Studio Cotton

Website design
for small businesses

Utterly splendid websites designed & built exclusively for small businesses (with all the bells and even more whistles).

Totes professional

Getting more visitors & turning them into customers

We build beautiful websites that make small business owners proud.

We build websites that impress customers and we build websites that – to embrace a total clichΓ© – help take a small business to that next level.

Close up shot from the neck down of copywriter Lyzi wearing a black grid-print top and beige trousers, holding a pink and white mug. In the background is a pink door, and a plant on a pink plant stand.
Studio Cotton founder Aime wears brown corduroy dress with a matching scrunchie, pink pom-pom earrings and round glasses. She is seated on a pink sofa in a pink office, with web designer Hannah who is also wearing a brown dress slightly out of focus behind Aime.

But none of that matters more than building you a website that can attract a whole heap of visitors and makes it as easy as a premium store-bought pie for them to place orders and send you enquiries.

And we build absolute bangin’ websites for attracting and converting customers, too.

Small business websites

Built for your business goal

Selling your services

From graphic design to sash window repairs, we create stunning small business websites designed to get you booked out with dream clients.

Online shops

We have a palpable passion for product architecture – which means we live for designing your ecommerce website to totally bewitch your customers.

Directories & databases

Gotta lotta data and need to help your visitors find a perfect match? That’s our jam. We create ultra-organised websites that are streamlined for finding results.

Power & flexibility

WordPress websites (but not in a scary way)

Our WordPress websites make the best use of modern content and web design technology; nothing is locked down or set-for-life.

You’ll get a bangin’ website with the flexibility to react to all that small business life strows at you, with the power and adaptability of a robust WordPress engine.

A closed laptop on the table top in Studio Cotton. It sits next to a full glass of water, a pink notebook and a tortoise shell ruler
The best bits

Our favourite website features

Thoroughly jam-packed

We build a tonne of unexpected and delightful time-saving and future-prepping features into every small business website.

No arbitrary page limits

We won’t let your small business be limited by a web design package; the quantity of web pages is determined by what’s best for you.

Minimised ongoing fuss

You’ll be able to add, change and edit content any time, no need to go back through Studio Cotton for the everyday stuff.

Solid SEO foundation

We are obsessed with search engine optimisation (SEO) and make design choices that’ll set you up for search engine success.

Designed to convert

We implement user experience (UX) best practice wherever possible, as was as designing practical pages for increasing conversions.

Prioritising accessibility

We prioritise removing barriers and making improvements that help more disabled customers access your small business online.

Beautifully branded small business websites

Your brand, refined...

Our website design service includes a small brand review and refinement for the web.

We review your brand fonts, colour palette, imagery and illustrations and make tweaks or recommendations to help your website shine.

Brand consistency is everything, which means the changes we suggest are all about implementing the best online iteration of your brand identity.

Consciously small since 2016

Small business-obsessed, nice Bristolians

We’ve only ever worked with small businesses, because we ruddy love them. It is also why we’ve put everything into creating the best possible small business web design service.

From the features we’ve packed in through the technology choices and ongoing website management and flexibility – everything has been consciously chosen for helping face small business challenges.

Selected web design projects

We're proper proud of these web design projects

Product and lifestyle photographer
Weronika Karczewska
Creative recruiter website
Nikky Lyle Creative
Bespoke wedding stationery website
Retro Press
Creative copywriting website
Words by Bonnie
Fancy & fanciful craft website
Lauren Aston Designs
Timeless luxury for a specialist trade
New Life Sash Window Co
Vibrant designer website for designers
Graphic Design Jobs UK
Fresh & floaty for a PR freelancer
Lucy Meek
Feature-rich indie magazine website
91 Magazine
Community & consulting sales website
The Resilient Retail Club
Curly haircare ecommerce website
By Selina
Fine jewellery ecommerce website
Clifton Rocks
Sustainable fabric shop website
Good Fabric

What we stand for

Know our values, know Studio Cotton

Candour

All sincerity and no judgement – we respect your small business too much to not share the harder truths and provide feedback from our extensive experience and expertise.

Kindness

Honesty is nothing without kindness; as a small business ourselves we’re always empathetic to the challenges small businesses and their owners face.

Pragmatism

It’s not a sexy word – but it is the right one. We pursue solutions and choices that just make sense based on all the factors – budget, time, goals, and most importantly, ROI.

We want more good things

Websites for nice people who sell lovely stuff

We struggle to put our niche into words. Rather than working with one industry or one target audience, we like to work with brands whose products or services make people’s lives a little bit lovelier.

The qualities we look for are craft, care, creativity, sustainability, progress and whimsy. As much whimsy as possible, please.

Here’s some examples of businesses we’ve helped with their websites.

