Industry Insights

21 projects we’ve completed in 2023

Lyzi wears black gridded top and beige trousers, sits on a pink sofa in a pink room, holding a magazine
Lyzi Unwin
Content Producer
Fervent blogger sharing signature Studio Cotton advice & small business stories

It’s been a rather lovely year at Studio Cotton, building beautiful websites for small businesses, writing lots of blog posts, and launching a few exciting new products too.

2023 has also been a kinda weird year, because we have loads of websites (9, to be exact) that we’re sat on and can’t share just yet, for various reasons… I know that’s very mysterious and “DM me hun” of us, but hopefully we’ll be able to show them off really soon.

Anyway, we love to toot our own horn, so let’s get right into the projects that our website design company completed in 2023.

Lauren Aston Designs Studio Cotton Website 2023
1

Lauren Aston Designs

Ecommerce website rebuild

What started with a visual upgrade and a few features for managing complex knitting kit products turned into a complete rebuild from the ground up for existing client, Lauren Aston Designs.

We snuck in a bold brand refresh to really emphasise the joyful and vibrant Exeter knitting shop.

Nikki Lylke Creative Studio Cotton Website projects 2023
2

Nikky Lyle Creative

New business & podcast website

As a specialist recruiter for creative roles like graphic designers and art directors, Nikky had understandably high expectations for the unique aesthetic of her new website.

We created a bright, bold - and above all - highly functional website with strategic content and a new home for her Industry Leaders podcast, in what became an early version of our podcast web design package.

Studio Cotton Website 2023
3

Studio Cotton

Website rebuild & blog posts

Oh, it's us! We relaunched the Studio Cotton website, but while the actual look of our website didn't change much at all, we fleshed out some content and added a couple of features Aime had been tinkering with weeks/months/years.

The real goal of the project was to upgrade our technology and WordPress config, so that our website uses the same framework (that we call Twodio Cotton) as our new client projects.

Plus, we've written a whopping 36 blog posts, which have contributed to our SEO and resulted in a heck of a lot of website visits.

Nest Living Studio Cotton Website 2023
4

Nest Living

New ecommerce website

This high street gift boutique has been a firm fixture of Topsham's high street for years, but had never quite gotten online in a way they felt reflected their gorgeous lifestyle and homeware shop in Devon.

Our cosy, colourful website was created to reflect more of their in-shop experience, whilst being as easy as possible to manage.

One and Eight Studio Cotton Website 2023
5

One & Eight

New ecommerce website

This Devon-based modern jewellery brand were looking for a serious aesthetic upgrade, as well as more emphasis on the sustainable supply chain of their products.

Their new website is clean and contemporary, showing off that beautiful hand-crafted jewellery.

We also built a tonne of cool features for highlighting all of the ways One & Eight minimise their environmental impact.

Now we're working on digital merchandising and optimising their products too.

Words by Bonnie Studio Cotton Website 2023
6

Words by Bonnie

New small business website

Copywriter Bonnie was struggling with a website that was overwhelmed by words, ideas, offers and secret services.

We worked with Bonnie to hone her content, creating a streamlined and simple structure that brings her signature playfulness to her professional wordsmithing.

Beanstork Studio Cotton Website 2023
7

Bean Stork

Small business website rebuild

This was literally just a technology upgrade for this small business providing parents with baby classes and support in Bristol.

We wanted to keep the website as similar-looking as possible to the one it was replacing, while giving our client more control over mobile views and SEO.

A laptop on a wooden table in front of the Studio Cotton lounge area - with black-framed artwork on the pink walls and lots of plants.
8

Secret website client

New ecommerce website

This is one that we can't show you, but was a real blast to work on.

We completed our first website build for a small business outside of the UK, which was all about structuring data.

But the toughest part was probably remembering to skip the u in color.

Weronika Studio Cotton Website 2023
9

Weronika Karczewska Photography

New small business website

Lovely pal and previous freelancer for Studio Cotton, Weronika is now a full time product photographer, working with soulful beauty, homeware and jewellery brands.

She needed a new, elevated website to reflect her beautiful photography and attract more luxe clients, so she came to Studio Cotton.

The result was a light and bright, airy and contemporary website for her Bristol based lifestyle product photography business.

Meloca Designs Studio Cotton Blogging
10

Meloca Designs

Blog posts for SEO

Our newest blogging client on the block, small business Meloca Designs sells cross stitch kits and patterns.

Megan came to us to write 3 blog posts for her per month, which we packed with crafty keywords and helpful insights.

We've written 6 so far - only 2 are live at the time of writing this and the rest are scheduled, so keep your eyes peeled for those in the new year.

