SEO-First Web Development Services

Websites engineered to rank and get cited from day one

Most websites are designed first and optimized later, if ever. I build the other way round: the site architecture comes from your topical map, the code is written for crawlers and AI systems as much as for people, and conversion tracking is wired in before launch.

What you get

Site architecture built from a topical map, so every page has a job and a place in the topic.

Clean semantic HTML and JSON-LD schema on every template: articles, services, FAQs, people, breadcrumbs.

Core Web Vitals treated as a requirement: fast, lightweight pages without plugin bloat.

AI-search readiness: crawl access for AI bots, llms.txt, answer-first page templates.

Analytics and conversion tracking set up before launch, so you can see which pages bring leads.

SEO-safe migrations with full redirect mapping, so a redesign doesn't cost you rankings.

Why build SEO in from the start

Retrofitting SEO onto a finished website is expensive. URL structures get locked in, templates ship without headings or schema, pages get built around a designer's idea of the navigation instead of how your customers actually search. Then someone hires an SEO to work around it.

I started in software engineering before moving into semantic SEO, so I build both halves at once. The result is a site where the structure search engines and AI assistants need is the structure of the site itself, not a layer added later.

Who this is for

Service businesses and clinics that need a site which turns local and specialist search into enquiries. Healthcare and behavioral health are where I have the most experience.
SaaS and B2B companies whose site has to explain a product clearly to buyers and to the AI assistants those buyers ask.
E-commerce brands that need category and product architecture that scales without cannibalising itself.
Anyone planning a redesign or replatform who can't afford to lose the rankings they already have.

What's included

Architecture and content structure

Every build starts with a topical map of your market. That map becomes the sitemap: which pages exist, how they're grouped, how they link to each other and which questions each one answers. Navigation and URLs follow from it.

Technical foundation

Semantic, accessible HTML with one clear heading hierarchy per page.
JSON-LD structured data generated from your content, so it stays accurate as pages change.
Fast pages: optimized images, minimal JavaScript, no plugin bloat, measured against Core Web Vitals.
XML sitemap, robots.txt, canonical tags and clean redirects set up correctly from day one.
Crawl access for search and AI crawlers, plus an llms.txt summary of the site.

Conversion and measurement

Clear calls to action and lead capture placed where intent is highest.
Google Analytics 4 and Search Console connected, with events for bookings, form submissions and other conversions.
Optional AI assistant on the site to answer questions and qualify leads, like the one on this page.

Content-ready templates

Page templates built for answer-first content: key takeaways, question-led headings, FAQ sections, author bylines and article schema, so your team can publish pages that are extractable by default.

How it works

Discovery. We agree goals, audience, must-have features and how you'll manage content after launch.
Research and architecture. Topical map, sitemap and URL plan; a full redirect map if we're migrating.
Design and build. Templates built with structure, speed and accessibility as requirements, reviewed on a staging link before anything goes live.
Content and schema. Existing content restructured or new content briefed, with structured data on every template.
Launch. Redirects, sitemaps and Search Console submitted, tracking verified, crawl checked.
After launch. Rankings, indexing and conversions monitored, with fixes made as data comes in.

This website is the example

The site you're on is built this way: static HTML generated from content files, under 100 KB of HTML on the homepage, structured data on every page, markdown versions of long-form content for AI agents, an llms.txt file, conversion tracking and an AI assistant that qualifies enquiries. See how answer-first content works or see the podcast episode pages for how video and transcripts are marked up.

Frequently asked questions

Which platforms do you build on?

It depends on what you need to manage after launch. For speed and full control I build static or Next.js sites deployed on Vercel. For teams that need to publish often without a developer, I work with WordPress. For e-commerce, Shopify. The SEO architecture is the same on every platform; only the implementation changes.

Will a redesign hurt my current rankings?

It can, which is why migrations are planned before any design work starts. I crawl the existing site, map every URL that has traffic or links to its new home with 301 redirects, preserve the content and structured data that earns rankings, and monitor Search Console closely after launch.

How much does a website cost?

Every build is scoped to the site's size, content and integrations, so there are no fixed packages. Book a short call or describe the project through the assistant on this page, and I will come back with a scope and a quote.

How long does a website build take?

A focused service site or landing page typically takes a few weeks; larger sites with many templates, migrations or e-commerce take longer. You get a timeline with the scope before anything starts.

Can you improve the site I already have instead of rebuilding it?

Often, yes. If the platform is sound, fixing templates, page speed, schema, internal linking and content structure usually beats a full rebuild. An audit tells us which route is cheaper for the result you want.