Business Solutions

Website design and development that turns visitors into inquiries

Website design for small business, built around your brand: we write the words from scratch or edit and finalize yours, and build pages that load fast and keep visitor data GDPR-compliant from the first wireframe.

Not ready for a build? Start with a €125 Page Speed Check; the fee counts toward a build if you book within 60 days

Built by John McAvoy, PhD, and Kristen McAvoy, MBASmall businesses in the Netherlands and the USGDPR-compliant by design

Illustration of a fast, privacy-first business website on a laptop, with a cookie-consent badge, a speed gauge and a search result Cookies off until visitors agree Fast on mobile Found in search and AI answers

Who you’ll work with

The founders design and build your site.

You work with Kristen and John directly, from the first wireframe to launch day. After a decade in Texas and roots in Florida, we know the US market from the inside, and we now work from The Hague.

Kristen McAvoy, MBA

Kristen McAvoy, MBA

Design and brand

Kristen designed the website and visual identity for WerkWell, and has spent more than a decade shaping how organizations show up online, from digital engagement to brand positioning. She makes your site look and sound like you.

See Kristen’s credentials

John McAvoy, PhD

John McAvoy, PhD

Build, copy and search

John built this website himself, from the page design to interactive tools like the Marketing Growth Audit. He edits or writes your page copy, depending on your package, with search and AI answers in mind.

See John’s credentials

The problem

A website that works against you

Slow and generic

A template that loads slowly and looks like everyone else’s, so visitors leave before they read a word.

Placeholder copy

Words written to fill space instead of to sound like you or move anyone to act.

Privacy as an afterthought

A form with no clear consent, or tracking that fires before anyone agrees. A quiet GDPR risk.

You can’t update it

A site only the developer can touch, so it goes stale the day it launches.

Laptop open to a WordPress dashboard beside a phone and a handwritten notebook, website design for small business in progress
Good website design for small business is easy to use and quick to load on any phone, which is what turns visitors into clients.

Why ECS

Built to fit you, and to be found

Privacy is built in

  • Every form, cookie and analytics call is consented and documented
  • GDPR-compliant by design, from the first wireframe
  • You get the records to prove it

Designed around your brand

  • Built from your brand guide
  • Mobile-first and fast on every device
  • Yours to own and edit when it’s done

Built to be found

  • Structure and keywords set before design starts
  • On-page SEO and AEO standards baked in
  • Ready to earn search from day one

Our work

Small business websites we’ve built

Client site

WerkWell

Visual identity and website design

“She didn’t just design a website, she helped build our brand’s digital foundation. She translated our complex, innovation-focused work into a clear, compelling online presence with a strong visual identity.”

Jennifer Koster, CEO, WerkWell

Visit werkwell.net
Elevated Consulting Solutions homepage

Our own site

This website

We designed, wrote and built this site ourselves, from scratch, down to interactive tools like the 5-minute Growth Audit. You’re looking at our work right now.

Try the Growth Audit

Our own project

My Bloom Blog

Personal blog, design and build

A personal blog built as an open diary, with a calm, readable layout that keeps the focus on the writing.

Visit mybloomblog.com

Before a full build

Start here: quick wins

Small, fast checks. A low-risk way to see how we work, or to fix the one thing hurting the site right now. The fee counts in full toward a strategy, build or care plan if you book within 60 days. Not sure which check you need? Run our free website audit first; it takes two minutes.

Founding-client prices for our first 10 orders. In return, we ask for a short testimonial and permission to share your results anonymously.

Billed in EUR; USD approx.

Page Speed Check

from €195 €12548 hours

Founding price, first 10 orders

We test 3 pages you choose (or your home page and 2 busiest) on phone and desktop.

  • Your Core Web Vitals for each page (loading, responsiveness and layout shift), from Google’s real-visitor data where it exists, plus lab tests
  • What’s slowing each page down: images, scripts, fonts, hosting and caching
  • A fix list ranked by impact, with how to do each fix, as a short PDF
  • Extra pages €45 each, up to 10. No login needed.
Add-on: Plugin & Hosting Diagnosis, +€225 €150

With admin access we look behind the scenes: speed logged in versus logged out, which plugins and scripts cost your pages the most time (measured in the browser’s developer tools and on the server side), and your hosting and caching settings. You get the plugins and settings to change first, ranked. We don’t switch anything off or change your site. We spend up to 3 hours on it; if your site needs more than that, we tell you what we’ve found so far and quote the rest first. Adds 1–2 days.

