Helping local trades Get online leads
Buddy Web Design & Development
Buddy helps owners of local blue-collar and trades business get new customer leads online. We do this by designing, building, and maintaining a custom-built website for you, including local search setup. We’ll help get your online presence working for you, so you can focus on running your business.
Do great work. Be great to work with.TM
IMPROVING YOUR LOCAL ONLINE PRESENCE
We help trades get more online leads
With Buddy, we make it easy and affordable for you to have an exceptional online presence that helps you get more business.
With our low-cost and stress-free approach, we’ll design, build, and launch your your website, tailored to your business’ custom specifications and design preferences. Then, once the site’s live, we’ll continue to take care of the website hosting, ongoing maintenance, updates, and round-the-clock monitoring, so you never need to worry about it.
Plus, whenever you need something updated, like adding team members, changing your hours, or adding new services, we’ve got you covered. We offer unlimited content and styling edits, 24/7/365. Just let us know and we’ll take care of it.
And, down the road, if you want to expand your website at any point and add additional pages, no problem. We can knock that out and simply adjust your plan to the appropriate level.
All of this is for one modest monthly rate that’s meant to fit your budget. Learn more and see pricing by clicking the button below!
When you work with Buddy, our aim is to make it easy and affordable to have a great website that drives leads, and that’s kept up-to-date behind the scenes so you don’t need to worry about it.
Working With Buddy Includes
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Your Website Custom-Designed, Built, Optimized, Tested, and Launched
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24/7 Unlimited Website Content and Styling Edits
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Facilitation of Google Business Listing Setup
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Facilitation of Online Customer Review Setup to Drive Visitors
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Website Speed and Performance Optimization
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Website Mobile Responsiveness Optimization
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Website Security Optimization
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24/7 Website Uptime Monitoring
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24/7 Emergency Support
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Weekly Updates to Your Website's Underlying Platform and Plugins
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4x Daily Website Backups
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Google Analytics Integration
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Simple Monthly Payment Structure
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Expand Your Website Any Time!
Pricing Options
Get your custom-designed website and all the included benefits for one low monthly price. Start out with the option that makes sense now, and if you’d ever like, expand your website at any time by simply upgrading your plan.
All plans and pricing are based on a minimum 12-month duration
Helping business owners across industries
Trades We Serve
Buddy has worked with business owners of various professions. From contractors to plumbers, electrical to roofing, we can help. Regardless of the industry, our aim is to help you have a website and online profile that you don’t have to worry about and that helps drive leads. While this list isn’t all-inclusive, here’s some examples of professionals we serve.
Air Conditioning
Appliance Repair
Automotive
Bathroom Remodeling
Building Maintenance
Car Repair
Cleaning
Construction
Contractors
Electrical
Garage Door Maintenance
Handymen
Hauling
Heating
Home Builder
Home Repair
Instrument Repair
Junk Removal
Kitchen Design
Landscaping
Lighting
Locksmiths
Masonry
Moving Companies
Painters
Patios
Paving
Pest Removal
Plumbing
Pools
Recycling
Security
Shades and Awnings
Showers & Tubs
Snow Removal
Solar
Transport
Waste Management
Water
Web design we can all be proud of
See Our Work
Buddy has worked on construction website development with organizations and individuals across the US. The common thread is a highly functional online presence with a clean, modern, and beautiful aesthetic.
Website design and development for a Michigan-based home builder.
Website design and development for a Michigan-based asphalt and paving company
Website design and development for Tennessee-based construction and real estate company
Website design and development for a fabric storage facility construction business
Website design and development for a green construction company
Frequently Asked Questions
Looking to learn more? This brief Q&A covers some topics about our plans and working with Buddy that you might be wondering about. Have a question that isn’t addressed here? Click here to get in touch!
Ready to proceed? Click the button below!
Getting Started
Our website plans are well-suited for a large array of small- and medium-sized business websites, whether marketing websites, brochure-style sites, or blogging websites, for example. The ultimate goal is help people find your business and get in touch with you.
If you’re looking for a large corporate website, or a website with advanced functionality such as e-commerce, we can certainly help with those websites, too. But, given the complexity and variables for those types of sites, they’re not always the best fit for this plan structure.
So, if you’d like to talk through a more complex site like that, or, if you’re not sure which of the above plans might be the right fit for you, just get in touch and we’ll be happy to help!
