# Website & Ecommerce Development

> Website and ecommerce development for retail and hospitality businesses: we build fast WordPress, WooCommerce and Astro sites that sell, and join them up to your stock, orders, accounts and ads so the site runs your business instead of sitting beside it. Every change is tested before it goes live, and we keep looking after the site once it launches.

Canonical: https://thegrowthproject.com/services/website-development/

## Who is this for?

**Online stores**, Retailers selling online and in store. Product pages that rank, a checkout that works on a phone, and stock that matches what is on the shelf.

**Hospitality businesses**, Venues selling, taking bookings or offering pickup online. Clear menus, opening hours that are always right, and enquiries that land where your team works.

## What makes our sites different?

**Fast by design.** Every change to our own site has to pass a speed check before it can go live. If a change makes the homepage slower to load on a phone, it does not ship. We build client sites the same way.

**Joined up, not bolted on.** Your website is part of how you run. We connect it to your stock, orders, accounts and ads, so nobody re-types an order and every report shows the same numbers. See [systems integration](/services/systems-integration/).

**Tested before it goes live.** Automated checks run on every change: pages load, links work, the checkout completes. Problems are caught on a private copy, not by your customers.

**Built to be found.** Clear page titles, structured data and fast pages help Google and AI search understand what you sell. Start with a [search and AI visibility audit](/growth/seo-audit/).

## What changes after the build?

| Before | After |
| --- | --- |
| **A slow site on a phone**, customers leave before the page loads, and Google notices. | **A fast site**, pages load quickly on a phone, so more visitors stay and buy. |
| **Orders keyed in twice**, staff copy orders, stock or bookings between the site and other systems. | **Orders that flow**, the site talks to your stock, accounts and delivery, with no re-typing. |
| **Changes that take weeks**, every small update needs a developer and a long wait. | **Changes your team can make**, editable pages and products, with bigger changes tested and shipped quickly. |
| **No idea what works**, you cannot tell which pages or ads bring in sales. | **Clear numbers**, tracking that shows which pages, products and ads earn their keep. |

## Sound familiar?

- Your site is slow on a phone, and customers leave before it loads.
- Orders, stock or bookings have to be keyed in twice.
- Small changes take weeks, or cost more than they should.
- You are not sure which pages bring in sales and which ones lose them.
- Updates break things, so nobody wants to touch the site.

## How we build your site

1. **Site review.** We look at your current site the way Google and your customers do: speed on a phone, search visibility, checkout and where people drop off. You get a short list of what matters most.
2. **Plan and design.** We agree the pages, the platform and what connects to what. You see the design before we build, and get a fixed quote.
3. **Build and test.** We build on a private copy of your site. Every change runs through automated checks for speed, broken pages and checkout before it can go live.
4. **Launch and look after.** A planned switch-over that keeps your search rankings, with redirects for every old page. After launch we keep the site fast, secure and up to date.

## What you end up with

- A site that loads fast on a phone and is easy to use
- Product, menu or service pages written to be found in Google and AI search
- A checkout or booking flow that works first time
- Orders, stock and payments that flow into your other systems
- Tracking that shows which pages and ads bring in sales
- Pages your team can edit without calling us

## Site review

We start with a review of your current site: speed, search, checkout and what it connects to. Then you get a fixed quote for the build.

## Where to start

- [Search & AI Visibility Audit](https://thegrowthproject.com/growth/seo-audit/): A two-week review of Google and AI answers with a ranked list of fixes, each tied to the pages and products that earn the most. Product page rewrites quoted separately.
- [Checkout Leak Check](https://thegrowthproject.com/growth/checkout-leak-check/): A one-week review of your checkout, orders and traffic, with a ranked list of fixes. Nothing on your site changes until you approve it.

## Common questions

### Which platforms do you build on?

Mostly WordPress with WooCommerce for online stores and hospitality sites, and Astro for fast content and marketing sites. We also work with existing Shopify stores. We pick the platform during the review, based on how your business runs, not on what we prefer to build.

### Will a new site hurt our Google rankings?

Not if the move is planned. We map every old page to its new address, keep what is already ranking, and check search results in the weeks after launch so any drop is caught and fixed early.

### Can our team update the site themselves?

Yes. Pages, products and menus are edited in the normal WordPress editor or a simple content file. We build the blocks your team needs, so updates do not need a developer.

### How long does a new site take?

A focused marketing site usually takes four to six weeks. An online store or ordering site with connections to stock and accounts usually takes eight to twelve. The review at the start gives you a firm timeline before you commit.

### Do you look after the site once it launches?

Yes. We keep it updated, backed up and monitored, and keep it fast as you add pages and products. Most clients stay with us on a monthly plan.