Web design in Dover, where millions pass and few ever stop
More calls and enquiries, a website that makes you look the part, and none of the technical side to worry about.
Millions of people pass through Dover every year and the overwhelming majority never stop in the town. I build sites that try to change that.
162 reviews across four sites, rated 5.0 on Google and WixGet your site online for only £199, £99 setup and your first month, then from £100 a month. 12‑month minimum. No VAT to add. SEO kept up every month.Live in as little as 2 weeks200+ projects10+ years building websitesWix Legend Partner
Local knowledge
What a website has to do for Dover customers
Dover's problem is not footfall, it is transit. The port is one of the busiest in Europe, the castle and the white cliffs draw large numbers of visitors, and the cruise terminal adds more on top. Almost all of it passes straight through. The town centre sees only a fraction of the people who technically visit Dover.
So the commercial question here is capture. A cafe, hotel or shop in Dover is competing not with the business next door but with a ferry queue and a motorway. Being findable at the moment somebody has two hours to kill, and giving them a concrete reason to leave the port road, is very nearly the entire game.
The freight economy runs alongside it and behaves completely differently. Haulage, customs brokerage, vehicle services, logistics and the businesses supporting cross-Channel trade sell to operators on capability, compliance and availability. Since Brexit that sector has grown more complex and more specialised, not less.
Then there is the resident economy, which is the one people forget. Dover's high street has been hollowed out for years, and the businesses still trading rely on locals who could easily drive to Canterbury or Folkestone instead. For them the site's job is being the reason not to bother making that drive at all.
- A concrete reason to leave the port road
- Naming Deal, Sandwich and St Margarets
- Compliance and credentials for freight
- Opening hours that suit ferry timings
- Fast mobile pages, people search in queues
- Parking and walking distance from the port
What it costs
What a Dover website costs
Get your site online for only £199
£99 setup and your first month, then from £100 a month. 12‑month minimum. No VAT to add. SEO kept up every month.
Custom design, hosting, SEO and small changes done for you within 2 working days, in one price.
From £800
Plus £25 a month hosting, rolling, 30 days' notice.
Taking bookings or payments through the site? That is from £150 a month on the monthly plan (card fees paid by you), or from £1,000 bought outright, plus £25 a month hosting.
162 reviews
Rated 5.0 on Google. Every one left by a real client on Google, Wix, Facebook or another public review site, where you can read them for yourself.
“Owen from Webows Design was great to work with, his communication was great and he designed exactly what I was after.”
My work
A few sites I've built
Picked from all my projects, so not only from Dover. Each one has its own page with the whole story.
See all the work
What I do
What I build for Dover businesses
A website that brings in work, and help getting it found on Google.
Web Design
A custom designed site for your Dover business that looks professional, is fast on phones and makes it easy for customers to call. Built properly and looked after for you.
I built on Wix for years, until its limits kept getting in the way, so I now build in code, and your site can still come with an editor so you can change it yourself. I still fix Wix sites, and build new ones on Wix if that is what you want.
SEO
Getting that site found when local people search on Google and on Google Maps.
Included in every monthly plan. For a site bought outright or one you already have, Advanced SEO is from £300, one off. What SEO includes
Who this is for
The Dover businesses I build for
Visitor & Transit Trade
Cafes, hotels, pubs and attractions trying to capture people with time before a crossing. Competing with a ferry queue rather than each other, so being findable and obviously worth the detour is everything.
Freight, Customs & Logistics
Haulage, customs brokerage, vehicle services and logistics firms serving cross-Channel trade. Selling to operators on compliance, capability and availability, and considerably more specialised since Brexit.
High Street & Resident Services
Shops, trades and services along the high street and out towards River and Whitfield, serving residents who could just as easily drive to Canterbury. The site's job is being the reason they do not bother.
Common problems
What I see missing on Dover websites
Assuming people are already here
Sites written as though the customer is already in the town centre. Most of them are on the port road or the A2 with an hour spare, and nothing on the page gives them a reason to turn off it.
No distance or parking detail
Visitor businesses that never mention how far they are from the port or the castle, or where to park. For somebody with ninety minutes before boarding, that missing detail decides it entirely.
No credentials for freight buyers
Freight and customs businesses with no accreditations, capacity or compliance detail on the site. Operators are checking whether you can handle the work and the paperwork before they ever ring.
No reason for locals to stay in town
Shops and services serving residents that never say why a Dover customer should use them rather than drive to Canterbury or Folkestone. Range, price, convenience or the person behind the counter: if the site does not say it, the drive wins.
Not sure how yours measures up? Tell me about it and I'll look at it with you
Dover web design questions
Do you work with Dover businesses?
Yes. I'm in Gillingham, around an hour and ten down the A2. That is far enough that most of the work runs remotely, and near enough that I'll come over when it genuinely helps.
How do I get people to stop instead of driving straight to the port?
By being findable in the moment and specific about the detour. Distance from the port, parking, how long it takes and what they get. Vague copy loses to a service station every single time.
Do you cover Deal, Sandwich and the villages?
Yes, along with St Margarets, River, Whitfield and Aylesham. If you serve them your site should name each one, because that is how people in those places actually search.
What does a website cost?
At WebOws Design in Gillingham, Kent, there are two ways. Get your site online for only £199: £99 setup and your first month, then from £100 a month. 12-month minimum. That covers a custom site hand built in code, hosting, SEO and small changes done for you. Or, if you want to edit it yourself, the same kind of site bought outright from £800, plus £25 a month hosting, with a fixed quote agreed before anything starts. No VAT to add either way.
Half our enquiries come by phone. Is the website doing anything?
Yes, because the call almost always starts on the website. People check you exist, look at two or three photographs, then ring. If the number is not tappable and near the top on a phone, you lose a share of them before they dial.
Do opening hours really matter that much?
Here more than most places. Someone working around a sailing or a shift will not risk a drive to a business that might be shut, and hours that are wrong on Google is the most common reason a local business quietly loses walk-ins.
Nearby
Areas near Dover I also cover
I work right across Kent, not only in Dover. These are some of the nearby towns with a page of their own.
By trade
Pages by line of work
The kinds of business above, each with its own page about what a website has to do in that line of work, in Dover or anywhere else in Kent.
Worth reading next
Quick quote
Tell me about the business. I'll confirm the right plan and when you could be live.
I usually reply within a working day. Or call 01634 984929 and speak to me directly.
Let's talk about your Dover website
Not sure yet what you need? Tell me about the business and I'll say honestly what would help and what wouldn't. Asking costs nothing.