Service · Web Design
A clear website
your clients understand quickly.
Design is there to remove doubt. I organize your pages so visitors understand your offer, see proof and know how to reach you. Designing a website for a Quebec small business starts with the questions your clients ask on the phone, not with a colour palette.
What design has to solve
A site should explain your work without making visitors guess. Text stays readable on mobile, action buttons are visible and every section has a reason to exist. Most small-business sites I take over do not suffer from a lack of visual effects: they suffer from a home page that never says clearly what the company does, for whom, and where.
A small-business website has a precise job. Within a few seconds it must answer three questions: does this company do what I am looking for, does it serve my area, and how do I contact it. Everything else comes after. That is why I settle the page structure before anyone brings up animation.
How it actually runs
Here is the real sequence of a project, and what you supply at each step. What stretches a project out is almost always the content, never the code.
01
Scoping call
About 45 minutes to clarify your offer, your audience, the objections that keep coming up and what the site has to trigger. I leave with the list of pages needed.
What you supply
Your goals, the three questions your clients ask most often, and the address of your current site if you have one.
02
Structure and content
I place the sections and write or revise the copy before touching colours. Each page gets a title, a role and one main action.
What you supply
Your existing copy, your logo in vector format if you have it, and the photos you want to keep.
03
Mockup and approval
You see the desktop and mobile screens in Figma, with the decisions explained. We adjust before development starts, because fixing a mockup costs far less than fixing code.
What you supply
One written round of feedback, listing what to change and what is approved.
04
Build
The site is coded by hand in React and TypeScript, then tested on phone, tablet and desktop. Images are compressed and the base tags are put in place at this stage.
What you supply
Nothing specific, beyond answering if a content question comes up along the way.
05
Launch and checks
The site goes live on your domain, the form is tested with a real submission, and I verify that pages get indexed. Expect 7 to 14 days depending on content between scoping and launch.
What you supply
Access to your domain name, or permission to create the DNS records with your registrar.
What is included
Everything below is part of the base mandate. Nothing here is billed as an extra once the scope is agreed.
Figma mockups for desktop and mobile
You see every page before a line of code exists, which avoids discovering a structural problem once the site is already built.
Site hierarchy and page structure
Section order and the menu are decided from your clients’ questions, not from a generic template bought online.
Copywriting or copy revision
I rewrite the sections that lack clarity. On a small-business site, the first sentence of each page decides whether the visitor stays.
Mobile version handled first
I know of no source that measures traffic to Quebec small-business sites, so I will not hand you a percentage. What I see in the analytics of the sites I maintain is enough phone traffic to design the narrow screens before the large one, not the other way around.
Reusable style guide
Colours, text sizes, buttons and spacing are set once, which keeps pages added later consistent with the rest.
React and TypeScript build hosted on Vercel
The site is coded by hand, without WordPress or a page builder, so there is no plugin to update and no extension slowing the pages down.
Optimized images and controlled page weight
Photos are resized and served in a modern format, because a single four-megabyte image is enough to make a page slow on a mobile plan.
Base tags and structured data
Titles, descriptions, sharing tags and structured data are set during the build rather than bolted on afterwards.
A contact form that works
Enquiries arrive by email with every field filled in, and consent is requested the way Law 25 requires in Quebec.
French and English versions if needed
Both versions are written separately. Machine translation is noticed immediately and costs you credibility.
What is not included
Better said before the quote. These points come up often and it helps to know where the mandate stops.
Hosting and the domain name
The domain and hosting stay in your name, on your accounts. I help you set them up, but you never depend on me for access.
Professional photography
I do not run photo shoots. If your current photos are not enough, I tell you which ones are missing and you hire a photographer in your area.
Ongoing blog writing
Design covers the pages of the site. Publishing articles every month is a separate content mandate and gets discussed on its own.
A full online store
A catalogue with payment, inventory and shipping calculation changes the scope entirely. That gets quoted separately, not inside a brochure site.
Advertising campaigns
I do not manage Google Ads or Meta ads. The site can receive that traffic, but media buying is not part of what I do.
Common questions about website design
How long does building a website in Sherbrooke take?
Expect 7 to 14 days depending on content. The timeline depends mostly on how fast your copy and photos reach me. A project where the content is already ready moves much faster than one where everything still has to be written.
Can I edit the site myself afterwards?
Yes for the content that changes often, such as opening hours, a service list or a news page. We decide together during design which sections you need to be able to edit, and I show you how. Structural changes go through me or through a maintenance mandate.
Will the site display properly on a phone?
Yes, and that is the starting point. I design the mobile version before the desktop one, then test on real devices. A mobile site that forces you to zoom loses the visitor before they have read your offer.
Do you use WordPress?
No. Sites are coded in React and TypeScript, then hosted on Vercel. That removes plugin updates, known extension vulnerabilities and the slowdown that comes with a page builder. You still keep the ability to edit your everyday content.
I already have a site. Do I need a new design or a redesign?
If your page structure still holds and the problem is mainly visual, a redesign is enough. If your offer has changed or the site no longer describes what you do, it is better to restart from the structure. Send me your address and I will tell you straight which of the two is justified.
Do I really need an English version?
It depends on your clientele. If you serve only Sherbrooke and the surrounding area, French is often enough. If you target Montreal, Ontario or a tourist clientele, the English version is worth the investment, provided it is written rather than run through a machine translator.
What does designing a small-business website cost?
The amount depends on the number of pages, the content already available and the integrations requested. I give a price after the scoping call, never before. The pricing page explains in detail what pushes a project up or down.
Related pages
Website redesign
Rebuild an existing site without losing your Google rankings.
Local SEO
Make the site findable and bring the request in.
Website maintenance
Keep the site current and secure after it goes live.
Pricing and quotes
What makes the cost of a small-business website move.
Web agency in Sherbrooke
The service seen from Sherbrooke, with the local realities.
Portfolio
Context, constraints and deliverables from past projects.
Websites for restaurants
Menus, hours and online reservations.
Websites for contractors
Service pages and areas served.
Websites for clinics and health
Appointment booking and patient information.