Not included: making the fixes (we’ll quote them if you’d like), or a guaranteed score.

Order this check

UX/CX Design Audit

€375 €22548 hours

Founding price, first 10 orders

We go through your site the way a new customer would, on phone and desktop, from the home page to your main action, whether that’s a booking or a sale.

  • Up to 5 pages and your main customer journey
  • A 10–15-minute narrated screen recording of what we saw
  • A PDF with annotated screenshots: each problem and why it costs you customers, with the fix beside it
  • Ranked: fix now, fix soon, nice to have

Not included: making the changes, or testing with your real customers.

Order this audit

GDPR & Cookie Check

€495 €2953–5 days

Founding price, first 10 orders

A person checks this one by hand: we click through your cookie banner and read your privacy policy against what the site really does. You learn where your forms, cookies and tracking put you at risk, and how to fix each one.

  • A scan of every page for cookies, pixels and tracking scripts, each marked “needs consent” or “essential”
  • Your cookie banner tested: does anything load before consent, and can visitors refuse as easily as they accept
  • Your forms and privacy policy compared with what the site actually does
  • A plain-English fix list, ranked by risk, as a PDF, and a 30-minute call to go through it
  • 14 days of follow-up questions by email

Not included: legal advice or a rewritten privacy policy. Making the fixes is quoted separately.

Order this check

SEO & AEO Snapshot

€395 €2253–5 days

Founding price, first 10 orders

How findable you are today in search and AI answers, with the first moves to make.

  • Where you show up today for 3 searches you choose, in Google and in AI answers (Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Perplexity)
  • An on-page check of up to 5 key pages: titles, descriptions, headings, schema and internal links
  • Whether Google and AI assistants can read and index the site (sitemap, robots, AI crawler access)
  • Your top 5 first moves, ranked, as a PDF

Not included: a backlink audit, or keyword research beyond your 3 searches. Making the changes is quoted separately.

Order this check

All four, one fix list

Website Checkup

€745

€870 bought separately · the speed check is on us

Founding price; full price €1.265

All four checks above in full, plus one combined fix list ranked across speed, UX, privacy and search, so you know what to do first. Back in about a week.

Order the full checkup

Order with a short form, and we reply within one business day to confirm and send your invoice.

Pricing & Plans

Website design packages for small business

Website Packages

Three builds, each tailored to your business, from a one-page site to a site built to win local search.

Billed in EUR; USD approx.

Express

€1.4951–2 weeks

One scrolling page that makes you look credible when clients look you up.

The words: you give us yours, and we edit and finalize them. Want them written for you?

What’s included

  • One page: hero, about, services, reviews and contact
  • Your fonts, colors and logo, set up and formatted
  • GDPR-compliant contact form and cookie handling
  • Your social links, or an Instagram or Facebook feed
  • Checked on phones and tablets
  • Connected to Google Search Console, so your name shows up

Best for: a new or small business that needs to be findable fast.

Plan my website

Elevated

from €7.9005–7 weeks

A site built to win local search and turn visits into leads.

The words: we write your core pages from scratch: Home, About, Services and Contact.

Everything in Essentials, plus

  • Up to 10 pages, including pages for each service or service area
  • Local SEO: schema markup and a keyword map
  • Your site matched to your Google Business Profile
  • A blog, set up and ready for your first articles
  • Google Analytics 4, with lead tracking on your forms
  • A reviews and testimonials section
  • A second month of Website Care

Best for: a local business that wants the site to bring in leads.

Plan my website

What’s not included

Every package has a defined scope that we tailor to you. These sit outside it, and we quote them separately, in writing, before any work starts.

  • Words written from scratch in Express and Essentials. You give us the words, and we edit and finalize them. Want them written for you? Add copywriting.
  • Blog articles. Elevated sets up your blog; articles are written separately as SEO & AEO writing, from €495.
  • Online shops. Shopping carts and payment gateways.
  • Logo and brand identity. We build from the brand assets you have. New identity work is quoted on its own.
  • Photography, video and custom graphics. We work with the images you supply.
  • Hosting, domain and premium plugins. Paid directly by you, in your name, so you own them.

