Sunderland, Tyne and Wear
Looking for digital marketing in Sunderland that comes with a real person you can sit down with? Our owner, Hamza Shafiq, lives in Durham, about 30 minutes from the city centre. He meets Wearside business owners in person, by phone or on video. We build landing pages from £99 and run SEO from £399 a month, VAT included. No long contracts on websites, no jargon, and you own everything we make for you.
What has changed on Wearside
Sunderland has changed more in the last two years than in the ten before. New buildings bring new people, and new people search on their phones before they walk anywhere. Here is what has opened, who it brings, and what a local business needs to catch them.
October 2025
The new footbridge links Keel Square to Sheepfolds and the Stadium of Light. On matchdays, thousands of fans now walk through the city centre instead of around it.
What you need: Opening hours that are right on Google Maps, a menu that loads fast on a phone, and a Google Business Profile that shows you are open late on match nights.
Summer 2026
All clinics from the old Queen Alexandra Road infirmary moved to the former Vaux site. Patients and the people driving them now wait in the city centre, often for hours.
What you need: To show up when someone searches “café near me” or “parking near Eye Hospital”. That means correct map pins, photos and fresh reviews.
12 September 2026
The four floor building holds the new city library, a podcast studio and a green screen studio. When plans were announced in 2021, the council said it expected around 600,000 visits a year.
What you need: If you run events, classes or workshops, list them where people look. A simple events page on your own site beats a Facebook post that sinks in a day.
Now
The Beam and Maker & Faber are full of office workers, and the first of about 1,000 new homes are going up. Riverside Sunderland plans room for 10,000 workers in total.
What you need: Lunch trade and after work trade want a clear offer on Google. Trades and home services want a page for each job they do, so new residents can find them.
Every other weekend
Home games fill pubs, takeaways and taxis from Roker to Southwick.
What you need: Posts and ads timed for match weeks, not left running all month.
Nomis 2026 business counts
Of the 6,085 businesses in the city, 5,255 are micro firms. Figures come from the ONS UK Business Counts on Nomis, 2026 release.
| Construction | 925 |
| Professional services | 705 |
| Retail | 680 |
| Food and hospitality | 640 |
| Arts, leisure and other services | 525 |
| Business support | 410 |
| Manufacturing | 400 |
What this means for your marketing: a small firm cannot waste money on channels that do not bring calls. Builders and trades need local search and job pages. Shops and cafés need Google Maps and photos. Professional firms need a site that explains what they do in plain words and makes it easy to book.
Services
We keep the list short and only sell what a small business can use.
Fast, mobile first sites you own. Single page sites start at £99; larger sites are quoted after a chat. See how we build websites for Sunderland firms, or our national web design service.
Monthly work on your site and your wider presence so Google trusts you. Our SEO service page explains the monthly plan, and a dedicated SEO agency Sunderland page will follow.
Profile set up, categories, photos, reviews and local links. More on local SEO and Google Business Profile management.
Paid search set up with a clear daily cap. We work as a PPC agency Sunderland firms can call directly, not through a call centre. See Google Ads.
Facebook and Instagram adverts aimed at people in SR postcodes and nearby towns. See Meta ads.
Logos and simple brand kits so your van, shop sign and website match. See branding and logo design.
Funding
It might. The Sunderland Business Support Fund, run by NBSL, can cover up to 40% of eligible spend on outside help, and websites and marketing have been funded before. Please check your eligibility with NBSL directly before you plan around it.
1
You must pay business rates to Sunderland City Council, be trading, and have fewer than 250 staff.
2
They confirm what counts and which providers you can use.
3
We can give you one in a day or two.
4
The grant is paid after the work is done, so you need the money up front.
5
Phase 3 projects must be claimed by November 2026, so leave enough time.
Free help also exists. The North East BIC runs Enterprising Sunderland workshops, and the North East Growth Hub lists current support.
Cost
It depends on what you need and how busy your market is. Most agencies charge a monthly fee for ongoing work and a one off fee for a website. Some national firms advertise Sunderland packages from about £249 a month, while full service agencies often start much higher.
Our prices are simple. A single page landing page costs from £99. SEO runs from £399 a month with VAT included, with a three month minimum. Bigger websites and ad management are quoted once we know your goals. You will know the price before any work starts.
Meet Hamza
Your contact here is Hamza Shafiq, the owner of HS Tech Solution. He lives in Durham and knows the drive to Sunderland well. He will look at your site and your Google listing before you meet, so the chat is about your business, not a sales pitch.
Proof
Test these sites yourself on Google PageSpeed Insights. Both were built by our team and scored in September 2026.
The bulk of the sites we have built so far belong to Australian firms, and we would rather say that than hide it. We have no Sunderland client yet, and we would like you to be the first we can show here.
We also cover the rest of County Durham, Gateshead, Chester-le-Street and Newcastle upon Tyne.
For search rankings, see SEO in Sunderland.
FAQ
Yes, for most small firms. People still search Google and Maps before they buy, and AI tools pull from the same websites and reviews. The trick is to spend on a few channels that bring calls, check the numbers each month, and drop what does not work.
No. We do not rent a Sunderland office, and we will not pretend to. Our owner, Hamza, lives in Durham, about 30 minutes away, and meets clients across Wearside in person. You can also work with us fully by phone or video if that suits you better.
Yes. Hamza can meet you at your premises or somewhere in the city centre. Book a time by phone, through the form below or on our contact page. If you would rather not travel or host, a video call works just as well and saves you time.
A single page landing page starts from £99. SEO starts from £399 a month with VAT included and a three month minimum. Larger websites, Google Ads and social ads are quoted after a short chat, and you will see the full price in writing before we begin.
Possibly. The Sunderland Business Support Fund can cover up to 40% of eligible spend, but it is paid after the work is done and Phase 3 claims close in November 2026. Check your eligibility with NBSL first. We are happy to give you a quote to use in your application.
It is a simple way to split a budget. About 70% goes on channels that already work for you, 20% on newer ideas that look promising, and 10% on small tests. For a small Sunderland firm, that might mean Google Maps first, then SEO, then a trial of social ads.
Google Ads can bring calls within days. Google Maps changes often show in a few weeks. SEO usually takes three to six months to move, and longer in busy trades. We send regular updates in plain English so you can see what is changing and why.
Yes. We register your domain, site, Maps listing and ad accounts under your own name from day one. If you ever leave us, you keep all of it. We will never hold your site or logins back.
Yes. We fix your categories, hours, photos and service areas, add your website link, and set up a simple way to ask happy customers for reviews. Google explains the basics in its Business Profile help pages. We do the work so you can get on with running the business.
Free Wearside website check
Tell us your website and what you do. Within a day, Hamza will send you a short, honest note on what is working and what is holding you back. If you want digital marketing in Sunderland that you can understand and afford, this is a canny place to start.