• Google Ads Certified Partner
  • Meta Business Partner
  • Shopify Partners
  • Klaviyo Partner
  • The Drum Recommends
  • Forbes Business Council official member 2022
21%Chemist4U conversion rate by month six, up from 8%
+37%conversion rate for Geepas when its rebuilt site launched
+330.40%HNK Solicitors organic traffic growth in year three
120+websites designed and built by Castle
Client figures are published case-study results; 120+ is Castle’s own count of websites built. Read the full case studies for context and periods.

Why your website matters more than ever

Every channel you pay for ends on your website.

Ads, search, social and email all send people to the same place. If that place is slow, confusing or hard to use, every one of those channels costs more than it should.

01

Judged before it is read

Visitors decide in a glance whether a business looks credible, and most UK visits now happen on a phone. Design is the first step of the sale, not decoration.

02

Speed is a sales lever

Slow pages lose people before they have finished loading. Faster pages convert better, and that gain repeats on every visit you have already paid for.

03

Search is changing shape

Google’s AI Overviews and assistants such as ChatGPT read a site’s structure as well as its words. Clean architecture, structured data and accessible markup now decide whether you are found and cited.

What’s included

Everything that comes as standard.

Every Castle website is designed and built in-house in Liverpool by the same team that markets it afterwards, so it is built for the traffic it will get, not just for launch day.

UX & conversion design

A dedicated front-end UX designer, working from your data rather than a template.

  • User journeys mapped to how customers buy
  • Wireframes before visual design
  • Calls to action and forms designed to convert
  • Analytics and heatmap review on redesigns

Measured on conversion rate

Bespoke visual design

A site that looks like your brand, not like everyone else’s theme.

  • Key pages designed one by one
  • Brand guidelines applied or created
  • Image-led layouts for products and portfolios
  • Unlimited revisions until it is right

Signed off at wireframe, design and build

Built on the right platform

Shopify, WordPress, WooCommerce or BigCommerce, chosen for your business.

  • Bespoke themes by in-house developers
  • Wholesale logins, tiered pricing, advanced filters
  • Payment, ERP and CRM integrations
  • A content system your team can use

Measured on build quality and speed

SEO built in, not bolted on

Search-friendly from the first wireframe, not patched after launch.

  • SEO-friendly architecture and navigation
  • Keyword-research-informed content
  • Best-practice on-page optimisation sitewide
  • Redirect mapping when you migrate

Measured on organic traffic and rankings

Speed & Core Web Vitals

Fast, responsive pages on the phones your customers actually use.

  • Images sized, compressed and lazy-loaded
  • Apps and scripts audited before they ship
  • LCP, INP and CLS tested on mobile
  • Rechecked with real-user data after launch

Measured on Core Web Vitals

Accessibility to WCAG 2.2 AA

Usable by everyone, and built to the current standard.

  • Colour contrast and readable type
  • Keyboard and screen-reader testing
  • Labelled, forgiving forms
  • Alt text and semantic markup

Tested against WCAG 2.2 AA checks

Tracking, analytics & CRM

Know which pages, campaigns and forms make you money.

  • GA4 and Google Tag Manager set up
  • Form, call and sale tracking verified
  • Behaviour analytics on key journeys
  • Lead management and CRM integrations

Reported on tracked enquiries and revenue

Security, hosting & care

Protected, backed up and looked after once it is live.

  • 256-bit SSL as a minimum
  • Backups in three separate locations
  • Dedicated VPS for self-hosted sites
  • A dedicated team member for migration

Monitored for uptime and security

Every website includes

  • Dedicated front-end UX designer
  • Unlimited post-build revisions
  • Dedicated account manager
  • Regular progress meetings
  • Migration support
  • SEO, PPC, social and video input

Results

Websites judged on what they sell.

Published results from websites Castle designed, built and grew. Every figure links back to the full case study.

Chemist4U

Online pharmacy · Ecommerce build · CRO

Chemist4U

A pharmacy with thousands of products on a basic template site. We re-categorised the range for filtering, added a mega menu, one-click checkout, related-product logic and exit-intent offers, and beat a 12-month target in six.

21%conversion rate by month six, up from 8%
£115,000additional sales in 20 weeks
Read the case study
HNK Solicitors

Legal · Lead-generation site · SEO

HNK Solicitors

A Liverpool law firm spending heavily on Google Ads with no owned channel. A rebrand and conversion-led site with enquiry routes throughout, then technical SEO foundations that compounded year after year.

