Web development in Norfolk, for new sites and existing ones

Yes. New sites are built on a private staging site you can check at any point, and bigger changes to an existing site can be made there first too. Nothing goes live until you've seen it and you're happy.

Yes. On a site we build, the editor is set up around your content, so you only see the fields you need, and you get a training session at launch. If you already have a site that's hard to edit, we can simplify the editor, show you how it works, or make the changes for you.

It depends on the platform and how much the site needs to do. A one-page site costs less than a multi-page site, and a shop or a site that takes bookings costs more again. Conversions and recoveries are quoted after an assessment, since no two start from the same place. Every project gets a fixed written quote before any work begins, and the figure agreed is the figure invoiced.

Security is built into every BrainWeb build: SSL, secure configuration, hardening suited to the platform, and clean code that leaves less to exploit. Custom-coded sites leave little for an attacker to reach, with no live database or plugin code exposed. WordPress sites are hardened during the build, then kept safe by managed hosting with regular updates, monitoring, and daily backups.

It depends on how you want to look after the site. WordPress with Divi suits you if you want to add pages and features yourself, and want the range of WordPress plugins to draw on. A custom-coded site (Next.js or Astro) suits you if speed, security, and low maintenance matter most, with a clean, focused editor. Both are good choices for different needs, and we'll work out which fits your project in the first conversation.

It means the site is built in a structured, readable, version-controlled way, rather than assembled and patched until it happens to work. It matters because clean code is faster, more secure, easier to fix, and able to be understood by another developer later, including one who isn't us. You can't see code quality the way you can see a design, but you feel it in every update, every fix, and every year the site keeps working.

A conversion takes a WordPress site that works and is reasonably current, and rebuilds it as a custom-coded site for speed and security. Nothing is broken; you're upgrading the foundations by choice. A recovery is for a site that's old, broken, or partly lost: built in dated tools, on an abandoned platform, or missing files. A rough test: if your site works and you want it faster and safer, that's a conversion; if it's dated, hard to maintain, or partly gone, that's a recovery.

Yes. We rebuild sites made in Dreamweaver, FrontPage, or hand-coded HTML, and sites on platforms that are no longer supported. We can also recover sites that have been lost entirely, rebuilding them from web archives where the original files are gone. Every recovery starts with an assessment of what can realistically be brought back, before any quote.

On WordPress we build with Divi, with a custom child theme written as clean code underneath rather than a stack of page-builder overrides. Divi gives you a familiar way to edit the site after launch; the child theme keeps the build clean and maintainable. Custom-coded builds have no page builder at all: the site is assembled from reusable components.

Yes. Through 2025 and into 2026, AI tools that can find software weaknesses at scale have shortened the time between a weakness appearing and someone exploiting it. This matters most for platforms with large shared codebases, WordPress and its plugins being the obvious example. The practical point isn't alarm: managed hosting and regular updates have gone from sensible to necessary.

Most projects take 4 to 12 weeks from the first conversation to launch, and most builds take two to six weeks of that. A one-page site can be quicker; a shop or a site with complex features can take longer. You'll get a realistic timeline with your quote.

No. WordPress runs a huge share of the web and remains an excellent platform when it's built well and looked after. A WordPress site does have more moving parts than a custom-coded site, so it needs managed hosting and regular updates to stay fast and safe. A neglected WordPress site is a real risk; a well-built, well-maintained one is not.

Yes, often. Conversions, recoveries, integrations, and many smaller jobs involve sites built by someone else. We'll look over the existing site first, because taking on another developer's work unseen isn't fair to you or to us. Once we've assessed it, we'll tell you what's worth doing.

Every new site includes a training session, your first year of managed hosting, and two hours of content updates or design tweaks to use any time in the 12 months after launch. After that, you choose what you need, with no lock-in. Small changes are billed by the hour, larger work is quoted first, and you deal with the person who built your site.

Yes, because performance is part of the build rather than an afterthought. We optimise images, keep the code lean, set up caching, and tune for Core Web Vitals. Custom-coded sites are fast by default, since most pages are built in advance. Well-built WordPress sites are fast too; they need good hosting and caching to stay that way as they grow.

Often, yes. Adding an integration, a booking system, a new section, or a piece of custom functionality to an existing site is common work. As with any inherited site, we'll want to look at how it's built first. If the site is in poor condition, we'll tell you whether adding to it is wise, or whether your money is better spent elsewhere.

Yes. For most shops we build on WordPress with WooCommerce: it's mature, well understood, and handles large catalogues, payments, UK tax, and shipping. A small number of products can also be sold from a custom-coded site. We'll work out which suits the size of your shop in the first conversation.

Yes, to a degree that depends on the build. WordPress with Divi gives you the most hands-on control: you can edit pages, add sections, and change layouts yourself. A modern JS build with Payload CMS gives you clean control of content (text, images, posts, new entries) while the layout stays as designed. Every build comes with a short training session so you can confidently do the things you'll want to do.

Yes. Your website is yours: the code, the content, the database. If you ever want to move to another developer or another host, we'll hand everything over and help with the move.