The main difference lies in resources, accountability, and long-term support. When you work with our agency, you get a full team of specialists: strategists, UX designers, graphic designers, front-end developers, back-end developers, and project managers. A freelancer, no matter how talented, can’t match this breadth of expertise. We also provide guaranteed availability, with team members able to cover if someone is ill or on holiday.

Our work is backed by professional indemnity insurance, formal contracts, and established processes that have been refined over hundreds of projects. Post-launch, you have a company to turn to for ongoing support, not an individual who might move on to other things.

That said, freelancers can be excellent for smaller projects or specific tasks, and we’re happy to advise which route makes most sense for your particular needs and budget.

This depends entirely on which approach we take for your project. If we build on a CMS like WordPress, Shopify, or use a page builder, you’ll have full access to update content, images, blog posts, products, and other standard elements yourself.

We provide comprehensive training (usually 1-2 hours) and written documentation so your team feels confident making updates. For design changes, new page layouts, or functionality additions, you’d typically need developer support. If we build a static site without a CMS, you’ll need our help for most updates, which is why we only recommend this approach for sites that rarely change.

We offer flexible support packages: pay-as-you-go hourly rates (typically £75-95/hour), monthly retainers with allocated hours, or annual maintenance agreements. Many clients prefer a small monthly retainer (£200-500) that covers routine updates, security patches, and gives them priority support when needed.

Honest answer: it varies significantly based on what you need. A basic bespoke brochure website with 5-8 pages, built on WordPress with a page builder, starts around £3,500-5,000. A fully custom-coded WordPress theme with moderate complexity runs £8,000-15,000. E-commerce sites start around £6,000 for Shopify with custom design, but can easily reach £25,000-50,000+ for custom platforms with advanced features.

Complex web applications, portals, or enterprise sites can exceed £100,000. The key factors affecting cost include: number of pages, custom functionality requirements, design complexity, e-commerce features, third-party integrations, content creation needs, and the development approach chosen.

During our initial consultation, we’ll provide a detailed quote broken down by component, so you understand exactly what you’re paying for. We can also work with your budget to prioritise features, launching with core functionality and adding enhancements in phases.

Our design process is collaborative and includes multiple feedback rounds specifically to avoid this situation. After the discovery phase, we create wireframes (basic layouts) before any visual design, so we confirm the structure and user journey first. Once approved, we design 2-3 key pages in high fidelity for your review. This is your opportunity to request changes to colours, typography, imagery style, layout, and overall aesthetic.

We include two rounds of revisions in our standard packages, which is usually sufficient to get things perfect. If after these rounds you’re still unhappy, we’ll have an honest conversation about whether we’ve missed the mark or if expectations need realigning. In extreme cases where there’s a fundamental misalignment, we can part ways professionally. However, this has only happened twice in our agency’s history, and both times were due to unclear briefs. When clients invest time in the discovery phase and provide thorough feedback, the design always lands well.

Absolutely. Every website we build is fully responsive, meaning it automatically adapts to look and function perfectly on desktops, laptops, tablets, and smartphones. This isn’t optional; it’s standard practice. In fact, we design mobile-first for most projects, because over 60% of web traffic now comes from mobile devices.

We test extensively on real devices (iPhones, Android phones, iPads, various screen sizes) throughout development, not just browser testing tools. We also ensure touch-friendly navigation, appropriately sized buttons, readable text without zooming, and fast loading times on mobile networks.

Beyond responsiveness, we consider the mobile user journey, which often differs from desktop. For example, mobile users might want quick access to your phone number or directions, while desktop users spend more time reading detailed information. Google also prioritises mobile-friendly sites in search rankings, so this directly impacts your SEO performance.

Websites require regular maintenance to stay secure, fast, and functional. Core CMS updates (WordPress, Shopify, etc.) are released monthly to patch security vulnerabilities. Plugins and themes also need updating, and these updates occasionally cause conflicts that need resolving. You’ll also want regular backups, uptime monitoring, security scans, performance optimisation, and broken link checks. For WordPress sites, you’re looking at 1-3 hours of maintenance monthly.

We offer several maintenance packages: Basic (£150/month) covers essential updates, backups, and security monitoring; Standard (£300/month) adds performance optimisation, monthly reports, and priority support; Premium (£500/month) includes everything plus content updates, SEO monitoring, and conversion rate optimisation.

Alternatively, many clients handle basic updates themselves and call us for technical issues. We also offer annual health checks (£400-600) where we comprehensively audit your site’s security, performance, and SEO. Whatever route you choose, maintenance shouldn’t be neglected, as hacked or outdated websites can seriously damage your business.

We’re flexible on hosting arrangements. We can manage hosting for you (easiest option), you can use your own hosting provider, or we can recommend providers and help you set up. If we manage hosting, we use premium providers like WP Engine, Kinsta, or AWS depending on your needs, and we handle all technical setup, SSL certificates, email configuration, and ongoing server management. This typically costs £30-150/month depending on your site’s size and traffic.