Jacks Turner Studio Cotton Blogs 2023
11

Jacks Turner

Blog posts for SEO

One of our more local clients, Bristol based jewellery designer Jacks Turner created contemporary, handmade rings, necklaces and much more.

Throughout 2023 we worked on crafting 8 blog posts to share her extensive jewellery knowledge and improve her SEO, resulting in a heck of a lot more impressions on her website.

Alderdoodle Studio Cotton Content 2023
12

Alderdoodle

SEO Product descriptions

A challenging project, but one in which I learned so much about a world I previously knew nothing about, and because of this it ended up being one of my favourite projects of 2023.

Alderdoodle is a creative small business selling Dungeons & Dragons props, accessories and gifts.

Ramona chose our SEO product descriptions package, and so I delved deep into the world of table top roleplaying games.

Lauren May Photographs Studio Cotton Blogging 2023
13

Lauren May Photos

Blog posts for SEO

Lauren is a wonderfully colourful wedding photographer based in Cumbria, but she wasn't ranking very highly for her keywords.

She called upon the help of Studio Cotton and our SEO content creation, and boy, were we happy to help.

We've written 10 blog posts for Lauren's website this year, and it's now ranking highly for those juicy keywords.

Natalie Lea Owen Studio Cotton Content 2023
14

Natalie Lea Owen

SEO Product descriptions

Natalie hand makes the cutest colourful acrylic jewellery in all the lands, but she needed a little help with her product descriptions.

We worked our magic on 20 of her products, optimising them and making their descriptions shine as much as her jewellery does.

Clifton Rocks Studio Cotton Website 2023
15

Clifton Rocks

Digital merchandising

This beautiful designer jewellery store in Clifton sells stunning hand crafted pieces from independent makers, and is a long running client of ours.

We've started working with them again to fine tune their website and update some of their pages with even more juicy SEO content.

Content producer Lyzi and Kath sit on a pink sofa wearing beige and white, Kath has a laptop on her lap and Lyzi is showing her something on her phone.
16

Studio Cotton Clubhouse

Mini membership

We launched the Studio Cotton Website in 2022, but we wanted to mention it in this list because we've continued to help a tonne of small business owners improve their websites, held fortnightly live Q&As, and built a really lovely community.

Studio Cotton Podcast Website 2023
17

Podcast websites

Brand new package & platform

As you're probably aware by now, we created a brand new web design package, especially for podcasters.

We realised there was a gap in the market for podcast websites that not only look beautiful, but attract new listeners, make it easy for them to find episodes, and help you monetise your content.

So we filled that gap.

91 Magazine on a desk with plants and candles captured by Georgia de Lotz
18

Small Business SEO with 91 Magazine

Online SEO workshop

Back in April, Aime hosted an online workshop with previous web design client, 91 Magazine.

This 60 minute workshop is crammed full of Aime's extensive small business SEO knowledge, and the playback is still available to buy for just £32.

Studio Cotton Resilient Retail Workshop Website 2023
19

The Resilient Retail Club

Guest ecommerce workshop

We were invited by one of our lovely clients, Catherine of the Resilient Retail Club, to run a workshop on getting your ecommerce website ready for Christmas.

Aime covered everything from SEO, creating gifts, writing product descriptions, and Christmas Collections.

Studio Cotton Inspo Website 2023
20

Inspo blog posts

New website package

This blog post right here is what we're calling an "Inspo" around the office, a clever thing Aime designed.

It's a neat way to show off multiple things we want to talk about, and we've implemented it into a few clients' websites too.

Inspo posts are perfect for gift roundups, technology run-downs, or just sharing our favourite coffee shops.

Podcast microphone on a pink magazine inside Studio Cotton
21

The Podcast Show

Terrifying industry event booked!

Since we launched our new podcast website package this year, we've been thinking of all sorts of ways to spread the word.

We've booked a spot at The Podcast Show 2024, and we're so excited to mingle with all the cool podcasty people and to show them what we can do.

See you there?

We hope that you’ve enjoyed looking back on our year, and we can’t wait to see what the next one has in store for us.

Wishing you all a peaceful and happy 2024.

Sign up for good stuff

More like this, plus seven free checklists

Join our mailing list for sickenin’ advice from our blog, updates on our Bristol workshops, some sales promotions and the occasional lovely offer too.

Plus! Seven free small business checklists. They’re well good too.

Content producer Lyzi wears a black top and shows Kath something on her phone with a pale pink case.
Join the mailing list

Freebies & advice & website stuff

Join the Studio Cotton mailing list for heaps of free advice for creative small businesses. You’ll also get seven totally free checklists, and we think they’re ruddy wonderful.