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Rebuilding our own site

  • Design
  • Build
  • Host
  • Grow

Our own site, moved from WordPress to a custom-coded Next.js build with Payload CMS: the same conversion we offer clients, on a site anyone can inspect.

BrainWeb (our own studio)

A mockup of our new website on a laptop and mobile phone. The screenshots were taken while the website was under development, and the mockup was put together using Gemini.

BrainWeb · Our own conversion, open to inspection

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Project overview

Our own site. Our own service.

BrainWeb’s old site was a WordPress build that did its job but had fallen behind the work. The brief we set ourselves: rebuild it as a custom-coded site, using the same conversion from WordPress that we offer clients, so the site shows the service rather than describing it.

Client
BrainWeb (our own studio)
Our own studio
Services
Design · Build · Host · Grow
A WordPress site rebuilt in Next.js and Payload CMS
Visit site brainweb.co.uk

The challenge

The site that always comes last.

A studio’s own website is the one that slips behind. Paying projects come first, and the site meant to show what the studio can do falls a year or two out of date. Ours had.

It had to say what BrainWeb is now: a one-person studio in north Norfolk that designs, builds, and maintains websites for businesses and charities around the UK, in WordPress and in custom code.

It also had to hold up to inspection. A studio that sells custom-coded builds, and conversions from WordPress, has to be able to point a prospect at its own site.

If the site didn’t hold up to inspection, nothing written on it would either.

The approach

Treated like a client job.

  1. 01

    The same conversion we sell.

    The old WordPress site became a custom-coded build, the service we offer clients moving off WordPress. That was not a verdict on WordPress, which we still build on and recommend where it fits. For a content-led studio site, speed, security, and low upkeep mattered most.

  2. 02

    A first build, then a slimmer one.

    The first version was built in Astro. Partway through, we stripped it back and rebuilt it in Next.js, with Payload CMS in the same app, because the codebase was slimmer and simpler to work with.

  3. 03

    Our standards, where anyone can check them.

    Built to the standards we set for client work: WCAG 2.2 AA accessibility, security headers, cookieless analytics with no cookie banner, and images resized when the site is built so pages stay light.

  4. 04

    Written for people and for AI answers.

    Answer-first headings, and structured data that ties the studio, its founder, and its work together, so search engines and AI assistants can describe the studio accurately.

  5. 05

    Claude, connected to the CMS.

    Payload’s MCP server lets Claude read and edit projects, posts, and FAQs as a connector. This case study was written into the site that way.

The project in view

A mockup of our new website, showing both light and dark theme modes. The screenshots were taken while the website was under development, and the mockup was created using Gemini.
Light and dark themes, from screenshots taken during development. The scene was made with Gemini.
A mockup of our new website, showing the dark theme on a mobile. The screenshot was taken while the website was under development, and the mockup was created using Gemini.
The dark theme on a phone, from a screenshot taken during development. The scene was made with Gemini.
A mockup to show the light theme mode of our website on a desktop computer screen. The screenshot was taken while the website was under development, and the mockup was created using Gemini.
The light theme on a desktop screen, from a screenshot taken during development. The scene was made with Gemini.
A mockup of our new website, showing the mega menu design on a laptop screen. The screenshot was taken while the website was under development, and the mockup was created using Gemini.
The mega menu on a laptop, from a screenshot taken during development. The scene was made with Gemini.
A mockup of the interactive map section on our new website on a larger screen. The screenshot was taken while the website was under development, and the mockup was created using Gemini.
The interactive map on a larger screen, from a screenshot taken during development. The scene was made with Gemini.
A mockup of our new website on a laptop and mobile phone. The screenshots were taken while the website was under development, and the mockup was put together using Gemini.
The site on a laptop and a phone, from screenshots taken during development. The scene was made with Gemini.

The outcome

A site that makes the case itself.

Someone weighing up WordPress against a custom-coded build can look at ours and see what the second option gets them.

It is also quieter to run, with no plugin stack to keep patched and no third-party trackers to account for.

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Want results like these?

Tell me about your business and I will come back with ideas and a fixed quote.

Or call 01603 244130, or email hello@brainweb.co.uk.

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