Web design · Widnes & Runcorn
Web design in Widnes and Runcorn, built on spec.
I am Jake. I build websites for businesses in Widnes and Runcorn, on spec, so you see the finished site for your business before you pay the rest. From £297, live in 7 days, on your own domain.
From £297, live in 7 days, on your own domain.
Web design in Widnes & Runcorn
I am Jake, and I run FORGE. I build websites for businesses across Widnes and Runcorn, on spec, which means I build the finished site first and send it to you before you pay anything. It starts at £297, it is live within 7 days, and it goes on your own domain in your name. Web design in Widnes and Runcorn should not mean a long form, a big deposit and weeks of silence. You see the real thing for your business, then you decide.
One studio, both sides of the water
Halton is unusual. It is two proper towns, Widnes on the north bank and Runcorn on the south, stitched together by the Silver Jubilee Bridge and the Mersey Gateway. A lot of businesses here do not stop at the river. A trade based in Runcorn takes jobs in Widnes, a supplier in Widnes delivers into Astmoor and Whitehouse, and customers do not much care which side you sit on as long as you turn up.
Most template sites miss that completely. They name one town and leave money on the table. When I build for a Halton business I make the coverage obvious, both towns and the villages either side, Ditton, Hale, Halebank, Sandymoor, Preston Brook, so nobody scrolls off thinking you are the wrong side of the bridge for them. It is a small thing to get right and it costs you enquiries when it is wrong.
Built for the estates, not just the high street
A big slice of the work around here is commercial. Widnes and Runcorn grew up on the chemical industry and heavy manufacturing, and that legacy is still all over the map, the industrial estates at Astmoor, Whitehouse, Manor Park and Tanhouse, the logistics running off the A557 and M56, the science and business units out towards Daresbury. Plenty of local firms make their living supplying, maintaining and servicing that side of things, not selling to passing footfall.
If that is you, your website has a different job to do. A commercial buyer or a facilities manager is not browsing, they want to know what you do, whether you cover their site, and how fast they can get a quote. So I build those pages plainly. Clear services, clear coverage, a phone number and a form that lands in your inbox, no clutter in the way. It works just as well for the homeowner in Runcorn Old Town who needs a job doing, but it is built so the commercial enquiries do not fall through the cracks.
Getting found across Halton, not just online
Being online and being found are two different things, and in a two-town borough the gap is wider than most people realise. Someone in Widnes searching for what you do, and someone in Runcorn searching for the exact same thing, can see two completely different sets of results. If your site only really speaks to one of them, you are invisible for half your patch.
I build the site so Google understands you serve the whole of Halton, and I set up your Google Business Profile to match, because for a local search that profile does a lot of the heavy lifting. This is not about stuffing town names into every sentence, that reads badly and does nothing. It is about the site being genuinely clear on where you work and what you do, so when someone across the water searches at the moment they need you, you are in the running instead of buried under a directory listing.
Fast, because a slow site loses the job
Most people around here find you on a phone, often standing in a yard or sat in a van between jobs. If your site takes five seconds to load, a good chunk of them are gone before they have seen your number. That is not a maybe, it is how people behave, and at this end of the market it is quietly costing businesses work every week.
I build static sites that sit on a fast content network, no WordPress, no heavy plugins, no bloat. They load quickly on a weak signal, which matters when someone is out on an estate or on the road between the two towns with one bar of 4G. Fast also happens to be something Google rewards, so it helps you rank as well as convert. You get both from the same decision, and you do not have to think about any of it.
Tried a website before and heard nothing back?
A lot of Widnes and Runcorn businesses have already paid for a website once and got nothing out of it. Usually it is the same story. Someone built a slow, generic site, took the money, and moved on. It named one town, it never ranked, the phone never rang, and it quietly became a thing you pay to host and forget.
I work the other way round. I build the site first and you see it finished before you pay the rest, so you are not buying a promise. It is fast, it is clear about covering both towns, and it is yours on your own domain with no contract holding you in. If you have been burned before, that is exactly the point. Message me on WhatsApp, tell me what you do and where you work, and I will build the real thing so you can judge it for yourself.
