other pieces are ready to go.
Monday
I get to work
Your build week begins. I take everything we've worked out and start turning it into your website.
Midweek
You get to look
You see the site in progress, give me your feedback and we make any adjustments we need.
Friday
we launch your site
I finish the details, test everything and get the pieces connected. Once we're both happy, it's launch time.
a lot can happen by Friday
“I WAS AMAZED AT BOTH
THE SPEED AND THE
QUALITY
OF THE FINAL PRODUCT.”
“Working with Merlene was an absolute pleasure. From start to finish, she made what could have been a complicated project feel simple and organized. Her clear pre-build “homework” made it easy to prepare, and her project management kept everything on track without ever feeling overwhelming.
The process was seamless, from kickoff to launch! The site build began on Monday, was ready for review by Wednesday, and launched successfully by Friday.”
BONNIE WITTENBURG
★★★★★ · GOOGLE REVIEW
I’ve been
doing this
a while
I built my first website in 1995, when putting something online involved a lot more swearing and considerably fewer drag-and-drop blocks.
I've spent the decades since building my own projects, working with small businesses and solopreneurs, designing websites, writing content and solving the technical stuff that comes with being online.
Along the way, I also spent years working professionally with domains and DNS, eventually managing complex domain portfolios for corporate clients, sometimes involving thousands of domains and DNS records.
These days, I bring all of that experience back to small business, helping people figure out what they actually need and building websites where all the pieces work together.
websites
have Changed.
a lot.
www dot…
<html>
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
blogs
@username
mobile first
AI.
The tools keep changing.
The important part hasn’t.
you probably have questions
-
It depends on what you need. I tend to work most often with WordPress, Squarespace and Shopify, but I'm not tied to any one platform.
I started building websites in the 1990s, when we wrote HTML by hand and “website builder” wasn't really part of the vocabulary. That background means I'm comfortable working beyond those platforms when a project calls for it.
I'll recommend what makes sense for your business, what we're building and how you want to manage it after launch. The technology should fit the job, not the other way around.
-
No. Your website is designed around your business, your goals, your content and the people you need it to reach.
I don't start with a standard package or a predetermined list of pages and swap in your logo and colours. We'll talk about what you're trying to accomplish, what your visitors need from you and what would genuinely be useful. I'll listen, ask questions and recommend things you may not have considered.
That might mean a simple site that does a few things exceptionally well. It might mean something more complex. You won't pay for pages and features you don't need, and we won't leave out something useful just because it wasn't included in a package.
That's what custom means to me.
-
Your website is custom designed by me, from scratch. I don't start with a template, use an AI website generator or have AI produce a finished design for me.
I do use AI as one of many tools in my creative process. It can be useful for research, brainstorming, exploring ideas and occasionally creating or developing imagery. But the thinking, creative direction, design decisions and finished website come from me.
AI can be a useful creative tool. It isn't your web designer.
-
Absolutely not. You don't need finished copy, professional photos, a sitemap or a perfectly formed plan before we talk.
Start with what you know. We'll figure out what's missing, what you actually need and what needs to happen before your build week.
-
Most website projects fall between US$3,250 and US$5,000, depending on what we're building and what your business needs.
Once we've talked about your project, I'll recommend a scope and give you a fixed project price before we start. No mystery total at the end.
Canadian clients are quoted and invoiced in Canadian dollars.
-
It's your website. I'll make sure you know how to handle the everyday things you're likely to want to change yourself, and I'm still around if you need help later.
What ongoing maintenance looks like depends on the platform we choose. I'll make sure you know what your site needs before we build it, so there are no surprises after launch.
-
Very much so. Domains and DNS aren't an awkward extra I reluctantly deal with at launch. I've spent more than a decade working professionally with domains and DNS, including complex corporate portfolios involving thousands of domains and records.
If your website needs to connect to your domain, email or another service, you're in very safe hands.
-
Not at all. “Something new” might be a brand-new business, but it could also be a new direction, a new service or simply a website that no longer fits where your business is today.
If what you have isn't working anymore, we can figure out what should come next.
you probably have questions
-
It depends on what you need. I tend to work most often with WordPress, Squarespace and Shopify, but I'm not tied to any one platform.
I started building websites in the 1990s, when we wrote HTML by hand and “website builder” wasn't really part of the vocabulary. That background means I'm comfortable working beyond those platforms when a project calls for it.
I'll recommend what makes sense for your business, what we're building and how you want to manage it after launch. The technology should fit the job, not the other way around.
-
No. Your website is designed around your business, your goals, your content and the people you need it to reach.
I don't start with a standard package or a predetermined list of pages and swap in your logo and colours. We'll talk about what you're trying to accomplish, what your visitors need from you and what would genuinely be useful. I'll listen, ask questions and recommend things you may not have considered.
That might mean a simple site that does a few things exceptionally well. It might mean something more complex. You won't pay for pages and features you don't need, and we won't leave out something useful just because it wasn't included in a package.
That's what custom means to me.
-
Your website is custom designed by me, from scratch. I don't start with a template, use an AI website generator or have AI produce a finished design for me.
I do use AI as one of many tools in my creative process. It can be useful for research, brainstorming, exploring ideas and occasionally creating or developing imagery. But the thinking, creative direction, design decisions and finished website come from me.
AI can be a useful creative tool. It isn't your web designer.
-
Absolutely not. You don't need finished copy, professional photos, a sitemap or a perfectly formed plan before we talk.
Start with what you know. We'll figure out what's missing, what you actually need and what needs to happen before your build week.
-
Most website projects fall between US$3,250 and US$5,000, depending on what we're building and what your business needs.
Once we've talked about your project, I'll recommend a scope and give you a fixed project price before we start. No mystery total at the end.
Canadian clients are quoted and invoiced in Canadian dollars.
-
It's your website. I'll make sure you know how to handle the everyday things you're likely to want to change yourself, and I'm still around if you need help later.
What ongoing maintenance looks like depends on the platform we choose. I'll make sure you know what your site needs before we build it, so there are no surprises after launch.
-
Very much so. Domains and DNS aren't an awkward extra I reluctantly deal with at launch. I've spent more than a decade working professionally with domains and DNS, including complex corporate portfolios involving thousands of domains and records.
If your website needs to connect to your domain, email or another service, you're in very safe hands.
-
Not at all. “Something new” might be a brand-new business, but it could also be a new direction, a new service or simply a website that no longer fits where your business is today.
If what you have isn't working anymore, we can figure out what should come next.
ready to build yours?
You don’t need to have everything figured out before we talk.
Tell me what you’re starting, where you’re stuck, or what you think you might need. We’ll spend 30 minutes talking it through and see if working together makes sense.
Free 30-minute chat.
No sales pitch. No homework required.