Websites for CLS firms, tested before you pay
Looking for web design in Chester-le-Street that you can check before you spend a penny? We build a one page site for £99 plus VAT, which comes to £118.80. Before launch, we run it through Google’s own phone test and show you the score. Your domain and hosting sit in your name, so the site stays yours.
Your one page site
| Build | £99.00 |
| VAT | £19.80 |
| Total | £118.80 |
| Monthly fee to us | £0 |
Bigger sites get a fixed price in writing before any work starts.
Tested on 12 October 2026
Most people pick a web designer by looking at their own website. So we did the same. On 12 October 2026, we took the web design firms on page one of Google for this town. We ran each firm’s own site through PageSpeed Insights, Google’s free test, on its mobile setting.
| Firm | Where it is based | Mobile score | What we noticed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Firm A | Office in DH3 | 40 out of 100 | Main image took 4.1 seconds to show. The page jumps about as it loads. |
| Firm B | Business park in town | 46 out of 100 | Slow first view on a phone. |
| Firm C | Terrace in DH3 | 66 out of 100 | The only local firm with prices on its site. |
| Firm D | Office in Newton Aycliffe | 88 out of 100 | Quick, but its town page is a template, and the firm is about 25 miles south. |
| Firm E | Listed in town | No score | Its own site is a “coming soon” page. |
| HS Tech Solution | Owner in Durham | 98 and 97 out of 100 | Scores from two client sites, tested September 2026. |
Scores move a few points from one run to the next. We name no firms because the point is the test, not the firm. Run it yourself and see.
Your five minute check
Read the small print
Plenty of firms have a page with the town’s name on it. Fewer have a desk here. When we asked Google’s AI Mode for the best web designer for a small firm in the town, it named a firm based about 25 miles away as if it worked here. A page that only borrows the town’s name tells you little about who will answer your calls.
We are honest about our own position too. Hamza, the owner, lives in Durham, not in the town. He is about 16 minutes away on the A167 and meets clients there in person.
Chester-le-Street numbers start with 0191. A number starting 01325 points to the Darlington area.
Search the firm on Google Maps. Does the pin sit in DH2 or DH3, or in another town?
Paste one sentence from their home page into Google with quote marks. We found one local site whose text appears word for word on a second site.
The best reviewed firms here all have reviews that name the person who did the work. Ask who will build your site, and if you can meet them.
Prices you can compare
Only one of the local firms we checked shows a price. Firm C lists £500 for a site of up to ten pages, plus £30 a month for hosting and two updates. That is £860 in year one before VAT, which the page does not mention. The others ask you to get in touch for a quote.
Google’s own summary of UK prices gives a wider view. A DIY builder costs about £3.99 to £25 or more a month. Freelancers charge about £500 to £3,000 for a small business site, and agencies often charge £2,500 to £10,000.
| Option | What you pay | Who does the work |
|---|---|---|
| DIY builder | About £50 to £350 a year | You |
| Local firm with a published price | £500 build plus £360 a year hosting, VAT not shown | The firm |
| Freelancer (UK range) | About £500 to £3,000 | One person |
| Agency (UK range) | About £2,500 to £10,000 | A team |
| HS Tech Solution | £118.80 for one page, VAT included | The owner |
Local prices checked on 12 October 2026. UK ranges from Google’s AI summary for “how much does a website cost UK” on the same day.
Match the site to the trade
Google’s AI asked us whether a business needs a shop or a simple brochure site. The honest answer depends on who buys from you. Nomis counts 2,320 firms in North Durham in 2026, and 89% of them have fewer than ten staff. Most fit one of these three.
Who looks: Saturday market shoppers and people from the villages checking before they walk over.
What the site needs: opening hours, photos of what you sell, and a map link. A one page site often covers it.
Who looks: trade buyers and site managers comparing firms from a desk. Drum Industrial Estate has units from 474 to 5,016 square feet, and Business Durham lists Stella Gill for manufacturing and engineering firms.
What the site needs: a page for each product line, delivery areas, and a quick way to ask for a trade account. That usually means a small site, priced as a fixed quote.
Who looks: homeowners who need help now, mostly on a phone.
What the site needs: a big call button, the villages you cover, and photos of real jobs. One page is a strong start.
Need to sell online with card payments and delivery? Then you need a shop, not a brochure site. We quote for that in writing first.
Checked 12 October 2026
Not right now, as far as we can find. Two schemes that once helped with website costs have both closed:
Some local web firms still link to old grant pages that now go nowhere. Durham County Council’s current business grants are for improving premises, not websites.
For scale, the old fund only covered projects of £2,500 or more, so owners still paid at least £1,500 themselves. A one page site at £118.80 needs no grant.
Open now
Durham Business Growth is fully funded for County Durham firms. It offers advice, workshops and events. Its next session, on 14 October 2026, is at Durham Cricket in Chester-le-Street.
When a site stalls
Some owners pay for a site and end up with a holding page, a broken form or a designer who stops replying. We even found a local web firm whose own site is a “coming soon” page. Here is how we get things moving.
Your domain, your hosting and your website login. We note who holds each one.
Your text, photos and any pages worth keeping come across to the new build.
The new site goes on hosting you own, and you get a written list of every login.