Choosing the appropriate plan or website size can depend on a lot of factors.
A very common approach nowadays is for newer businesses to start off with a one-page style website that includes, for example, a hero section (the top introduction or attention-grabber section, a.k.a. “above the fold”), an overview of the business, service offerings, FAQs, and a contact form. This style of site is great particularly for mobile devices, as it allows a website visitor to quickly scroll through an overview of your business and conveniently get in touch.
By comparison, a 3- or 5-page site can be great if you need additional space to go into greater detail about services you offer, show off your team, provide greater context about your organization’s background or mission, or display a work portfolio or image gallery.
If, after reviewing this information, you’re not quite sure what plan to go with, that’s no problem. Just get in touch, and we’ll be happy to help scope things out with you!
If you’re ready to get started, we can get your site designed, built, and live quite quickly.
To start the process, after connecting with you and hearing what you have in mind for your new site, we’ll email you a more formal proposal, scope of work, and client agreement. This is important to make sure we’re all on the same page from the very start in regards to what your website will include, features, number of pages, and all the related details. As soon as we have that paperwork approved by you, we’ll schedule a kickoff call together and get rolling!
The biggest driver of timelines for building a new site, perhaps ironically, isn’t the actual time it takes to build your site. Rather, timelines often get extended because clients need extra time writing or fine-tuning text on their website, reviewing the site and getting input with other stakeholders, and factors like that.
While we can potentially move faster than this, realistically speaking, we find that most websites that are part of these plans take two months from the kickoff call to fully develop, adjust, and finalize the website so it can be fully live. If we can go quicker with your help, we certainly will.
We’ll email an invoice to you monthly via Quickbooks, which can conveniently be paid online via credit card, or optionally set to autopay.
Once you’re ready to get started and we have your approval, we’ll initiate the monthly payments and get rolling on designing your new website with you.
Our goal is to develop your site efficiently, according to the schedule we’ve mutually agreed upon. Coincidentally, though — and perhaps counterintuitively — we’ve found that most delays during the designing and building phase tend to actually be client-driven, from clients simply requiring additional time to write or fine-tune text, review updates and provide feedback, and the like.
Thus, we find that together with our written agreement that outlines timelines, as well as initiating monthly payments upon project kickoff, our incentives and motivations are all synced and in-line to work together efficiently to get your website live.
Once you’ve approved the client proposal and paperwork we’ll put together for you, the first thing we’ll do together is schedule a kickoff call, where we’ll cover all the basics so we can get rolling on your website. We’ll need your guidance in regards to what domain name (.com address) you’ll want to use, as well as what pages, content, and general aesthetic style you’d like for your site. This will help us get started on the initial designs, and we can go from there.
For the website’s content, if there are specific images, graphics, and logos you’d like to include, we’ll look to you for those. Or, we have access to online image repositories, as well. Similarly, we’ll look to you to provide final text content for your website.
During the website building process, we’ll use an iterative approach where we’ll look for your feedback at four deliberate review points, where we’ll ask for your input and any changes or adjustments you’d like to see at that point. This includes, of course, your final sign-off before making the site live.
All in all, we have a very organized and efficient process to make everything easy for you, and so you’ll know what to expect each step of the way.
Website Edits
Concisely, yes!
Once your website is live, anytime you need something updated, just let us know!
Unlimited website updates includes requests such as text updates, swapping in new images, changing plugin settings, and CSS adjustments.
Examples of included website updates are:
- Swapping out your logo with a new one that you provide
- Taking text or an image you email us and using it to replace existing text or images on a page or blog post
- Adding a blog post with content you provide
- Making changes to content on your headers or footers
- Adjusting formatting
- Changing page titles or meta descriptions for SEO purposes, per your direction
- Changing settings to your website’s plugins
- Installing and setting up a new plugin to use its built-in functionality
Examples of updates that are not included are:
- Editing your logo image
- Editing photos, images, or graphics
- Custom graphic design work
- Writing or proofreading content for your website
- Changing the underlying WordPress theme or page builder that your site was built with
- Building out a new website or subdomain
- Taking a Photoshop mockup of a new web page you’ve designed and creating it in WordPress (unless you’re upgrading plans)
- Creating new functionality that doesn’t exist in a plugin (which would require custom development)
- Custom PHP development
While we’re working together to build your site, we’ll be in close communication via phone or video calls and email. There will be a large degree of collaboration, but we’ll keep it organized and purposeful so we’re efficient with everyone’s time.
