Websites for small, local businesses
I design simple, fast websites for small, local businesses: trades, notaries, realtors, small shops and more. First I make a free sample of your homepage. You look at it, tell me what you think, and ask for changes or another sample until it feels right. You only pay if you want it.
The problem
You are good at your trade. A website should not become a second job, or a second mortgage.
It looks cheap to start. Then it costs your evenings, and the result still looks like a template you fought with.
A large up-front number, a long wait and a monthly bill you can’t easily explain. Overkill for a business that needs to be found and called.
Customers who search Google want hours, services and a phone number in one tap. A social page rarely gives them that.
Graft Labs is the fourth option: a small, honest build with plain pricing, where you see the result first and you are never locked in.
How it works
The usual order is backwards: you pay, then you find out what you got. Here you see your homepage before any money changes hands, and you get a say in how it turns out.
Business name, what you do, where you work and how customers reach you. A few lines is enough. If your details are already public, I can start from those.
A live demo of your homepage at its own unlisted link, hidden from search engines. It is usually custom-built around your business, shaped by what I find in your listings, social media and existing site, and labeled with the named base style it starts from (for example “Base style: Quiet Studio”). It is yours to ignore, and it is available for 10 days, then it expires if you pass.
Tell me what to change: wording, photos, colors, layout. Or, if one of the other named styles speaks to you, ask for it instead. Styles are cross-trade, so a landscaper can pick a look first shown on a realtor sample, and I adapt the photos, icons, copy and sections to your trade. Nothing is owed while we do this.
Love it? Say so, and I send the agreement. A 50% deposit starts the build ($225 on Starter). Not for you? Say “no thanks” and I won’t contact you again.
Photos, hours, services, a few sentences. You review every page before it goes live. Typical launch is about a week after I have your content, and the other 50% is due at launch ($225 on Starter).
Hosting, checks and small edits are handled by your monthly care plan ($39 a month on Starter). You can cancel any time.
Note I’m not taking orders or payments yet. Deposit and payment links open once my business registration is complete. Free samples are open now.
What you get
Most local searches happen on a phone. Big tap-to-call buttons, readable type, fast loading.
Spam-protected form that sends requests straight to your email.
I help connect your site and your Google listing so your name, address and phone match everywhere.
Proper titles, descriptions and structure so Google can understand who you are and where you work.
Static pages on a global network, HTTPS, no heavy plugins to patch.
Hours changed? New service? Send an email. A monthly edit allowance comes with every care plan.
Your content and photos are yours. Ask for a downloadable snapshot of your site whenever you like, and take a final one with you if you ever leave.
Pricing
I’m not taking orders or payments yet, because my business registration is still being finalized. Free samples are open now. One build price, one monthly care plan. Every build is paid the same way: 50% to start and 50% at launch. Applicable sales and use tax is added where required by law. Domains are flexible: bring one you already own, or I walk you through registering one in your name (usually about $10 to $15 a year, paid to the registrar).
Founding price
Regular price $750$450one-time
Founding price for a limited number of customers, rising to $750 later
$39/mo care plan, starts at launch
50% to start ($225), 50% at launch ($225)
Ask for a sample$1,200one-time
$99/mo care plan, starts at launch
50% to start ($600), 50% at launch ($600)
Ask for a sample$2,000one-time
$199/mo care plan, starts at launch
50% to start ($1,000), 50% at launch ($1,000)
Ask for a sampleWho it’s for
If a customer’s first move is to look you up, your site is your storefront. Each trade gets its own look and the details that matter to its customers.
Landscapers, handymen, cleaners, painters, roofers. Services, service area, photos of the work and a one-tap call button.
A calm, trustworthy page that explains what you do, what to bring and how to book, with the state’s required notices in place.
A confident personal-brand page: who you are, the areas you know, how selling or buying with you works, and your licensing information in the right place.
Hours, location, what you sell and why people come in. A simple, current page that beats a stale listing.
The small mockups above are illustrations of design direction, not client sites.
