Expert Web Guy
Web expert for small business and start-ups
Google Ads Certified
Not just another "web designer", a web developer who actually builds websites.
Google Ads CertifiedNot just another "web designer", a web developer who actually builds websites.
With over 20 years of web experience I know what's important when building a successful website.
Here's some examples of the positive change I bring.
I don't just design websites, I help to grow your business.
I also design and build bespoke platforms to help businesses run more effectively. Including booking systems, online payments, invoicing, file upload and processing, email management, and much more.
My name is Robert Brown, I'm a UK-based web development specialist with clients around the world.
With over 20 years of commercial experience across dozens of industries, I'm an expert in building truly successful websites - see my LinkedIn profile for more details.
I build everything by hand to the highest possible standards, which results in super-fast, successful websites, which ultimately helps your future customers find you.
I don't rely on things like WordPress, Wix, or SquareSpace.
I'm a professional web developer - the above tools are not what experts use and should be avoided at all costs.
If you've been struggling with countless "web designers" and "SEO experts", and have a website that feels more like a glorified business card, you've finally found the person to sort it out.
Between 2006 and 2009 I was the development manager of 123-reg.co.uk, the UK's largest domain, email, and web-hosting provider. I know the Internet literally inside-out, and even helped physically build some of it.
I've seen first-hand how quickly and cheaply a website can be built, and the direct impact this has on their overall success.
I've helped build and grow brands such as LOVEFiLM, CV-Library, Jimmy Choo, Wonderbra. I've worked across several industries, and inside several companies, and now bring that expertise to small businesses and start-ups.
Before wasting money on a so-called "web-designer" (perhaps for the 2nd or 3rd time), let's look at what really goes into building a successful website.
Many people think a good website is one that looks nice, yet the truth is that's the least important part of a successful website.
We need to look at things through the eyes of Google, since it is usually Google who controls how many people can find, and visit, your website.
Does Google care how nice your website looks? Not really. As long as it's clear and has valuable content, that's all that matters on the design front.
What really matters is how fast it is, how many errors there are behind-the-scenes, and how stable it is.
Most "web-designers" these days can knock-up a WordPress website in an afternoon, that may look nice, but won't help you get new customers.
Rob is a tireless problem solver with matchless knowledge and experience on anything that lives on the Internet. Highly recommended.
Find a web-developer who has been traditionally trained in computer science or software engineering.
Unfortunately many so-called "web-designers" are self-taught, and simply use free tools like WordPress, Wix, Shopify or Magento.
The obvious problem? They don't know what they don't know.
I'm here to help explain what makes a website successful, the important things to look out for, and how much you should be looking to spend.
I provide honest advice on anything tech, which may be hard to hear, especially if you've already sunk several thousand pounds into your existing website.
I'm here to set you on the right track going forward.
My clients have seen their revenues grow by 40%, and website visitors numbers increase 3-fold.
Highly recommended, the safest pair of hands to look after our platform. Don’t even search for anyone else, this guy is a genius with incredible response times to any queries, day or night. Thank you for providing such a great service and support, worth every penny.
If you have a website that isn't bringing in new customers, chances are it's built on bad foundations, probably by someone using a "website-builder" like WordPress, Wix, SquareSpace, Shopify, or Magento.
These are the most common ways of building websites these days, simply because they're so accessible, enabling anyone to build a website.
No experience necessary, no technical knowledge required.
A nice looking template or theme can be found online for about £15, then it's simply a case of replacing some images, putting your logo on it, and copy & paste some text.
Don't get me wrong, these templates do look amazing, and you don't need to spend huge sums on a bespoke designer, which can be good news if you're on a tight budget.
However, having a nice looking design only accounts for aboout 10% of what goes into building a successful website.
Unless you find an expert web developer, you may be misled into thinking you have a great website, when in fact it's nothing more than a glorified business card.
It's not uncommon to find businesses who have paid for a new website 2-3 times over, then hired an "SEO expert", yet still don't seem to be growing online - maybe that's you too?
That's the time to call in a web development expert, .a.k.a, me.
When I get involved to fix a website, the first step is usually to rebuild the website to get off a platform such as WordPress.
This alone can see visitor numbers increase 3-fold, and for revenue to nearly double. Yes, really.
Two such examples are www.cheshireupholstery.com and www.hhfloorcare.co.uk (who are also happy to share their experiences if you'd like to get in touch with them).
Here's the result of rebuilding a website simply to get it off WordPress, without changing the actual content or design. The changes were released on 14th January 2020, and the impact was seen immediately.
Even though the changes were made in the middle of January, the website received more than 3 times the number of visitors in January compared to any month for the past year:
I build websites from scratch, I build and manage servers, I improve websites ranking in Google, and I help you to understand some of the basics in this online world, to help ensure you don't get ripped off in the future, and hopefully spread the word.
I have a no-nonsense approach to helping your business succeed - I only do what works.
As another example, my wife and I run a free online wish-list service called Things To Get Me, a business that continues to grow at 30% month-on-month, and has done since launching 6 years ago.
I’ve been benefiting from Roberts website services over the last 10 years, alongside Roberts very pleasant demeanour, I have also enjoyed his speed of responses to any questions, advice, trust and always making himself available when I've needed him. A+
I'm sure it does, but as I always say, "there's more to building a website, than just building a website".
What you're usually looking at is the last 10% of a website build, and unfortunately the bit that has the least impact on your business.
There are literally millions of good looking websites out there, all of them using great looking templates, and yet they're not all driving companies forward - How strange!
Google is concerned with 3 key things, which most "web-designers" fail to address:
The free health check tools focus on these three areas.
Your next "web-designer" may well find a great looking template for £15, but now you know that's not enough to grow your business.
"But WordPress is so popular, surely all those people can't be wrong?"
Actually they can, because "all those people" are not true web developers to begin with, they don't have degrees in computer science, and aren't traditionally trained in software engineering. They use drag-and-drop software to build you a website, using a pretty template they found for £15.
Here's a few common things you may hear from so-called "web-designers".
"Google PageSpeed scores aren't important."
This is one of the factors that Google uses to determine how to rank a website. If someone tries to tell you that Google's own scoring system should be ignored, I think it's safe to say you should walk away.
"WordPress/Wix/SquareSpace is good because you can edit your own content"
Yes, you can edit your content - what you can also do is accidentally ruin any search engine optimisation that was done, and in turn, reduce your chances of being found in Google. Your main website content should not be updated regularly.
"The warnings and errors on your site aren't important."
The W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) is the group responsible for setting the building standards of the Internet. Would you trust a house builder who told you building standards aren't important?
A web-designer may offer to build you a website for £500, but by simple economics, you can't expect that level of investment to bring in the tens of thousands of pounds of additional revenue you need to grow your business?
I wish it were that easy, we'd all be millionaires!
Likewise, just because a "web design agency" charges you £4,000 doesn't mean they're going to do a better job - try putting some of their portfolio sites through the health check page to see how good they really are.
Tools like WordPress and Wix are super simple to use, and very lucrative for a "web designer" when they can knock up a website in an afternoon, and charge £500 for it.
I would highly recommend Rob, from on-going website updates to swift replies to my questions, Rob has been fantastic. I have received so many amazing comments about my web site.
Do you need help with your own website? Let's have a chat and see how I can help.