Practical guides for people who buy websites.
Pricing, hosting, email, local SEO — everything we wish a small business owner knew before hiring us, and everything that helps the ones who do. Written from Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
- 01Hiring
Questions to ask a web designer before you hire them
The questions that reveal who owns the site, what is included, how SEO is handled, and whether the project will actually launch.
Jun 2, 20268 min read - 02Maintenance
Website maintenance cost for small businesses
What monthly website care usually includes, what it should cost, and what happens when nobody maintains the site.
Jun 2, 20267 min read - 03Pricing
How much should a small business pay for a website?
A plain-English guide to website budgets, hidden costs, and when a cheap website becomes expensive.
Jun 2, 20268 min read - 04SEO
How to redesign a website without losing SEO
The migration steps that protect rankings, backlinks, traffic, and indexed pages during a redesign.
Jun 2, 20269 min read - 05Redesign
Signs your business website needs a redesign
The symptoms that mean your website is costing you calls, trust, rankings, or sales.
Jun 2, 20267 min read - 06Redesign
Website redesign cost for small businesses in 2026
What a redesign should cost, when a cheaper refresh is enough, and what line items actually change the price.
Jun 2, 20268 min read - 07Redesign
The small business website redesign checklist for 2026
When a redesign is worth it, what to keep, what to throw out, and how to migrate without losing search rankings or breaking checkout.
May 24, 20269 min read - 08Performance
How to make a local business website load faster
Why your Squarespace or WordPress site loads in six seconds, and the seven changes that cut it under two — most of them free.
May 23, 20268 min read - 09Pricing
How much does a small business website cost in 2026?
Real prices for DIY, freelancer, and agency builds — with the trade-offs nobody writes about until you have already paid.
May 22, 202611 min read - 010Infrastructure
Cloudflare vs Squarespace for your business domain
Two different tools, often confused. Here is what each one is actually for, and how to use them together without paying twice.
May 20, 20269 min read - 011Email
Why your business should stop using a Gmail address
A @gmail.com address on your business card or website is a credibility leak. Here is what to use instead and how to set it up in an afternoon.
May 18, 20268 min read - 012Local · Appleton
Appleton small business website design — the local guide
What an Appleton small business should actually expect from a website in 2026, plus the local-specific things most templates miss.
May 16, 20267 min read - 013Local · Milwaukee
Milwaukee web design for service businesses — what works in 2026
A practical guide for Milwaukee plumbers, HVAC shops, salons, and contractors who need a website that brings in calls.
May 14, 20266 min read - 014Service business
The service business website checklist — what every page needs
A page-by-page checklist of what a working service business website should include in 2026, with examples of what works and what fails.
May 12, 20268 min read - 015Chatbots
AI chatbots for small business websites — what they should and should not do
When a chatbot helps, when it hurts, and what to actually train it on so it converts instead of confusing buyers.
May 10, 20266 min read - 016Hosting
Vercel vs Cloudflare Pages for small business websites
Two excellent free-tier hosts for modern websites. Here is when each one wins and which one we use for what.
May 8, 20265 min read
We add to Resources every other week.
Most pieces start as something a client asked us in a project kickoff. If there's a question you'd like answered, send it to info@vividresources.net and it might end up here.