+330.40%organic traffic, year three
270leads a month on average since April 2024
Organic traffic growth, years 1–4Year 3: +330.40%
Read the case study
Steven Brown Art

Art & homeware · Bespoke Shopify theme · UX

Steven Brown Art

A well-known artist brand. An image-led bespoke Shopify theme built around effective user journeys, with search, mega menu, filters and slide-cart upsells.

43%more ecommerce sales, 2020 vs 2019
3.48%conversion rate
Read the case study

Client reviews

Rated 4.9 on Google by the businesses we work with.

Castle took Supreme CBD to the next level with the new branding and website. They’ve increased the sites revenue by 86% in the first 3 months. …they’re really responsive and helpful and go above and beyond to deliver.
Anthony FowlerSupreme CBD · client testimonialClient testimonial
Castle is a professional and knowledgeable company that has helped us so much- they’ve increased our overall outreach, assisted with the creation of polished, effective branding and documents, crafted quality content, and are very SM savvy.
Kaitlin ArgeauxAugust 2022Verified Google review
The whole team at Castle International are an absolute asset to any business that needs a positive boost in their marketing strategy. Expertise, knowledge, patience and a friendly helpful attitude, aiming to give you a bespoke service throughout.
Amy PriceAugust 2022Verified Google review
Our business has benefited massively by Castle and their team of creative experts. It is a wonderful company that is always working to achieve the best for you. They have a wealth of knowledge and offer outstanding marketing solutions always ensuring they deliver on their promise
Victoria WrayAugust 2022Verified Google review
I honestly can't say how good everyone is at Castle, they can't do enough for you and the work and numbers they produce out of this world. If I could leave 10 stars I would
Chris DuffJuly 2025Verified Google review
A really great team who fully engaged with our enterprise and brought us rapidly into a whole different level of positive and sustained engagement with our target audience. Very very pleased to be working with them. Brilliant communicators. They've made a huge difference.
Larry TrachtenbergAugust 2022Verified Google review

On camera

Clients, in their own words.

Trusted by

Brands that have trusted Castle with their marketing.

  • Procter & Gamble
  • Porsche
  • Hilton
  • NHS
  • Pfizer
  • boohoo
  • Gillette
  • Oral-B
  • B&Q
  • Chemist4U
  • Flight Centre
  • Graham
  • Cudos
  • Liverpool Women’s Hospital Charity

Anatomy of a page that converts

What a high-converting web page actually needs.

Every page we design is built around the same handful of jobs. Hover or tap a number to see what each part does and why it earns its place.

yourbrand.co.uk
Call usGet a quote

Say what you do, for whom, and why you, in one line.

Primary actionSecondary
★★★★★
LCP 1.6s
★★★★★
★★★★★
★★★★★
{ "@type": "FAQPage" }
Get a quoteNameEmail or phoneSend enquiry
  1. Value proposition

    A headline that says what you do, for whom and why you, in plain English. Visitors should understand the offer before they scroll.

    Plain-language landing pages convert at 11.1% vs 5.3% (Unbounce)
  2. One primary call to action

    One obvious next step, repeated down the page: buy, book, call or get a quote. Secondary actions stay quieter so they never compete.

  3. Trust signals beside the action

    Reviews, accreditations and recognisable clients placed where the decision is made, not buried on an About page.

  4. A hero that loads fast

    The largest image is sized, compressed and prioritised so the page paints quickly on a phone. It is the element Google measures as Largest Contentful Paint.

    0.1s faster mobile site: +8.4% retail conversions (Deloitte, 2020)
  5. Social proof with specifics

    Results, case studies and real reviews that answer the question every buyer has: has this worked for someone like me?

  6. Accessible, forgiving forms

    Visible labels, only the fields the lead needs, clear error messages and large tap targets, designed and tested against WCAG 2.2 AA.

    95.9% of top home pages fail basic accessibility checks (WebAIM, 2026)
  7. Structured data

    Schema markup for your organisation, services, products, reviews and FAQs, so Google and AI assistants can read the page and cite it accurately.

  8. Navigation and contact routes

    A short, predictable menu, search where the catalogue needs it, and click-to-call on mobile, where most UK visits now happen.

    53.56% of UK web traffic is on mobile (Statcounter, Sept 2026)

Platforms

Shopify, WordPress, WooCommerce or BigCommerce?

We build on all four, so we can recommend the platform that suits your business rather than the one we happen to know. Here is when each one is the right call.

