// about the studio
About ShipShape Sites
We build complete, working websites for local businesses. Here is who we are, why we do it, and how we work.
// who builds your site
Who builds your site
ShipShape Sites is a small web studio. The same team designs, builds, launches and looks after your site, from your first message to launch day and after.
Your questions don't go through a sales desk, a ticket queue or a second company that handles hosting. Quotes, questions and edit requests come to us by email, and the replies come from the person building your site.
// why we exist
Why the studio exists
A local business needs a website that works. A phone number that is easy to tap. A booking tool that takes bookings. A form that reaches a real inbox. Pages that load fast on a phone.
We started the studio to build that: complete, working sites for local businesses, with the booking, payment and contact tools set up and tested before launch day, instead of left as a to-do for the owner.
// how we work
How we work
Four habits that shape every project.
Written quotes
Every project starts with a written quote based on your pages, features and support. Starting prices are public, and the quote spells out the final price before you pay anything.
One team, start to finish
The people who talk with you about the project are the people who build it, launch it and look after it afterward.
Plain words
No jargon. When a term needs explaining, we explain it, and the few technical words on our pages come with a short definition.
Previews before launch
You get a private preview link while your site comes together. Leave notes right on it, and nothing goes live until you have reviewed it and we have tested every form, booking and payment.
// what we won't do
What we won't do
Some promises are easy to make and hard to keep. These are the ones we leave out.
Make up reviews or numbers
We don't invent reviews, ratings, awards, client names or statistics, for ourselves or for your site. Sample sites on our work page are labeled as samples.
Lock you in
Your domain is registered in your name, payments go to your own Stripe account, and your booking tool's account is yours. A care plan can be stopped at any time, and you can buy the website outright if you ever want to own it.
Promise results
Nobody can honestly say what Google will show or how many calls a site will bring. We tell you what we build and test, and we leave the forecasts out.
Hide our prices
Every package, add-on and care plan shows a starting price. The written quote then sets the final one, so there are no surprises.
Call a site certified compliant
For medical and legal offices we offer a compliance-sensitive build. We don't certify compliance, and your own compliance program stays your responsibility.
// the research behind our templates
The research behind our templates
Before we designed our templates, we studied real business websites: between 60 and 80 in each field, and hundreds across all of them. The fields so far are dental and family care, nail salons, beauty studios, medical practices, medical aesthetics, home services and trades, and nonprofits.
For each site we looked at the first screen on a computer and on a phone, and at where the phone number sits, how booking works, how prices and policies are shown, what builds trust, and what gets in the way: pop-ups over the first screen, words baked into images, videos that fail to load.
We used what we learned to design our own templates. We never copy another site's layout, wording, photos or logos.
// let's talk
See it before you pay.
Request a quote and we'll design a free preview of your new site first. No obligation: you decide after you've seen it. We reply within 1 business day, by email or phone.
The form saves on your device as you go, so you can finish it later.
- You tell us about your business and goals
- We design a free preview of your new site
- You get a written quote, priced by scope
- You approve it and we build the rest