Once your site is live, to help with efficiency, collaboration, and documentation, our team uses a 100% email-based system for any edits you’d like to have us make on your site, or if there’s ever a technical issue you encounter.
While our core team is US-based, our support team members are based around the globe, and thus, we are able to receive, monitor, and address your requests 24/7.
Once your site is live, we’ll be sharing with you access to a page on the Buddy website where it is easy to submit requests to our team at any time.
Whenever you have an edit request, we aim to get it done for you quickly.
When you submit an online request, within 2-6 hours, you will receive a first response email from one of our team members letting you know that we’re reviewing your request, assessing the complexity of it, and will let you know when it’s been resolved.
Typically within 24-48 hours we will have the request complete, and you will receive a resolution email with the changes made on that ticket.
In the event that your request is atypically complex and more time is needed, we will let you know as soon as possible. Our goal is to be responsive, transparent, communicative, and efficient.
Lead Generation
For local trades businesses, it’s important for customers to be able to find you within your geographic area. Accordingly, our intention is to help your target customers find you when they search your local area via Google and Google Maps.
To accomplish this, we’ll help you get set up with your Google Business profile, including Google Maps. This will get your business (and website) to show up in search results when people search for businesses of your type in your area.
Of course, one of the first things people will look for when they see your listing is your website. We’ll help in that regard by designing and building you a custom website that highlights your business, its services, and ultimately encourages visitors to get in touch.
Additionally, one of the biggest ways to catch customers’ attention and get people to visit your site is online reviews. People naturally gravitate toward business that have lots of 5-star reviews, versus businesses that only have a few reviews, or mixed reviews.
To this end, we’ll help you get a custom link to your Google profile so that as you have happy customers, you can easily nudge them to leave you a glowing review, and thus help build up your online profile to drive further customers.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
Yes, from a foundational standpoint. But, these plans do not inherently include keyword research, content writing, or ongoing SEO or marketing efforts.
As you probably know, SEO is an in-depth and multi-faceted realm of expertise, with many agencies whose sole focus is helping clients to have their website appear high up in Google search results.
As part of the Grow As You GoTM plans, we will make sure your website is optimized from the technical aspect of SEO — that is, it is built appropriately with headers, titles, and so on; that it loads fast and is mobile responsive; and uses meta descriptions and keywords appropriately. These efforts help tee up your website for SEO success.
However, SEO success comes from much more than these things alone, and requires ongoing effort, monitoring, and adjusting. Thus, we would lean on you (or an SEO agency you might be working with) for specific direction regarding keyword-focused text content, SEO keywords or meta descriptions, and the like.
Regarding ongoing content creation, if your website includes a blog, we’ll be happy to add new blog posts for you, provided that you (or an agency you’re working with) would be able to provide the content and any specific requests related to key phrases, meta descriptions, and so on.
Last, in the spirit of thoroughness, backlinking has traditionally been an important component of SEO that would not be included in these plans.
If you have further questions about SEO, just let us know and we’ll be happy to help. Or, if you’re looking for SEO assistance, we have colleagues that can help in the regard, and we’d be happy to bring them in or connect you with them, as appropriate.
Yes, blogs can help with SEO if they’re used purposefully.
Just adding a blog to your site, and then never touching it again, doesn’t really help anything. And, your website visitors might actually get a slightly negative impression if you have an unused or tragically out of date blog.
By comparison, though, having a blog that includes an array of relevant, helpful, and regularly-posted content is a good sign for your website visitors. It can help draw in traffic, create long-term visitors, and prompt people to create and share links to your website. This is a great indicator to Google.
Further, including and targeting deliberately-chosen keywords in your blog posts can help these blog posts rank in Google searches, as well.
When used strategically, blogs can be a great way to show both your target customers, as well as search engines, that you have a reputable, credible website that has relevant information that is kept up-to-date. And, that’s a good thing all around!
Website Maintenance and Support
It’s important that your website and its underlying technology are kept up-to-date behind the scenes, so your website is secure and functioning properly.
Each week we’ll log into the back-end of your website (the WordPress platform), and we’ll go about updating the underlying theme, core platform, and any plugins, as updates are available.