Need one of these? Ask on your free consultation, and we’ll quote it before we start.

Add-ons

Add strategy, words or ongoing care

Take these on their own, or add them to any package.

Strategy & writing

Plan the site first, or have the words written for you.

Billed in EUR; USD approx.

Website & SEO Strategy

€2.9003–4 weeks

A full audit and a written plan for your site: what to fix, what to build, and which searches to win. Use it with us, with your own developer, or on your own.

Build with us within 60 days and €1.000 of the fee counts toward it.

What’s included

  • The Website Checkup: all four checks, covering speed, UX/CX, GDPR and SEO & AEO (worth €1.265)
  • A review of up to 3 competitors’ sites and where they rank
  • Keyword and AEO research, mapped to the pages that should rank
  • A recommended sitemap and page structure
  • A content plan: what each page needs to say, and the gaps to fill
  • Conversion recommendations: calls to action, forms and trust signals
  • A local search review: your Google Business Profile and listings
  • A measurement plan: the GA4 and Search Console goals to track
  • On-page standards for whoever builds or edits the site
  • A 90-day roadmap, ranked by impact and effort
  • The full plan in writing, walked through with you on a 60-minute call

Best for: an existing site that needs a plan, a build by your own developer, or a site of more than 10 pages.

Scope my strategy

Website Copywriting

from €5601–3 weeks

Your pages written from scratch, in your voice: one page from €560, or a small site’s core pages from €1.550.

What’s included

  • A short discovery of your goal, audience and voice
  • Written to be found and to convert
  • Revisions within scope until it fits

Best for: Express or Essentials, when you’d rather not write it yourself.

See copywriting

SEO & AEO Articles

from €4951 week

Articles written to be found in search and in AI answers, to fill your blog at launch or any time after.

What’s included

  • A target keyword and search-intent check
  • An original article, typically 900 to 1,500 words
  • Formatted so AI answers can quote it

Best for: filling the blog your Elevated site sets up.

See SEO & AEO writing

Ongoing website care

Billed monthly, cancel any time with one month’s notice.

Billed in EUR; USD approx.

Website Care

€250per month

Updates, backups, security and checks, plus a monthly performance report.

What’s included

  • Core, plugin and theme updates
  • Backups and security monitoring
  • Uptime and health checks
  • A monthly performance report

Billed monthly, cancel any time with one month’s notice.

Start my care plan

Website Care Plus

€500per month

Everything in Care, with more hands-on time and active SEO each month.

Everything in Care, plus

  • More hands-on content and edits
  • Active SEO optimization each month
  • Priority response
  • A quarterly review call

Billed monthly, cancel any time with one month’s notice.

Start my care plan

Custom website engagements

A bigger scope, a web app, or a mix of services? Tell us what the site has to do, and we’ll scope it and quote it up front, before any work begins.

Book Your Free Consultation

Website FAQs

Cost and payment

How much does website design for small business cost?

It depends how much you need. The cheapest way to work with us is a check from €125, or all four as a Website Checkup for €745, which tells you exactly what to fix. Our packages are Express at €1.495, Essentials from €3.900 and Elevated from €7.900. On their own, Website & SEO Strategy is €2.900, website copywriting starts at €560, and Website Care is from €250 a month. Every price is confirmed on a free consultation before anything begins.

How much does website maintenance cost?

Website Care is €250 a month: core, plugin and theme updates, backups and security monitoring, uptime and health checks, and a monthly performance report. Website Care Plus is €500 a month and adds more hands-on content edits, active SEO work each month, priority response, and a quarterly review call. Both are billed monthly, and you can cancel any time with one month’s notice.

Can I start with something small first?

Yes, and most people should. The quick-win checks start at €125, or take all four as the Website Checkup for €745, and you get a clear, prioritized list of what to fix, with no obligation to go further. If you book a strategy, a build or a care plan within 60 days, we credit the fee back in full, so it costs you nothing in the end. It’s the easiest, lowest-risk way to see how we work.

Do I need a package, or just a strategy or care plan?

If you need a new site, choose a package: the build, the editing and the setup most sites need come in one scope and one price, agreed before we start instead of growing a quote at a time. If your site is fine and you need one piece, a strategy, copywriting, or a care plan, take it on its own at the prices listed above and add the rest later. On your free consultation we’ll tell you honestly which route fits.

Can you customize a package?