How it works
From message to live in four steps.
- 01
Message me
Tell me what you do and where you are on WhatsApp. No forms, no call to book.
- 02
£99 to start
A £99 deposit gets your build going and comes off your quote. It covers some of the build time.
- 03
I build it, you see it
I build the whole site, framed around your work, and send it to you finished to look at.
- 04
Pay the rest, go live
Happy with it? You pay the balance, it goes live on your own domain, and it is yours to keep.
What you get
What a site from me includes.
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Built on spec
I build it first and send it finished. You see the real thing before you decide, not a mock-up.
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Live in 7 days
From the go-ahead, your site is live within a week. No months of back and forth.
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On your own domain
It goes live in your name. You own the site and everything on it, with no lock-in.
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Genuinely fast
Static pages, no WordPress. Fast pages rank better and turn more visitors into calls.
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Found on Google
Built to be found in local search, with the plumbing done properly from day one.
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Looked after
Someone looks after it and changes it when you need. Two small edits a month, your listing kept current.
Who I build for
Trades and businesses in Widnes and Runcorn.
- Trades Own your leads instead of renting them off a directory. Built for emergency call-outs and high-ticket work, on your own domain, live in 7 days.
- Home services Get found for the jobs happening on your street. Visual, seasonal, recurring work, shown off and easy to book, live in 7 days on your own domain.
- Local business Fill the diary and drive footfall without paying per booking. Booking-led and occasion-led work, shown off and easy to choose, on a site you own.
What it costs
A straight price.
From £297 to build it, first three months of Care included, then £49 a month.
You own the site outright and can stop the monthly plan whenever you like. Hosting is part of Care and Grow, so one of those keeps it online after the first three months, or you host it yourself. See the full pricing.
Common questions
Questions I get asked.
Do you cover both Widnes and Runcorn?
Yes, both. Halton is two towns split by the Mersey, and plenty of businesses here work both sides of the water. I build the site so it makes clear you cover Widnes, Runcorn and the villages around them, Ditton, Hale, Sandymoor, Preston Brook, so a customer in either town knows straight away that you serve them.
How much does a website cost in Widnes or Runcorn?
It starts at £297 to build, and that includes the first three months of care. After that it is £49 a month for hosting, edits and looking after it. If you want a new page and active local SEO work each month, that step-up is £129 a month. No hidden setup fees and no lock-in.
I run a trade from an industrial estate. Will people still find me?
They will. Being tucked away on Astmoor, Whitehouse, Manor Park or Tanhouse does not matter to a website. What matters is that the site names the estates and areas you serve and loads fast when someone searches on their phone. I build it so a facilities manager or a homeowner both land on the right page and can contact you in one tap.
How fast can the site be live?
Seven days from the go-ahead. I build it first, send you the finished site to look at, and once you are happy it goes live on your own domain. You are not waiting weeks or chasing an agency for updates.
Do I own the website?
Yes. The domain is in your name and the site is yours. There is no contract tying you in and nothing that holds your site hostage if you ever want to leave. That is just how it should work, so I state it plainly rather than making a selling point of it.
I do a lot of B2B and commercial work, not just homeowners. Can the site handle that?
That is a big part of the Halton economy, so yes. If you supply the estates, do commercial maintenance, plant work, logistics or contract jobs, I build the site to speak to buyers who want a quote and a phone number, not a shopping cart. Clear services, clear coverage, easy to contact.
Can you update the site when my work changes?
Yes, that is what the £49 a month covers. Up to two small edits a month, so when you add a service, change your hours or want new job photos on there, you message me and it is done. No logging into anything yourself.
Why not just use Facebook or a directory?
Facebook is fine for showing your face, but you do not own it and you cannot rank a Facebook page properly for Widnes and Runcorn searches. A directory puts you next to ten competitors and takes a cut. Your own site is the one place a customer sees only you, and it is yours for good.
Tell me what you do and I'll build you a site on spec, so you can see it before you pay. See the full pricing, browse the work, or get in touch.