Websites Made Simple: How to have a successful website design business

If you’ve ever been made to feel that your tech stack is wrong, or that using a page builder makes you less of a “real” developer, this episode is here to give you a reality check.
Welcome to another episode of Websites Made Simple with me, Holly Christie.
In this episode, I’m talking about tech stacks, tech shaming, and why the platform you build on matters a whole lot less than what you’re actually delivering.
We get into:
What we’re actually being hired to deliver — and why the tools are irrelevant
Why client ease of use should drive every tech decision you make
The difference between a proper handover and abandoning your client at the door
Why locked-down websites cause problems for everyone, including you
How imposter syndrome fuels tech shaming in the web design industry
Why personality and trust win clients over tech stack every single time
The disappearing developer problem and how to be the designer clients return to

If you’ve been tech shamed, or you’ve been second-guessing your tools, this will help you refocus on what actually builds a sustainable web design business.
Check out my mentoring group offer:
https://websitesmadesimple.co.uk/sparks-group-mentoring/ It’s a supportive group mentoring session for website designers and developers to bring their questions, roadblocks, ideas, and “is it just me?” moments.
Come and find out more at https://websitesmadesimple.co.uk or email me at hello@websitesmadesimple.co.uk

Skip to the good bits:
00:00 What really matters about your tech stack
00:36 Welcome to Websites Made Simple
00:50 Holly’s experience of tech shaming on LinkedIn
01:50 Sparks Group Mentoring explained
02:36 It’s not about the platform — it’s about the results
03:41 Why client ease of use should come first
04:24 Page builders, locked-down sites, and client access
05:26 Clients should always be able to access their own website
06:25 The disappearing developer problem
07:11 How to sign off a website properly
07:48 Client training, Zoom handovers, and user manuals
08:24 Building for two people: your client and their visitors
09:11 Why tech shaming is really just imposter syndrome
10:03 Why clients choose you for personality, not tools
11:30 “In 20 years, I’ve never gone back to the same designer twice — until now”

If you're putting in the work, showing up, doing everything you can — and still turning over the same amount of money year on year — this episode is for you.
Check out my popular group mentoring programme: https://websitesmadesimple.co.uk/sparks-group-mentoring/
It's a supportive group mentoring session for website designers and developers to bring their questions, roadblocks, ideas, and "is it just me?" moments.
Hi and welcome to another episode of Websites Made Simple with me, Holly Christie.
In this episode, I'm talking about the money mindset patterns that can sometimes keep web designers stuck, what it actually means to outsource and invest in your business, and how to get out of your own way so you can finally start earning what you deserve.
We get into:
Why so many web designers drop their prices before the client has even had a chance to respond
The power of the pause
Why payment plans for hosting and maintenance are non-negotiable recurring revenue
What a money mindset ceiling looks like, and why it keeps you stuck at the same figure
The real maths behind outsourcing to a VA
Why website designers bottleneck their own businesses
My personal story of working every evening after the kids went to bed
How to get out of your own way, stop doing everything yourself, and start running a business that actually works for you

If you're working hard but not seeing the financial results to match, this episode will show you exactly what's holding you back — and it might just be you.
Come and find out more at https://websitesmadesimple.co.uk or email me at hello@websitesmadesimple.co.uk

Skip to the good bits:
00:00 What's really holding back your web design business
01:17 Turning over the same money year on year — why it happens
02:00 What levelling up really means
02:44 Self-sabotaging behaviours — do any of these sound like you?
05:47 Why even getting a client on a call earns your seat at the table
07:27 Money mindset ceilings: stuck at the same income figure
10:03 Outsourcing to a VA: the real numbers
12:19 "You're halving your hourly rate" — the hard truth from a good friend
13:55 Get out of your own way and earn what you deserve
Mentioned in this episode:
Remember to sign up for our blogging masterclass!
Go to https://websitesmadesimple.co.uk/masterclass
Blogging masterclass

If a client has ever asked you "When will my website be found on Google?" — and you didn’t quite know how to answer — this episode is for you.
Check out my new offer: https://websitesmadesimple.co.uk/sparks-group-mentoring/ It's a supportive group mentoring session for website designers and developers to bring their questions, roadblocks, ideas, and "is it just me?" moments.
Welcome to another episode of Websites Made Simple with me, Holly Christie.
In this episode, I’m talking about where your role as a web designer ends and where an SEO specialist’s begins — and why knowing that difference could genuinely change the quality of the websites you deliver and the reputation you build.

We get into:
The difference between building an SEO-friendly website and delivering SEO services
What you ARE responsible for in every build (and where the line is)
How to find an SEO specialist you actually like working with
Why you should bring them in before the build starts, not after
What an SEO specialist actually produces and how to show clients the value
How to handle clients who don’t want to pay for SEO support
Whether to build the SEO cost into your website price
Why the relationship goes both ways — and how SEO specialists can become a referral source for you

If you’ve ever felt unsure about where SEO fits in your process, this will help you get clear, get confident, and start building better websites with the right people around you.
Come and find out more at https://websitesmadesimple.co.uk or email me at hello@websitesmadesimple.co.uk
And here’s the link if you want to learn more about Neal and Podknows: https://podknows.co.uk/

Skip to the good bits:

01:15 “When will my website be found on Google?”
01:41 What web designers ARE responsible for in SEO
02:34 SEO-friendly ≠ SEO services
02:57 Nikki Pilkington
03:44 Find an SEO specialist you vibe with
04:44 Bring them in before the build starts
05:03 What your SEO specialist will actually produce
06:14 When the client won’t pay for SEO
07:03 Build the SEO cost into your website price
08:24 It goes both ways: the referral relationship
Mentioned in this episode:
Remember to sign up for our blogging masterclass!
Go to https://websitesmadesimple.co.uk/masterclass
Blogging masterclass

If you’ve been tempted to move to a £99 a month website model — or you’ve been quietly cutting your prices just to get work through the door — this episode is a direct intervention.
Psst! Check out my new offer: https://websitesmadesimple.co.uk/sparks-group-mentoring/ It’s a supportive group mentoring session for website designers and developers to bring their questions, roadblocks, ideas, and “is it just me?” moments.
Welcome to another episode of Websites Made Simple with me, Holly Christie.

In this episode, I’m talking about why the £99 website model isn’t the sustainable business move it might look like on paper — and what to do instead when the market feels slow.

We get into:
How the maths of volume pricing simply don’t add up
The burnout that comes with trying the model
Why ongoing payment plans are bad news
The hidden costs that slowly erode client trust
What to do instead

If you’re a web designer wondering whether dropping your prices is the answer, this episode will give you the confidence to hold firm.

Come and find out more at https://websitesmadesimple.co.uk or email me at hello@websitesmadesimple.co.uk

Skip to the good bits:
00:00 Why the £99 website model doesn’t work
00:35 Meet Holly: Websites Made Simple
00:46 Who this episode applies to
01:45 The volume problem: you’d need 30 clients for £3,000
04:14 Burnout is baked into this model
04:38 Scope creep and the ongoing payment trap
06:32 Hidden costs and eroding client trust
08:34 Email hosting, DNS, and the chaos that follows
11:19 Content collection in a low-cost model
12:26 Hold your nerve: panic pricing makes it worse
Mentioned in this episode:
Remember to sign up for our blogging masterclass!
Go to https://websitesmadesimple.co.uk/masterclass
Blogging masterclass

AI is everywhere — and so is everyone telling you to use it for everything. But when it comes to your website, your plugins, and the work you ship for clients, the wrong AI shortcut can quietly become a serious liability.
Check out my Sparks Group Training for anyone and everyone involved in the publishing of websites, from copywriters to SEOs: https://websitesmadesimple.co.uk/sparks-group-mentoring/ It’s a supportive group mentoring session for website designers and developers to bring their questions, roadblocks, ideas, and “is it just me?” moments.
Welcome to a special bonus episode of Websites Made Simple with me, Holly Christie. (Quick note — my podcast mic was misbehaving for this one, so the audio is not quite up to our usual standard. My producer Neal at Podknows has worked his magic to clean it up, so please do stick with it. The conversation is genuinely worth your time.)
I am joined by senior developer Rob Fisher to talk about where AI actually helps in web design, where it absolutely does not, and the security and stability risks nobody is being loud enough about.

We get into:
Why vibe coding is not a shortcut, it is a stack of technical debt waiting to break
How LLMs really work, and why they hallucinate when you let them
Why your prompt boundaries matter as much as your prompt
The chatbot that gave a customer 85 percent off a 10,000 dollar order
What the October 2025 AWS outage tells us about AI first dev cultures
Why AI tools are junior developers, not senior ones, and what that means for your business
Why vibe coded WordPress plugins are a house of cards
How a “safe” plugin can become a Trojan horse with one auto update
What is actually changing in WordPress 7

If you are a designer or developer trying to work out where AI fits into your business without putting your clients at risk, this one is for you.

Come and find out more at https://websitesmadesimple.co.uk or email me at hello@websitesmadesimple.co.uk

Skip to the good bits:
00:00 Bonus episode intro and audio note
01:18 Where AI fits in running a web business
02:34 Vibe coding and why it is a shortcut too far
05:12 The flip side, vibe coding as a learning tool
06:48 Tech debt: your vibe coded site is a liability waiting to break
07:45 What AI cannot do for user journeys and design psychology
09:20 How LLMs actually work, probability engines not brains
11:30 Hallucinations and the suspiciously short prompt
13:05 Prompt boundaries and staying on topic
15:10 What system prompts at OpenAI and Anthropic actually look like
17:00 The chatbot that gave away an 85 percent discount on a 10,000 dollar order
19:40 AI first dev houses and the October 2025 AWS outage
22:15 Microsoft layoffs and the AI replacement myth
24:30 Why generative AI is a junior developer, not a senior one
26:20 Vibe coded plugins, the house of cards problem
28:50 The WordPress plugin ecosystem and what it lets in
31:00 How a safe plugin becomes a Trojan horse overnight
33:15 WP Rocket, All in One Migration and the malicious update problem
34:50 WordPress 7 and the new AI APIs, and why it will not feel revolutionary
37:00 Block editor improvements and the abstraction layer problem
38:40 Final thoughts and how to get in touch
Mentioned in this episode:
Remember to sign up for our blogging masterclass!
Go to https://websitesmadesimple.co.uk/masterclass
Blogging masterclass