Ecommerce · fast to market

Shopify and Shopify Plus

The right choice for most ecommerce brands that want to sell rather than manage servers. Hosting, security and PCI compliance are handled by Shopify, the checkout is fast and widely trusted, and the app ecosystem covers almost anything. We design bespoke themes so the store looks like your brand, then keep the app list lean so it stays quick.

  • Best for: direct-to-consumer brands and growing catalogues
  • Bespoke theme, not a re-skinned template
  • Bundles, slide carts, upsells and B2B pricing
  • Watch out for: app bloat and stacked monthly fees

Built for results

Designed for lead generation. Designed for ecommerce.

A site that sells products and a site that books consultations need different things from the first wireframe. We design for the job your website actually has to do.

Lead generation websites

Designed for lead generation

Our lead generation web design specialists build bespoke sites and landing pages around one job: turning visitors into qualified enquiries. Strategic calls to action, engaging content and visuals, and easy-to-use forms that collect everything you need to qualify a lead.

  • Landing pages for every service and location
  • Forms designed to qualify leads, not just collect them
  • Click-to-call, booking and live chat routes
  • Analytics that track user behaviour
  • Integration with lead management and CRM systems

Ecommerce web design

Designed for ecommerce

Powerful online stores that are simple for you to track sales on, and even simpler for your customers to use, built for the way people actually shop on their phones.

  • Multiple product variables and bundles
  • Wholesale login panels and tiered pricing
  • Huge filtration systems and advanced search
  • A fast, low-friction checkout
  • Sales tracking you can check against your platform

Security & standards

Protected as standard, on every build.

  • 256-bit SSLCertificates on every ecommerce store as a minimum.
  • PCI Level 1Card payments handled to the highest PCI compliance level.
  • 150+ protocolsSecurity protocols followed on every build.
  • Triple backupsBacked-up servers in three separate locations.
  • Dedicated VPSEach self-hosted site on its own virtual private server.

Hosted platforms such as Shopify and BigCommerce run on their own PCI DSS Level 1 infrastructure; WordPress and WooCommerce builds are placed on a dedicated VPS.

The evidence

Why web design is a revenue decision, not a cosmetic one.

Most UK visits now happen on a phone, a fraction of a second changes conversion rates, and almost every site fails basic accessibility checks. These are the numbers we design against.

95.9%

of the top million home pages have detectable WCAG accessibility failures, averaging 56.1 errors per page.

WebAIM Million, 2026
53.56%

of UK web traffic is on mobile, against 41.78% desktop and 4.66% tablet.

Statcounter, Sept 2026
+8.4%

retail conversions from a mobile site just 0.1 seconds faster; average order value rose 9.2%.

Deloitte & Google, 2020
£446bn

a year in spending power held by UK households with a disabled person, the Purple Pound.

Purple / RIDC, 2025–26

Where most websites lose people

Share of pages or visits affected

Top million home pages with detectable WCAG failures95.9%
WebAIM Million, 2026
Home pages with low-contrast text83.9%
WebAIM Million, 2026
UK web traffic from mobile phones53.56%
Statcounter, Sept 2026
Home pages with images missing alt text53.1%
WebAIM Million, 2026
Mobile visits abandoned when a page takes over 3s53%
Google, 2016 (older study)

Load time and conversion

Conversion rate at a 1-second load against a 5-second load

Ecommerce · 1s vs 5s load

2.5x

A page that loads in 1 second converts 2.5 times better than one that loads in 5.

B2B lead gen · 1s vs 5s load

3x

Lead-generation pages convert 3 times better at 1 second than at 5.

Portent site speed study, 2022.

First impressions are fast. In a 2006 Carleton University study, people formed a judgement of a website’s visual appeal within 50 milliseconds, and it matched their view after looking for longer. The study is old, but newer speed and accessibility data points the same way: design, speed and usability decide whether anyone reads the copy.

Sources: WebAIM Million 2026 (March 2026); Statcounter Global Stats, UK platform share (September 2026); Deloitte and Google, Milliseconds Make Millions (2020, 37 brands, data from late 2019); Purple and the Research Institute for Disabled Consumers, research by the University of Bristol (2025–26); Portent site speed study (2022); Google, The Need for Mobile Speed (2016); Lindgaard et al., reported by Nature (2006).

Speed is revenue

What would faster pages be worth to you?

Add your own numbers. The calculator applies published research on page speed and conversion to estimate what a faster site could add, before any extra spend on traffic.

