This Demanding Life

14/11/2025

'Her websites are rubbish and I would advise you not to work with her' - 10th October 2016.

Yep. I've still got the email, even after 9 years. It was from a web design agency who was going up against me for a website project (I won).

I kept the email because it was the first time I'd rattled someone with my websites, my vision and my skills. Not just someone, but a much bigger agency.

It was the first time I realised I'd earned my seat at the table.

It's 9 years later and I've built hundreds more websites, seen off agencies like this one, time and again, and helped many clients recover from experiences with agencies like these.

And now I'm helping other solo website designers to do the same.

If this is you and you're ready to:

🤩 Feel more confident
💷 Earn more money
🛳️ Run a tight ship (with proper time off)
🌱 Grow your web design business
🤗 Be supported every step of the way

🐦‍🔥 My Phoenix Programme does exactly that.

But you're going to have to be quick because we start *next week*

And I can't wait to take this cohort of website designers through the programme helping them grow their skills, challenge themselves and build a business (and income) they previously could only dream of.

You in? Go to websitesmadesimple . co . uk and check out the Phoenix Programme

03/07/2025

📢 New Website! 📢

When Rachel came to us with her website she wanted an overhaul to the existing one. No problem! Until......

🫣 We discovered malware hidden on the site
🫣 Testimonials as buttons which then expanded and clicked through to the Get in Touch page.
🫣 Pages which should have been blog posts
🫣 Bad site structure

It was time to start again.

Rachel wanted something bold, bright, a clean design and authoritative. She chose the Clarity Simply Site and we set to work.

With malware on the original site we couldn't risk importing any of the 133 blog post and I want to give a massive shoutout to my OBM, Sharon Hadley and her associate Tanya Lloyd for pulling out all the stops and getting those blogs moved across so we could launch the site this week.

The results - you can see for yourself.

If you're a small business owner looking for a new website, or to overhaul an existing one, get in touch. I'd love to help.

30/06/2025

When your 11 year old starts heckling you because he has 7000 views on his video on YouTube and you have..... 27 on yours.

So, anyway, my Websites Made Simple podcast is on YouTube and you can subscribe to it here:

Welcome to Websites Made Simple, a podcast helping you become more successful in your website design business. Most small website design business owners are working hard. Really hard. At the same time they feel like they’re winging it. And their online presence isn't helping them. This podcast is ...

19/06/2025

Things that have happened this week so far:

1. Sports Day (did not run the parents race).
2. Squished by 5 year old refusing to walk home.
3. Parking ticket (those extra 12 minutes at lunch were totally worth it)
4. I LAUNCHED A YOUTUBE CHANNEL!

And by 'I' I, of course, mean my long suffering podcast producer Neal at Podknows Podcasting. Who is not only the best podcast producer ™️ on the planet, he also set it up, edited and uploaded the first podcast episode on it.

So if you'd like to watch a quicker version of the podcast. It will take just 5 minutes and you'll get to hear all the pros and cons of using free website tools.

📺 Watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/

If you hit subscribe, you'll make my day!

And if you're looking for a podcast producer. I recommend Neal 💯

16/06/2025

Thinking about using a free website builder to build your website?

In today’s episode of the Websites Made Simple podcast I go into the pros and cons of the free tools. What the REAL cost of them are and how to choose the right setup for you.

🎧 search for Websites Made Simple from wherever you get your podcasts.

I’d love to continue the discussion ⬇️⬇️

04/06/2025

🏖️ Holidays - small business owner style!

I'm known for saying your website should be bringing you in leads and making sales, even while you sleep. And my website's been doing just that - luckily I had my laptop on holiday and used the time while teenagers were sleeping to catch up.

I had also earmarked some time away from building client's websites so I could work on my own because.... well, it's like the cobbler with his shoes - mine's always last in line.

Behind the scenes I've been making some big decisions around my custom build websites and Simply Sites - starter sites for micro businesses and I used the couple of hours a day (teenagers sleep for a looooong time!) to put this into practice.

If you hop over to my website you'll see that my Simply Sites are back on This Demanding Life! They do also still have their own website (for now) but it's great to be welcoming them home as part of my main work.

✏️ I've also written a blog post: Why I have 2 different website design services which explains it more and helps you to choose the right website setup for you.

https://thisdemandinglife.com/why-i-have-2-different-web-design-services/

02/06/2025

Website Developers & Designers - this one's for you!

If you feel your contracts are a bit wishy-washy, or you have clients arguing points or not really sticking to the terms then you'll want to listen to this brand new episode of the podcast.

In it I cover:

👉 How to handle sending contracts to clients,
👉 The difference between a contract and terms of service
👉 How to bring it back when a client doesn't get the result they want.

I also share a personal story where I had a client view her website as a magic wand 🪄 for her failing business and tried to pin the failure on the website 🙈.

So grab a coffee ☕️ and search for

🎧 Websites Made Simple

From wherever you get your podcasts.

19/05/2025

🔊 Sound on!

Ready for some straight-talking?

It gets real this week.

In today's episode of Websites Made Simple I'm talking about how to get unstuck in your web design business.

From feeling that you just can't crack that website design, to being fed up of the pressures and demands of your business - I cover it all (in less than 25 minutes!)

I also share about when I got stuck and left a website build right until the very last minute ⏱️ - to this day it stands as the fastest time I've built a multi-page, multi-function website 🤣 Would I do it again? Nope! Learn from my mistakes!

🎧 Search for Websites Made Simple from wherever you get your podcasts.

06/05/2025

"If you try to attract everyone, you'll attract no-one."

I've said this to start-ups and new business owners over and again.

Because when you build a website, the only way it's going to be successful

(and by successful I mean bring in leads and make sales)

is if you identify your ideal client or your niche and speak directly to them.

Here's how it's worked for me:

05/05/2025

Have you experienced a drop in SEO when rebuilding a website?

Or are you putting off a website rebuild because you're worried about the SEO effects?

In this week's podcast episode I walk you through how to handle SEO with websites rebuilds so you can be confident you won't have a drop when you publish the new website. Plus it may teach you some SEO practices you're not currently doing.

All my websites have an SEO score of between 92 and 100 and, more importantly, they:

✨ Rank on Google

✨ Bring in Leads

✨ Make Sales

I share my exact practices here.

🎧 Search for Websites Made Simple from wherever you get your podcasts.

or visit the podcast website at:

🖱️ websitesmadesimple . co . uk

23/04/2025

How many touch points should you have on a website?

When should you have one page and when should you go for multiple pages?

Find out here….

21/04/2025

The success of a website will depend on how it's been built.

If it's been built using best practices then Google's going to like it.

Even if the content on the site is a little mediocre.

If you don't follow best practices then the website can be beautiful but it's not going to be shown in search results.

Want to know the best practices in website design (and running your website design business?)

Today's episode walks you through it. Simply search for 'Websites made Simple' from wherever you get your podcasts.