Yes. Every package is a starting point: we tailor the scope to your business on your free consultation and confirm the price in writing before any work begins. Prices marked “from” show where each one starts.

Do the prices include VAT?

No VAT is added. We’re exempt from charging VAT under the Dutch small business scheme (KOR), so the price you see is the price you pay. If that changes as the business grows, we’ll tell you before it affects any quote.

How does payment work?

For the build packages and one-off projects, half to begin and half on delivery. The first 50% books your slot and starts the work; the balance is due when the finished site is ready to hand over. Projects of €2.000 or more can instead be paid in installments if chosen: half to begin, then 3 equal payments, the first 14 days after completion and the next two 30 days apart. No VAT added, subject to change. The quick checks are invoiced when you order and start once paid.

The build

Do I need the strategy, or can we go straight to the build?

If we’re building your site, go straight to a package: Essentials and Elevated include the planning a build needs. Choose the Website & SEO Strategy when you want to improve the site you have, when someone else will build it, or when it’s bigger than 10 pages. If you do build with us within 60 days, €1.000 of the strategy fee counts toward the build, and Website Care Plus can carry out its 90-day roadmap month by month.

Who writes the words on my site?

It depends on the package. In Express and Essentials, you give us the words, and we edit and finalize them so they read clearly and are ready for search. In Elevated, we write your core pages from scratch. Want words written for you on a smaller package, or articles for your blog? Our business writing services add them to any package, with the price agreed before we start.

What isn’t included in the website packages?

Each package has a defined scope that we tailor to you. Outside it: words written from scratch in Express and Essentials, blog articles, online shops with carts and payments, new logo or brand identity work, and photography, video or custom graphics. Hosting, your domain and premium plugins are paid directly by you, in your name. We quote any of the rest in writing before we start; see what’s not included under the packages.

Can you help my business show up in search and AI answers?

Yes. Search now has three layers: SEO gets your pages ranked in Google and Bing, AEO (answer engine optimization) gets your answer lifted into featured snippets and Google’s AI Overviews, and GEO (generative engine optimization), often called AI visibility, gets you cited when ChatGPT, Perplexity or Gemini answer a question. All three start with fast, well-structured pages that answer real questions clearly, and every build is made that way. Elevated goes further for local search: pages for each service or service area, local schema markup, a keyword map, and your site matched to your Google Business Profile. Already have a site? The SEO & AEO Snapshot in the quick checks shows where you stand, the Website & SEO Strategy includes a local search review, and Website Care Plus works on your search every month.

Can you redesign the website I already have?

Yes. For a website redesign, start with the Website Checkup or a Website & SEO Strategy to see what to fix, then rebuild it as an Express, Essentials or Elevated site, or keep it maintained with a Website Care plan. Bring us what you have and we’ll tell you honestly whether it needs a refresh or a rebuild.

Who owns the site when it’s finished?

You do, and that includes the parts people forget to ask about. The hosting account and the domain are in your name from the start. At handover you get the finished site, the design and code files, and your GDPR documentation. Website Care is month to month with one month’s notice, so nothing you own depends on staying with us.

What is my site built on, and where is it hosted?

Most of our sites are built on WordPress, the most common choice for small business websites, which means any developer can pick yours up later and you’re never stuck waiting on us for a change. Some projects call for something hand-coded instead, and if yours is one of them we’ll say so before we start. Hosting lives in your own account with a host you control, so you pay them directly and can move the site whenever you like.

What does GDPR-compliant by design actually mean?

It means privacy is built in from the first wireframe. Your contact form asks only for what it needs, with an unchecked opt-in and a plain explanation of why. Cookies and analytics stay off until a visitor agrees, and you get the documentation to show it was done properly. This matters whether you serve customers in the Netherlands, the United States, or both.

How long does a website take?

Most builds take one to seven weeks: Express one to two, Essentials three to five, and Elevated five to seven. The quick-win checks come back in 48 hours to five days, the full Website Checkup in about a week, and a Website & SEO Strategy in three to four weeks. We agree the exact timeline on your free consultation before any work begins.

Works well with

The rest of the toolkit

Business Writing Services

Sales pages, articles and copy beyond what the build includes.

Explore writing

Let’s talk

Tell us what the site has to do

Bring us the business behind the website, and we’ll tell you what it needs to earn its place.