What is a headless CMS? A plain-English guide for small businesses (2026)
Headless CMS in 5 minutes, what it is, why agencies keep pitching it, and when it's actually the right call for a small UK business.
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The Journal Notes from
Notes from
the studio.
Short essays on web design, brand strategy and small-business marketing. No listicles, no AI-ghostwritten filler, just what we've actually learned from building.
Headless CMS
£149, £449
How much does website maintenance cost in the UK? (2026)
Real UK website maintenance costs in 2026, Care Plans, SEO retainers, freelancer hourly, or DIY. What you actually pay and what you get.
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2 weeks, 3 months
How long does it take to build a website in the UK? (2026)
Realistic timelines for UK web-design projects in 2026, from 10-day MVPs to 12-week custom platforms. What's driving the timeline and how to move faster without cutting corners.
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Trades, £1,800
Web design for UK tradespeople, what actually works in 2026
Plumbers, electricians, builders, the websites that bring in local jobs are simpler and tighter than most agencies suggest. Here's what actually works.
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SEO, 6 moves
SEO for small businesses in the UK, a beginner's guide (2026)
No jargon, no 200-step checklist, the six SEO moves that actually shift the needle for UK small businesses without a dedicated marketing team.
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WP. Astro
WordPress vs Astro for small-business websites (2026)
The pragmatic comparison, when to pick WordPress, when to pick Astro, and why this isn't actually the question most businesses should be asking.
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Local SEO, 5 moves
Local SEO guide for UK small businesses (2026)
How to get your UK business appearing in Google's local results. Step-by-step guide for small-business owners, no agency required to start.
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Wix vs custom
Wix vs custom website for UK small businesses (2026)
Should you build on Wix or pay for a custom site? Honest comparison for UK small businesses, costs, SEO, long-term value.
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5 reasons, 5 fixes
Why your website isn't getting enquiries (and how to fix it)
You have a website. Maybe even traffic. But the phone isn't ringing. Here are the five most common reasons UK small-business sites fail to convert, and the fixes.
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Astro, the WordPress alternative
Astro web designer UK, why small businesses are switching from WordPress in 2026
What Astro is, why it's eating WordPress's lunch for UK small business websites, and how to find a UK Astro web designer who knows what they're doing in 2026.
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Logo vs identity vs system
Branding agency vs freelance designer, which should a UK small business pick?
When a freelance designer is enough, when you need a branding agency, and where the small-studio middle tier delivers more than both extremes for UK SMEs in 2026.
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£, per piece, no surprises
How much does graphic design cost in the UK? (2026 pricing guide)
UK graphic design pricing per piece in 2026: business cards, brochures, packaging, pitch decks, signage. What each piece costs and which line items don't belong in your quote.
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£, logos by tier
How much does a logo cost in the UK? (2026 pricing)
UK logo design pricing in 2026, from £30 Fiverr templates to £15,000 brand-studio identities. What each tier delivers and what most small businesses actually need.
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£, what it really costs
How much does a website cost in the UK? (2026 honest guide)
Real UK website pricing for 2026, from freelancers to agencies. No fluff, no bait-and-switch. What you actually pay and what you get.
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Brand + site, one launch day
Should you rebrand and rebuild your website at the same time?
When bundling a brand identity with a website rebuild saves money, when running them separately is smarter, and how to sequence the work so you don't pay for the same decision twice.
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£/mo, what social really costs
How much does a social media agency cost in the UK? (2026)
UK social media agency pricing tiers in 2026, from £200/mo freelancers to £6,000/mo full-service. What each tier delivers and how to spot the vanity-metric trap.
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4 pages.
Opened.
A 4-page brand guidelines template that actually gets used
Most guidelines PDFs are 40 pages and no-one opens them. Here's what to cut so your team stays on-brand and your marketing keeps converting.
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£500/mo.
Tracked.
Meta ads for small businesses without burning cash
How we structure a £500 per month ad budget for local service businesses so every pound is traceable to a qualified enquiry.
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Who to
hire.
Agency, freelancer, or studio: who should you hire for your website?
A frank comparison with numbers, and the jobs each of the three is best at when you need a site that wins clients and ranks well on Google.
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Headless
CMS.
Headless CMS in plain English: what marketers actually need to know
Sanity vs Contentful vs WordPress vs Keystatic, without the jargon, and when "headless" is the wrong answer for your business.
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Fixed.
Price.
How we price design work (and why we don't bill hourly)
Fixed-scope, fixed-price, fixed-timeline, and why clients prefer it three-to-one for websites, brand identity and long-term marketing work.
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95/95/95
Getting to Lighthouse 95 without caching your way there
The four performance levers that actually matter for small-business sites, why Google rewards them, and how faster pages quietly bring you more clients.
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£, LKR
Pricing across markets: what a Colombo project costs a London client
Our honest rate card split by region, why small businesses benefit, and why we do not apologise for charging London rates to London clients.
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