Estimated extra revenue, same traffic

£0

Conversion rate today0
After faster pages0
0Extra orders a month
0%Estimated conversion uplift

Indicative only. Based on Deloitte and Google’s Milliseconds Make Millions (2020), which found a 0.1-second faster mobile site lifted retail conversions by 8.4% and the share of lead-generation visitors reaching the form page by 21.6%. Because the study measured small improvements, we apply only the share of that effect you choose for each 0.1s saved, count half of the lead-generation effect as completed enquiries, and cap the total uplift at 30%. For context, Portent (2022) found ecommerce pages loading in 1 second convert 2.5 times better than at 5 seconds, so the cap is conservative. Your free website review replaces these assumptions with your own analytics.

Why Castle

What you get from a Castle website that most builds don’t include.

Most websites are designed by one team, launched, and handed to someone else to market. Ours are built by the people who will be judged on what they produce.

FeatureCastleDIY website builderTypical web agency
Dedicated front-end UX designerYesNoSometimes
Unlimited post-build revisionsYesNoUsually capped
Designed around conversion data, not just looksYesNoSometimes
SEO migration and redirect mapping includedYesNoExtra cost
Designed and tested against WCAG 2.2 AAYesVariesSometimes
Shopify, WordPress, WooCommerce and BigCommerce in-houseYesOne platformUsually one
SEO, paid media, social and video specialists in the same studioYesNoNo
Reported on sales and enquiries after launchYesNoRarely

Comparison reflects how Castle works and common market practice; it is not a review of any named provider.

The team

Designers and developers who sit next to your marketers.

Castle’s web team, led by Matt, our Head of Web Development, works in the same Liverpool studio as our SEO, paid media, social and video specialists. Your site is planned with the people who will send it traffic, and they stay involved after launch.

  • Figma
  • Shopify
  • Shopify Plus
  • WordPress
  • WooCommerce
  • BigCommerce
  • GA4
  • Tag Manager
  • Search Console
  • Lighthouse
  • PageSpeed Insights
  • Schema.org
The Castle studio at 17 Mann Island, LiverpoolCastle strategists in a client planning sessionCastle reception

Questions

Web design frequently asked questions

It depends on the platform, the number of page templates, integrations and how much content and migration is involved, so we scope every project individually rather than quote a one-size price. Book a free website review and we will tell you what your site needs and what it would cost before you commit to anything.

A typical bespoke build runs to around ten weeks from discovery to launch: two weeks of discovery and UX, around three weeks of design, and four to five weeks of build and testing. Large catalogues, complex integrations or a lot of content migration take longer. You get a timeline with the proposal.

Most ecommerce brands are best served by Shopify; content-led service businesses usually suit WordPress; WooCommerce makes sense when content and commerce are equally important or you need unusual product rules; BigCommerce suits large catalogues and B2B. Because we build on all four, we recommend the one that fits your business rather than the one we prefer.

Not if the migration is planned properly. We crawl the old site, map every URL that has rankings or links to its new home with 301 redirects, carry over titles, content and structured data, and monitor rankings and Search Console closely after launch. Most ranking losses after a redesign come from skipped redirects, which is why migration is part of every build.

Yes. You review and sign off wireframes, designs and the built site, and we offer unlimited post-build revisions, so the site you launch is the site you wanted.

We design and test against WCAG 2.2 AA: colour contrast, keyboard navigation, screen-reader support, labelled forms and alt text. It matters commercially as well as legally. WebAIM’s 2026 study found detectable accessibility failures on 95.9% of the top million home pages, and UK households with a disabled person hold an estimated £446bn a year in spending power.

Often, yes. Send us the site you have now and we will tell you honestly whether it needs a rebuild or a set of targeted fixes to speed, UX and conversion, and which of the two will make you more money.

Yes. Every site is built on a content management system your team can use to edit pages, add products and publish articles, and we show you how before launch. If you would rather we handle updates, we can.

Yes. Ecommerce stores get 256-bit SSL certificates as a minimum and PCI Level 1 compliant payments, we follow over 150 security protocols, and self-hosted sites are placed on a dedicated VPS with backed-up servers in three separate locations. Shopify and BigCommerce stores run on those platforms’ own secure hosting.

No. We are based at 17 Mann Island in Liverpool and are always happy to meet in person, but we design and build websites for clients across the UK, the US and Europe.

Free website review

Send us the site you have now.

We will tell you whether it needs a rebuild or just a fix, and which of the two makes you more money. You will also see how it scores on speed, Core Web Vitals and accessibility today.

  • Free review
  • Dedicated UX designer
  • Unlimited post-build revisions