Choosing who builds your site
A care specialist, or a cheaper generalist?
Every care provider looking for a new website weighs up the same four options: an agency that only works in care, a general web agency, a DIY builder, or carrying on with directory listings.
Each has a place. This page sets them side by side, fairly, including when we are not the right choice.
Scorecard
Four ways to get a care website
Judged on what brings a family to your door, not on how the site looks in a pitch.
The four options side by side
A tick means it is a strength of that option, a dash means it depends on who you choose, a cross means it is usually missing.
| Care specialist | General agency | DIY builder | Directory only | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Understands how families choose care Funding worries, the guilt, the 11pm search on a phone. It shapes every page. | ||||
Knows CQC and what you must show The rating widget, registered details, how to talk about a report. | ||||
Family tools built in Funding calculators, availability, fee explainers. | ||||
Ranks for care searches in your town A directory ranks for you, but the enquiry is theirs to pass on. | ||||
You own the site and the enquiries Check the contract with any agency. Domain, hosting and logins in your name. | ||||
Lowest upfront cost DIY and a free listing cost least on day one. The question is cost per admission. | ||||
Fastest to get something live A listing is live today. A proper site takes weeks. |
What each option is good at
A care specialist
Knows how families choose care, what CQC expects you to show, and which searches bring enquiries in your town. Arrives with the tools families use already built. Costs more than doing it yourself, and a proper site takes weeks rather than days.
A general web agency
Often good at design and build, and may be local to you. The gap is usually care knowledge: the funding questions, the CQC details, the way a worried family reads a page. A good one can learn it, but you pay for the learning.
A DIY website builder
The cheapest way to get something live quickly, and fine for a new service that needs a placeholder. It relies on your time and your knowledge of search, and it rarely has the tools or the structure to rank in a competitive town.
Directory listings only
Live today, with reviews families trust. The directory owns the page and the enquiry, and the cost carries on as long as you want the enquiries. Useful alongside your own site, risky as the only channel.
When we are not the right choice
If you need something live this week for a new service, a directory listing and a simple DIY page will do more for you right now. Come back when you are ready for a site that ranks.
If your budget is very small, spend it on your Google Business Profile and on replying to enquiries quickly. Both are free and both matter more than a new website.
If you are not a care provider, we are the wrong agency. We only work in care, and that is the point.
Before you sign with anyone
- Who will own the domain, hosting and every login?
- How will you protect our current Google rankings?
- What will you report each month: enquiries, or just visits?
- Show us care websites you have built, and how they perform.
- What happens, and what does it cost, if we leave?
- Who will we actually speak to week to week?
Ask us the same questions, and hold us to the answers. How we work with customers is on our commitment page.
Common questions
Is a care specialist always more expensive?
Can a general agency do a good job for a care provider?
Should we stop paying for directory listings?
What should we ask any agency before signing?
See where you stand first
A free audit shows what your current site does well and what it is missing, whoever you choose to fix it.
