The Back Valley blog

Field notes

Straight answers to the questions business owners ask me most about websites: cost, ownership, redesigns, and upkeep. No jargon, no sales pitch.

8 notes · Written in Statesville, NC

Cost & planningNo. 01

How much does a small business website cost?

An honest look at what local businesses pay for a website in 2026, what drives the price, and what cheap sites usually leave out.

4 min read

Hiring a designer3 min

What you get and what you give up with a template website versus a custom one, and how to tell which one your business actually needs.

Redesigns & Google3 min

A redesign doesn't have to cost you search traffic. What goes wrong, what Google recommends, and what to ask your designer before launch.

Ownership & upkeep3 min

Step by step: find out who controls your domain and hosting, get them into your name, and protect your website from this happening again.

Redesigns & Google3 min

How to tell whether your website needs a few repairs or a full rebuild, with clear signs for each and how to weigh the cost.

Cost & planning3 min

A simple checklist of what to pull together before you hire a web designer, so your project runs smoothly and your site sounds like you.

Hiring a designer3 min

Ask these before you sign anything: ownership, pricing, revisions, who writes the copy, redirects, and what happens after launch.

Ownership & upkeep3 min

What website care plans include, why website upkeep matters for security, and how to decide whether your business needs one.

New here?

If you're thinking about a new website, read these in order. They cover most of what owners want to know before the first call.

Have a question I haven't answered? Ask me on a 20-minute call