We mark this up slightly for our management time, but you get peace of mind knowing experts are monitoring your server. If you prefer to arrange your own hosting (perhaps you already have a provider you trust), that’s fine, but we’ll need appropriate access to deploy your site. We’ll also advise on minimum requirements, as cheap shared hosting (£3/month packages) often causes performance issues. For Shopify sites, hosting is included in their monthly fee. For high-traffic or mission-critical sites, we might recommend dedicated or cloud hosting with proper scaling capabilities.

Yes, we offer comprehensive content services, and most clients take advantage of these. Writing effective web copy is a specialist skill that differs significantly from other business writing. Our content team can handle: copywriting for all pages (charged per page or per word), professional photography (we work with commercial photographers), stock image sourcing and licensing, custom illustrations or graphics, video production or editing, blog content strategy and writing, product descriptions for e-commerce sites, and SEO-optimised content.

Many clients provide rough content or bullet points, and we polish it into compelling web copy. Others prefer us to create everything from scratch based on discovery interviews. Costs vary: professional copywriting runs £100-200 per page, photography £500-2,000 per day, custom illustrations £200-800 each.

We always discuss content during planning, as it significantly impacts timelines. If you’re providing content, we need it by specific milestones to keep the project on schedule. Late content is one of the biggest causes of project delays, so we help you plan content creation into the project timeline.

This is the most important question, and the answer depends entirely on your goals and how the website integrates with your broader marketing. A new website alone won’t magically generate business, but it can dramatically improve conversion rates for traffic you’re already getting. Typical results we see: B2B service companies often see 40-80% increases in qualified enquiries within 3-6 months, e-commerce sites see 25-50% conversion rate improvements, and bounce rates typically drop 20-30% with better UX.

Page load times improving from 5 seconds to under 2 seconds can increase conversions by 15-20%. However, these improvements assume you’re driving traffic through SEO, paid advertising, or other marketing.

A beautiful website with no visitors achieves nothing. That’s why we focus on measurable business outcomes during the strategy phase: what actions do you want visitors to take, and how can we optimise for those conversions? We set up proper analytics tracking from day one, establish baseline metrics, and provide performance reports showing exactly how the site impacts your business. We’re also honest when a new website isn’t the solution you need, and might recommend focusing on traffic generation or conversion optimisation instead.

We follow a structured approach to ensure your website is built to the highest standard:

1. Discovery & Strategy

We start by understanding your business, audience, and objectives. We ask key questions such as:

• What makes your business unique?
• Who is your target audience?
• What actions do you want visitors to take on your site?

This step helps us create a roadmap for your new website.

2. Design & User Experience

We craft visually appealing designs that also prioritise usability. Every element, from colour schemes to font choices, is aligned with your brand identity. We ensure that:

• The layout is intuitive and user-friendly.
• The design is mobile-responsive, ensuring a great experience on all devices.
• Navigation is seamless, making it easy for visitors to find what they need.

3. Development & Functionality

Our developers bring the designs to life using clean, efficient code. We integrate:

• Custom features tailored to your business needs.
• E-commerce functionality for online stores.
• Booking systems for service-based businesses.
• Secure payment gateways.
• Content management systems (CMS) for easy updates.

4. SEO & Performance Optimisation

A beautiful website is useless if no one finds it. We ensure your website is optimised for search engines from the start by:

• Structuring content with SEO best practices.
• Implementing fast-loading elements to improve user experience.
• Ensuring mobile-friendliness to cater to all users.
• Integrating analytics to track performance.

5. Testing & Launch

Before going live, we rigorously test your website to ensure everything works flawlessly. We check:

• Load speeds and responsiveness.
• Cross-browser and device compatibility.
• Functionality of all interactive elements.

Once approved, we launch your site and monitor its performance.

6. Ongoing Support & Growth

Your website should evolve with your business. We offer ongoing support to:

• Update content and features.
• Keep security and software up to date.
• Optimise performance based on user behaviour and analytics.

Real Results for Our Clients

We’ve helped numerous businesses elevate their online presence. One of our clients, Roffey Carpet Cleaning, saw significant growth after working with us:

“I have been using Alloy Marketing for five years now; they designed my website and have been optimising it continually ever since. They managed to move my site from the depths of Google to the number one spot within six months, where it has remained ever since.”

This is the power of a well-designed, bespoke website.

Is Your Website Helping or Hurting Your Business?

Ask yourself:

• Does my website reflect my brand effectively?
• Is it generating leads or sales?
• Are visitors staying and engaging, or leaving quickly?
• Is it easy to update and expand?

If you’re not happy with the answers, it might be time for a new approach.

Why Work With Alloy Marketing?

• Experience: Over a decade of building high-performing websites for businesses in Manchester and beyond.
• Comprehensive Services: We offer everything from design to SEO, PPC, and social media marketing, ensuring your website works as part of a wider strategy.
• Client-Centric Approach: We take the time to understand your goals and tailor our solutions to meet them.
• Transparent Pricing: No hidden fees – just clear, honest pricing for quality work.

Take the Next Step

Ready to invest in a website that truly works for your business? Contact us today to discuss your bespoke website design project. At Alloy Marketing, we’re here to help you succeed online. Let’s build something great together.