Launching a website is the easy bit. Launching one that ranks in local search, loads quickly enough for Devon visitors on patchy 4G, and actually produces enquiries — that takes a little more than flicking a switch. Below is the working A-Z we run through with Devon clients before going live, from Exeter retailers to Salcombe holiday lets.
A is for Analytics. Google Analytics 4 set up before launch, with conversion events tracking the things that matter — phone clicks, form submissions, e-commerce checkouts, booking confirmations. Without it you're guessing.
B is for Branding. The website has to match the rest of your business. Same logo, same colours, same tone of voice. Inconsistency between the shop on Queen Street and the homepage costs you trust.
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Contact HereC is for Content (Local). Generic copy gets ignored. Write about your services in the context of where you work — "wedding venues in Torbay", "thatched roof specialists across rural Devon", "Newton Abbot races catering". Specific beats clever.
D is for Design. Clean, modern, functional. The job of design is to get out of the way of the message and make the call to action obvious. Visitors should know what to do next without thinking.
E is for Experience (User). UX is how the visitor feels using the site. Easy to navigate? Information clear? Forms short? Phone number visible? Good UX converts; bad UX bounces.
F is for Favicon. The little icon in the browser tab. Custom, branded, recognisable in a row of open tabs. Small detail, real signal.
G is for Google Business Profile. Non-negotiable for a Devon business. Verified, fully populated, photos posted weekly, Posts published regularly, every review answered. The cornerstone of local SEO.
H is for Hosting. Don't undermine a £2,000 build with £3-a-month hosting. UK servers, SSD storage, daily backups, Cloudflare in front. Sites we host run on infrastructure that gives them 95+ on Google PageSpeed.
I is for Images. Real photography of your premises, your team, your work — not stock. Compressed properly for the web (WebP or AVIF where possible), with proper alt text for accessibility and SEO.
J is for Jargon-Free. Speak the language your customers speak. Industry terms only where they help. Plain English is rarely the wrong choice.
K is for Keywords (Local). "Plumber" is too broad. "Emergency plumber Newton Abbot" or "boiler service Exeter EX1" is the search that buys.
L is for Link Building (Local). Mentions in Devon Live, listings on Visit South Devon, sponsorship of Newton Abbot Carnival, links from sector-relevant Devon directories. Local links carry disproportionate weight in local rankings.
M is for Mobile-First. Most Devon local search happens on a phone. Design for the small screen first, scale up for desktop.
N is for Navigation. Five to seven menu items, no more. Visitors should reach any page in two clicks.
O is for On-Page SEO. Page titles, meta descriptions, headings, internal links. The basics, done properly, on every page.
P is for Page Speed. Sub-2-second load times convert significantly better than 4-second loads. Every second matters.
Q is for Quality. From the code to the copy. Sloppiness shows.
R is for Redirects. If you're replacing an old site, map every old URL to its new equivalent with a 301 redirect. Lose this step and you lose every backlink and every ranking position the old site held.
S is for Security (HTTPS). SSL certificate, https://, padlock visible. Browsers now flag http:// as Not Secure before the visitor reads a word.
T is for Testing. Every link, every form, every checkout flow, on a real iPhone, a real Android, a real desktop. Cross-browser. Pre-launch.
U is for URL Structure. Clean, descriptive, lower-case, hyphenated. /wedding-photography-dartmoor/ beats /p?id=42 for users and search engines.
V is for Video. A short, real video of your work or premises lifts engagement. It doesn't need to be expensive — a steady phone clip is fine.
W is for WordPress. Flexible, scalable, well-documented, future-proof. The platform we use for the vast majority of Devon builds.
X is for X-Factor. What makes you different? Say it on the homepage in one sentence, before scroll.
Y is for You. Real "About Us" page. Names, faces, story. People buy from people.
Z is for Zeal. Launch is the start, not the finish. Promote the site. Post regularly. Add new content. Keep it alive.
Want a free pre-launch review? Call or WhatsApp 07887 988780.