We're ever so proud of these

Lovely words from our web design clients

Nic
I already knew that Aime knew her stuff from the work she shares online but the level of detail in our one hour session was another level.
Laura Roberts
I’ve learned loads and this is reflected in my page rankings and increased confidence to tackle SEO, blogging, emails & other biz challenges.
Fallon Goundry
My go-to for all small business related queries including help with SEO and learning about the best way to optimise my website. You guys (specifically YOU, Aime) are wonderful.
Militza Ortiz
Best investment I have made for my self-made website! I find Aime and the community advice is actionable with being overwhelming. Easy to understand and digest.
Elle Williamson
It's such a valuable membership which I'm chuffed to be in. I've always loved Aime's straight-talking advice on IG and this is just next level!
Olga Phillips
Aime is very knowledgeable and gave me a lot of ideas on how improve my SEO and make my website more user friendly. I got a lot out of just 60 mins - many thanks Aime!
Harriet Thompson
A really positive and thought provoking chat with Aime. I got lots of really great information from the meeting and I'm looking forward to hopefully seeing some changes on my website!
Amy Collins
I'm able to get expert answers to my DIY-website questions, as well as tips and insights I didn't even know I needed! This membership has already saved me loads of time and effort
Leonor
I'm a one woman business, so having Aime to help direct me where to tweak small things for big long-term wins is such a great feeling.
Joy McMillan
Being able to ask questions specifically about my business is invaluable and has saved masses of time trying to find answers
The bit you're looking for

Website design prices

We know that you have a budget, and need to know if our website design services fit in it.Β 

Well, here’s our web design packages and their pricing.

Each package is packed with features & templates, and we share the full breakdown before our initial project consultations.

Website package price list

AW23
  • Small business website Β£6,000
  • Add ecommerce +Β£2,400
  • Custom database +Β£1,200
  • Log in booster +Β£750
  • Podcast booster +Β£2,100
  • Case study booster +Β£750
  • Membership booster +Β£750
  • Wholesale booster +Β£750
Updated: 10/2023
Valid: 11/2023
If you want a new website...

Fancy taking things further?

That’s delightful, we can’t wait to hear from you. Head to our contact page to fill out our enquiry form and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can : )

Answers to the biggies

We really love to chat websites

We’re always updating our web design FAQs but totally appreciate that every project is different – and you probably have something on your mind that we haven’t answered – yet.

If you need more information, we’d love to help. Drop us a quick call during studio hours or pop an email over any time.Β 

Website Design FAQs

Any content that can be automatically migrated from your old website will be pulled over to your new website. There will always be a heap of copy and pasting involved, as well as creating new content for your custom platform.

We will manually migrate a maximum of 8 pieces of content – like blog articles, podcast episodes or products – and can provide a quote for more that will depend on the quantity and systems involved.

Our small business website package includes a year of hosting, maintenance and support which means there are no additional cost commitments for 12 months.

After that point, you will at minimum need to cover website hosting, your SSL certificate, and licensing for the premium plugins that are used on your website. For this we offer a Host & Secure package, currently priced at Β£15 per calendar month (adjusted twice annually). Some plugins are excluded from this package.

However.

Every website requires regular maintenance, content additions, seasonal changes and, well, just some ongoing TLC in order to be the best possible tool for your small business. Whether that is managed by you and your team, or outsourced to a lovely company like ours, we recommend that this is taken into account when undertaking a new website design project.

No. We only build websites that utilise a WordPress content management system.

As a small business that creates every website in-house amongst our small team, we have a very limited capacity for website projects. For this reason, we turn down about half of the enquiries we receive.

Most of the web design projects we do not take on are because we are unable to meet a deadline, lack capacity at the desired time, have a conflict of interest, or feel we are not best suited.

We do have a short list of industries and business practices we do not take on; this includes (but is not limited to) gambling, smoking/vaping, supplements including CBD, injectables, anything to do with weight loss, MLMs, get-rich schemes, healthcare, and financial services.

We do not take on any businesses that exclude customers or employees on the basis of a protected characteristic, except for instances of positive action.

No. We go straight from website briefing to website building. Our go-to technology doubles as a design tool and allows us to keep our process lean and our prices a little more affordable for a small business budget.

By condensing the wireframe, PDF design, front end development and back end development process into a single step, we’re able to deliver more complex projects in less time, without compromising on quality.

We book 1-3 website design projects per month, our next availability is May 2024, and we can discuss other slots during an initial consultation.

The bulk of the website build takes place over a 4-6 week period from the agreed project start date. After that point we will work through your amends, and provide you with training so that you can input your content, products and/or blogs.

This feedback & content entry period happens at your pace, with some clients spending as little as a week, and others a couple of months.

When you’re happy that all of the feedback has been implemented and your content is tip-top, we book you in for a website launch within about 5-10 days.

Whilst many of our clients choose to rebrand before starting a new website project, most do not – and they still see a monumental transformation.

We find creative ways to implement every brand identity – from where and how we use your brand palettes, through the use of font styling, layouts and formatting.

Yes. Our website design services do not include branding or brand identity design, and we ask that you are able to provide key brand assets including your logo(s), brand fonts, brand colour palette and any imagery like photography and custom illustrations or icons.

We do include brand refinement in each of website packages though, where we advise on and tweak a brand to make the most of the website format. This can include colour changes/additions, font substitutions and aesthetic recommendations.

No. We do not offer website design/development services for existing websites.

Our website design projects require a 50% deposit at the time of booking and the full balance settled before a website goes online. Some of our clients choose to break down the final 50% over multiple payments, which is a-ok with us.

If you have a schedule in mind, e.g. splitting into equal monthly amounts, we can set this up following our initial project consultation.

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.