Notes
Everything I would tell you over coffee.
Websites, being findable, and using AI tools well — written for people running small businesses in Tuscaloosa and West Alabama. No jargon, no sign-up form, and nothing held back for a sales call.
Fifteen notes
Start anywhere
Each one answers a question I get asked in person. If you only read two, read the one about who owns your website and the one about what can still go wrong when you build with AI.
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01
Who actually owns your website?
ownership · 2 min read
How to find out whether you own your domain, your hosting, and your files — and what to do if the answer is someone else.
- Ownership
- Domains
- Registrars
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02
Website red flags: how to spot a bad deal
ownership · 2 min read
Six things to listen for when someone quotes you a website — monthly lock-in, no file access, vague scope, and the rest.
- Ownership
- Quotes
- Contracts
- Lock-in
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03
What a search engine actually reads
findability · 2 min read
Google cannot see your photographs or your layout. It reads the labels underneath — titles, descriptions, alt text, and structured data.
- Findability
- Metadata
- Alt text
- Structured data
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04
How to show up on Google without paying anyone
findability · 2 min read
The free, unglamorous steps that move a small local business in search — starting with the one most people skip.
- Findability
- Local search
- Google Business
- Reviews
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05
Squarespace, Wix, WordPress, or plain HTML?
choosing tools · 2 min read
An honest comparison of the four ways a small business site gets built, and who each one is genuinely right for.
- Choosing tools
- Platforms
- Costs
- Trade-offs
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06
ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok, Perplexity: which one for which job
ai · 2 min read
A working person's guide to five AI tools — what each is actually good at when you are building or running a website.
- AI
- ChatGPT
- Claude
- Gemini
- Perplexity
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07
How to ask an AI for a website and not get garbage
ai · 2 min read
Why "build me a website" produces something useless, and what to say instead.
- AI
- Prompting
- Briefs
- Iteration
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08
I built my site with AI. What can still go wrong?
ai · 2 min read
The failures that show up after an AI-built website is live — and how to check for each one yourself.
- AI
- Testing
- Forms
- Accessibility
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09
Five things to have ready before anyone builds your site
getting started · 2 min read
The materials that decide whether a website project takes two weeks or four months.
- Getting started
- Logo files
- Photos
- Copy
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10
Do you need a website if you already have a Facebook page?
getting started · 2 min read
An honest answer from someone who builds websites for a living — including when the answer is no.
- Getting started
- Small business
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11
What a website really costs in a year
money · 2 min read
Every recurring line item on a small business website, itemised — domain, hosting, email, and the ones people forget.
- Money
- Hosting
- Domains
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12
Your homepage has one job
design · 2 min read
How to choose the single action your homepage exists to produce, and what to cut once you have.
- Design
- Layout
- Calls to action
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13
How to choose colours when you have no eye for it
design · 2 min read
A simple, rule-based way to pick a palette that will not look amateurish — no design training required.
- Design
- Palette
- Contrast
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14
Your photos matter more than your design
design · 2 min read
Why the pictures on a small business site do more work than the layout, and how to take usable ones with a phone.
- Design
- Photography
- Image prep
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15
How to change your own site without breaking it
maintenance · 2 min read
A short, safe routine for editing your own website — backups, one change at a time, and how to undo.
- Maintenance
- Editing
- Backups
What it costs
Three prices, and an hourly rate.
Same numbers as the front page. No proposals, no discovery fee.