Slow on real phones
Heavy themes, page builders, sliders and third-party scripts that load fast on the designer's laptop and slowly on a customer's phone. Slow pages lose visitors and rankings.
Web design · Development
Website Design and Development That Ranks and Converts
A website has two jobs: get found, and turn visitors into customers. Most are built for neither, slow, hard to crawl and vague about what to do next. SeoChopper designs and builds fast Next.js, WordPress and Shopify sites with search built into the code and every page planned to convert.
We check your current site's speed, SEO and conversion paths, and send you the list. No call required.
Replacing an existing site? See website migration SEO →
What our website design and development covers
Website design and development is the planning, design, build and launch of a website: the structure and content of each page, the visual design, the code it runs on, and the hosting, analytics and SEO set-up that go with it. We build on Next.js, WordPress and Shopify, chosen to suit how your team works.
Because we do SEO too, search isn't added at the end. Page structure is planned around real search demand, technical SEO is built into the templates, and launch is handled like a migration so the rankings you already have come with you.
Why most websites don't bring in business
The problems we see most often on sites that look fine but don't perform.
Designed without search in mind
One generic services page instead of a page for each service and location people search for. If the page doesn't exist, it can't rank.
No clear next step
Visitors arrive, read, and leave, because the call to action is buried, vague or the same on every page regardless of what the visitor came for.
Redesigns that lose traffic
A new design launched with new URLs and no redirects. The site looks better and the phone stops ringing.
Hard for your team to update
Every small change needs a developer, so content goes stale and new pages never get built.
No proof on the page
Reviews, results, credentials and real photos missing or hidden, so visitors have no reason to trust you over the next result.
Our website design and development services
Six ways we work. Most projects combine design, a build platform and SEO.
Website design
Page layouts, visual design and copy structure planned around what visitors need to decide, with clear calls to action, mobile first, with WCAG 2.2 AA as the accessibility target.
Next.js development
Fast, secure sites built in Next.js and React, statically rendered where possible, with a headless CMS your team can edit. Ideal when speed and flexibility matter most.
WordPress development
Custom, lightweight WordPress themes without bloated page builders, so your team gets the familiar editor and the site stays fast. Headless WordPress with Next.js also available.
Shopify store builds
Shopify themes built or customised for speed and conversion, with clean product URLs, structured data and collections planned around search from day one. See Shopify SEO services.
Speed and Core Web Vitals
Existing sites made faster: images, fonts, scripts, caching and hosting tuned until LCP, INP and CLS pass on the templates that matter.
Redesigns without ranking loss
New design, same rankings. Every URL mapped and redirected, content carried across, and the launch tested on staging first. See website migration SEO.
Next.js or WordPress?
Both are good choices. The right one depends on your team, your content and how much speed matters.
| Next.js | WordPress | |
|---|---|---|
| Speed | Fastest, pages pre-rendered and served from a CDN | Fast when built lean, slower with heavy themes and plugins |
| Editing | Through a headless CMS your team logs into | The familiar WordPress editor |
| Flexibility | Anything you can design, plus apps and integrations | Huge plugin library, within WordPress's structure |
| Security and upkeep | Small attack surface, few updates to manage | Regular core, theme and plugin updates needed |
| Best for | Growth-focused sites where speed and custom features matter | Content-heavy sites with teams who already know WordPress |
Selling online? Shopify is usually the right platform for stores, and we build on it too.
Every page is built to convert
A visitor from search arrives with a specific question. The page that wins answers it in the first screen, proves you're credible, and makes the next step obvious, on a phone, in seconds.
- A headline that matches the search that brought them
- One primary call to action, repeated where decisions happen
- Reviews, results and credentials next to the ask
- Short forms, click-to-call and booking on mobile
- Events tracked in GA4 so every enquiry is attributed
How a website project runs
- 1
Research and plan
Your goals, customers, competitors and search demand turned into a sitemap and page plan.
You get: a sitemap with every page mapped to a search and a goal.
- 2
Design
Wireframes, then full designs for key pages on mobile and desktop, reviewed with you before build.
You get: approved designs, before a line of code.
- 3
Build and test
Development on a staging site, with speed, accessibility, SEO and forms tested on real devices.
You get: a staging site you can click through and sign off.
- 4
Launch and grow
Redirects, analytics and Search Console live on launch day, then monitoring and optional ongoing SEO.
You get: a launch that keeps your rankings, and a site ready to grow.
Typical small business sites take four to eight weeks from plan to launch. Larger sites, ecommerce builds and migrations take longer, and we'll give you a timeline in the proposal.
SEO built into the code
Search engines read the code, not the design. Every site we build launches with the technical foundations already in place, so you start ranking from day one instead of paying to fix it later.
- Unique titles, meta descriptions and one H1 on every page
- Clean, readable URLs and a logical internal link structure
- Canonical tags, XML sitemap and robots.txt configured
- Schema markup for your organisation, services, products and FAQs
- Server-rendered content Google can read without running JavaScript
- Images sized, compressed and lazy-loaded, with alt text
- Core Web Vitals passing on mobile before launch
- GA4 and Search Console connected, with conversion tracking
What website design and development costs
Two ways to work with us. Both start with a free audit or a 30-minute call.
Pricing depends on the number of page templates, the platform, integrations such as booking or CRM, how much content we write, and whether there's an existing site to migrate.
Free 30-minute consultation
Book a call and get a clear plan
Pick a time that suits you. You'll leave with next steps whether or not we work together.
Calendar not loading? Open the booking page ↗
Website design and development questions
How much does a new website cost?
It depends on the number of unique page templates, the platform, integrations, how much content needs writing and whether an existing site needs migrating. We scope every project after the free audit and give you a fixed price and timeline before work starts.
How long does it take to build a website?
A typical small business site takes four to eight weeks from plan to launch. Larger sites, ecommerce stores and projects with a lot of content or integrations take longer. Most delays come from content and feedback rounds, so we plan those into the timeline.
Should we choose Next.js or WordPress?
Choose Next.js when speed, security and custom features matter most and you're happy editing through a headless CMS. Choose WordPress when your team already knows it or you publish a lot of content and want the familiar editor. Headless WordPress with a Next.js front end combines the two.
Is SEO included in the website build?
Technical SEO is built into every site: titles, meta, headings, URLs, canonicals, sitemaps, schema, speed and analytics. Ongoing SEO work after launch, such as content and link building, is a separate service you can add.
Will a redesign hurt our Google rankings?
Not if it's handled properly. Most ranking losses after a redesign come from changed URLs without redirects, or content that didn't make it onto the new site. We map every URL, carry content across, test on staging and monitor after launch.
Can we update the website ourselves?
Yes. Every site comes with a CMS your team can use to edit pages, publish posts and add new pages from pre-built sections, plus a walkthrough at launch. You own the site, the code and the content.
Do you provide hosting and maintenance?
We set up hosting on a platform suited to the build, such as Vercel for Next.js or managed WordPress hosting, in your name. Ongoing updates, monitoring and improvements are available as a monthly care plan.
Find out what your website is costing you
A review of your current site's speed, SEO and conversion paths, with the fixes ranked by impact. Free, and yours whether or not you hire us.