Website Design
A practical guide to what actually matters when designing a website for a local service business.
This guide is being expanded chapter by chapter. What’s below is the current overview — the full guide is in progress.
This guide is the canonical source for Novenworks' thinking about website design. Future service pages, FAQs, blog posts, AI responses, and proposals should derive from this document.
Purpose
Help business owners understand that a website is more than an online brochure. A modern website should build trust, educate potential customers, support marketing efforts, and help convert visitors into paying customers.
Chapters
- Your Website Isn't Just a Website
- Trust Happens Before the Phone Rings
- Your Website Should Work While You're Working
- Your Website Is the Foundation of Your Marketing
- What Makes a Great Website?
- The Website Planning Process
- Common Website Mistakes
- Life After Launch
- Choosing the Right Website Solution
- Quick Answers
Each chapter is currently an approved outline only — full content has not been written yet, and there is no public route for individual chapters yet (see docs/foundation/03_HANDBOOK_PROJECT.md for the review workflow). The chapter names above are listed as plain text rather than links until chapter-level routes exist — do not turn them back into links to .md files, since that path isn't served and will 404 on the deployed site.
Writing Principles
Every section should:
- Teach before selling.
- Focus on one idea at a time.
- Be easy to skim.
- Use plain English.
- Explain why something matters.
- Respect the reader's time.
- Avoid fluff and marketing hype.
- End with practical takeaways where appropriate.