Straight talk
Who’s behind it
I’m Cameron Brownfield, a software engineer in Southwest Washington. Graft Labs LLC is my small web design business for small, local businesses.
There’s a workshop behind the curtain: tools I wrote and don’t share, which do the heavy lifting on every build. You deal directly with me, an engineer, by email or phone.
I believe in small, local businesses. When the shops and trades in a community are easy to find and easy to trust, that whole community is better for it, so I focus on helping each business do well in its own town.
The name is a gardening term: you graft a branch onto a healthy root so it grows as one plant. That is the job here, joining your business to a site that holds up.
Questions
Because seeing your own homepage as a live demo sells better than any pitch. If you don’t want it, you’re out nothing. The demo sits at its own unlisted link, hidden from search engines, and it is available for 10 days, then it expires.
Yes, please. Tell me what to change and I’ll revise it, or I’ll make an additional sample in one of the other named styles if the first one isn’t it. This all happens before you pay anything. If the requests ever grow past what a free sample can reasonably cover, I’ll say so plainly and we can talk about next steps.
Most samples are custom-built around your business, shaped by your listings, social media and existing site. Each starts from a named base style, such as Canopy or Quiet Studio, so you can say “I like that one” and I can reproduce it exactly. If another style speaks to you, you can choose it instead. Styles are cross-trade: a landscaper can love a look first shown on a realtor sample. I then adapt the photos, icons, wording and sections to your trade so it fits your business.
Every build is paid in two equal halves: 50% to start and 50% at launch. Starter is $450 at the founding price, which is for a limited number of customers and rises to $750 later: $225 to start and $225 at launch. Growth is $1,200: $600 and $600. Pro is $2,000: $1,000 and $1,000. Care plans are $39, $99 and $199 a month, starting at launch. Applicable sales and use tax is added where required by law. Domain registration is paid to your registrar, not to me. The sample, your feedback and any extra samples are free.
You own your content, your photos and your domain, which is registered in your name. I host the site as part of your care plan. The finished site is yours to use once you have paid in full, while my underlying templates and tools stay mine. You can ask for a downloadable snapshot of your site at any time, and if you cancel I hand over the finished site files.
Email me. Every care plan includes monthly edit time, 30, 90 or 180 minutes depending on the plan. Starter replies within 2 business days, Growth within 1, Pro the same business day. We talk it through by email until the changes are clear, then I send you a scheduled window when I’ll make them. Your changes go live as soon as I publish them, and everyone sees them within about 5 minutes. If you don’t see a change yet, do a hard refresh (Ctrl+Shift+R, or Cmd+Shift+R on a Mac), which skips the saved copy that keeps your site loading so quickly.
No, and be wary of anyone who does. I set up the fundamentals so Google can read your site and your business listing. Rankings depend on competition, reviews and time.
No. You send photos and answers to a few questions. I handle hosting, setup and updates. If you need a domain, I have clear step-by-step guides for the common registrars, and I keep them up to date, so buying one takes about ten minutes.
Cancel the care plan any time; it ends at the close of the billing period. There is no lock-in. You keep your domain and content and receive a final snapshot of the site, and I remove my access within 5 business days.
Not yet. I’m still finishing my business registration, so I’m not taking orders or payments. Free samples are open now: ask for one and you will hear back within 2 business days.
Yes. Paste a Google Maps, Yelp or Facebook listing for your business into the website box on the sample form, or call or text me. The page on starting your first website explains how it works.
Your website and your email are separate settings on your domain. Moving the website does not move the email, as long as the mail records stay as they are. I do not run mailboxes. The guide on switching website providers explains the one trap, which is email bundled with an old website plan.
I’m based in Southwest Washington, and I work with small, local businesses anywhere in the United States. I don’t take on clients outside the United States, large companies or corporations, or businesses where there would be a conflict of interest with my other work.
Get started
Tell me about your business and I’ll build a free sample. Then tell me what you’d change, or ask for another one. No pitch call required, no card, no obligation.
I check that every sample request comes from a real business, usually by looking up your site or listing. It keeps the free samples free.
The short form takes about a minute. Prefer email or a call? Those details are here too.