The first look
The “3 second rule” says a visitor decides fast whether to stay. Google’s answer to this question names three things a page must show at once: what you do, who it is for, and what to do next. Here is how that looks for a joiner in Pelton:
If a stranger cannot tell those three things on a phone, the design needs work. We build every page around them.
What you do: “Kitchen fitting and joinery”
Who it is for: “Homes in Pelton, Ouston and Chester-le-Street”
What to do next: a big green “Call for a quote” button
From call to launch
Step 1
Phone, video or a brew in Durham. We ask about your trade, your area and the one thing customers must do on the page.
Step 2
The domain and hosting are bought by you, so your name is on both. We guide you through each screen.
Step 3
We build the page and run Google’s phone test. You see the score before launch.
Step 4
The site goes live, usually within a week of your details arriving, and you get every login in writing.
Hamza Shafiq, the Owner
One name, start to finish
Hamza Shafiq owns HS Tech Solution and does the build work himself. He lives in Durham and meets clients there face to face. Prefer not to travel? He is just as happy on a phone or video call. Hamza takes your first call and builds the site. He is also the person you ring after launch.
Check the numbers yourself
Keegan Electrical scored 98 out of 100 on Google’s mobile test, and One Drop FM scored 97, both tested in September 2026. Paste either site into PageSpeed Insights and you will see a similar result.
Our clients so far mostly trade in Australia. We do not have a Chester-le-Street client yet. The build and the test are the same wherever a business trades.
Our work
Pick a trade close to yours, then open the site on your phone. Picture your own Front Street shop or Pelton trade on the same layout.
Keegan ElectricalElectrical contractorOpen the live site →
Just InspectionsBuilding inspectionsOpen the live site →
Structura EngineeringStructural engineersOpen the live site →
Static SolarSolar installationOpen the live site →
Offsite GroupConstructionOpen the live site →
Your Family MedicalMedical practiceOpen the live site →
Dr Bella MarkerHealthcare practitionerOpen the live site →
Mindful MosaicCounsellingOpen the live site →
Precision Paralegal SupportLegal supportOpen the live site →
Wealth Way CapitalFinanceOpen the live site →
One Drop FMFacilities managementOpen the live site →
Pelican ServicesTrade servicesOpen the live site →
Piano PickupSpecialist removalsOpen the live site →
Moments by MRPhotographyOpen the live site →
Jordan BS MediaMedia productionOpen the live site →
Next SwingSport and leisureOpen the live site →
Dane ThornburghPersonal brandingOpen the live site →These clients mostly trade in Australia. Each site was built and tested by the same owner you would deal with.
Where we build
We build sites for firms in the town centre and on Front Street, and on the Drum, Stella Gill and Bowes Business Park estates. We also cover Pelton, Pelton Fell, Ouston, Sacriston, Waldridge, Great Lumley and Bournmoor. Beyond the town, we take on web design across the North East, and we suit owners who want a web designer in Durham they can meet.
Plain answers
Yes, as long as the site has one clear job. Google advises sites to keep key facts in plain text so its search tools, AI answers included, can use them. A fast page that lists your services, prices and the places you cover gives those answers something to show. A slow or empty page gives them nothing.
Freelancers often charge about £35 to £90 an hour, and agencies more. Most prefer a fixed price for the whole job. In Chester-le-Street, only one local firm we checked published a price: £500 plus £30 a month. Ours is £118.80 for one page, VAT included.
It means a visitor decides within about three seconds whether to stay. In that time, your page must show what you do, who it is for and what to do next. Slow loading breaks the rule before anyone reads a word, so speed matters as much as design.
AI tools can draft text and simple layouts in minutes. They do not buy your domain, test the page on real phones or fix a broken form at 9pm. Many owners now use AI for ideas, then pay a person to build, test and look after the real site.
There is no single list that suits every firm. For a small Chester-le-Street business, look for a published price, a named person, sites that score well on Google’s mobile test, and reviews that mention phone calls coming in. Big national names often cost far more than a one page site needs.
A free builder plan can work for a hobby. For a business, free plans often add the builder’s name to your address and adverts to your page. You also rent the site rather than own it. A paid one page site, in your name, is often the better long term deal.
Google’s AI asked this exact question when we searched. A freelancer or owner run firm suits a small site and a direct line to one person. An agency suits a large project that needs a team. Either way, ask who will build it and who you call after launch.
We found no open grant for websites on 12 October 2026. The North East Business Support Fund has ended, and Digital Drive closed in 2023. Durham Business Growth still offers free advice and workshops to County Durham firms, so it is worth registering with them.
Yes. We check who holds your domain, hosting and login, then save any text and photos worth keeping. If the old designer has gone quiet, we rebuild on hosting in your name. You get a written list of every login when the new site goes live.
A one page site is usually live within a week of your text, photos and logo arriving. Larger sites take longer, and we give you a date in writing before we start. The slowest step is often getting logins back from an old provider.
Free, and no sales calls
Drop us your web address. We will run it through Google’s mobile test and tell you the score, what slows it down and what to fix first. No website yet? Tell us your trade and we will show you what a one page site would include. If you then want web design in Chester-le-Street from us, you get a fixed price in writing first.