We’ll first run a backup of your website, and then create a staging version of your site, which is duplicate copy that’s offline, where we can test out updates without affecting the live version of your website.
From there, we manually install and test each available update one-by-one, to make sure that everything is working correctly.
Once we’ve affirmed that all the updates are completed and everything is looking good and working as it should, we’ll then make those same updates on the live version of your site.
Our aim is to complete these updates during low-traffic hours, so as to minimize any effects to your website visitors’ experience on your site.
We monitor your website 24/7/365 by using automated tools that check the status of your website around the clock. These tools ping your site every minute of every day. If your website ever sends back an error message or a warning regarding abnormal activity, that’s our flag that something is wrong. If that happens, we’ll be notified right away, and we’ll get to work resolving whatever the problem is.
Our team is global, working 24/7, 365 days a year, including nights and weekends. So if a crisis comes up, even in the middle of the night, we’ll handle it quickly.
Our goal, naturally, is to prevent and address any issues before they happen. We accomplish this by following best practices for security, using well-vetted technologies, running daily website backups, and keeping your website and its components up-to-date.
That said, if an emergency ever comes up, we’ve got your back. If there’s ever a situation where there’s a critical error that you see (and we’re not already working on it), when you submit an online support request, within 2-6 hours you will receive a first response email from one of our engineers letting you know that we’re reviewing the request, assessing the complexity of it, and will let you know when it’s been resolved. Typically within 24-48 hours we will have the request complete, and you will receive a resolution email with the changes made on that ticket.
In the event that the request or situation is atypically complex and more time is needed, we will let you know as soon as possible.
And, after resolving any emergency issues, we’ll provide you with information on the cause and any issues found during our work, so you’re fully in the loop.
Our goal is to offer you excellent support and to be responsive, transparent, communicative, and efficient.
We want to make sure you’re kept in the loop with your website’s status, and so that you are aware of the ongoing maintenance we’re performing to keep your site running well.
So, each week you’ll get an email status update letting you know about the health of your site, any updates we made behind the scenes, and any issues you should be aware of.
This, of course, will be in addition to any other communication we have at the time regarding any edit requests or other site updates we might be helping you out with.
Logo Design
Yes, we commonly help clients with logo and branding design.
If this is of interest, pricing for logo design work is most directly influenced by what style of logo you are looking for.
Typically we start off this process by asking if you have any example logos that you like, and that you’d want us to use as design inspiration for your own logo.
With these reference points, we can get a better sense of how simple or complex designing a logo will be for you.
As an example, if the logo style you like, and are looking for, is primarily simple fonts and geometric shapes, those styles are generally easier to design and develop than logos that use highly-customized font work or detailed and elaborate illustrations.
If you’re looking for logo help, just let us know, and we’ll be happy to talk through this with you, see if our design talents are a good match for what you’re looking for, and discuss what pricing would look like.
Next Steps
If you’re interesting in getting started, the first step is just getting in touch using the “Get Started” form below.
From there, we’ll set up some time to chat via a phone or video call, or, we’re happy to start off answering any initial questions you have via email.
Being able to connect up front like this is incredibly helpful to see if we’re a good mutual fit, and to get a sense of what you’re looking for and how we can best help out.
From there, if we’d like to proceed together, Buddy will put together and email you a more formal proposal and client agreement for your review, that talks through the scope of your website and all the operational details, so we can all be on the same page from the get-go.
If all is looking good, once we have that paperwork approved, we’ll go ahead and schedule our kickoff call, so we can get started working on your new site!
testimonials
About Buddy
At Buddy, our aim is simple: to do great work, and to be great to work with. Reputation and integrity are more crucial than ever, and while we’re all still just human beings, at Buddy we take these things seriously. We’ve created a team of some of the best and most talented people across the country to help create outstanding work for our clients, and make the experience as enjoyable and pain-free as possible.
If you think Buddy might be able to help you out, please get in touch. To maintain our reputation for quality work, we never take on projects that we don’t feel confident that we can knock out of the park. So, if we can’t do that, we’ll be very transparent and let you know.
If you’ve got a project in mind, or just want to chat and explore options, get in touch. No obligation, no pressure. We’re very happy to listen and see if we can be a resource for you.
From the Founder, Scott Daigger
Get Started
Ready to get started with your new site? Or, just want to talk through options or questions? Let us know, and we’ll be very happy to help.
