Web design
Web design in Calgary, done by one person.
I design and build websites for small businesses in Calgary. Not a template with your logo dropped in — a site built around the one thing you need a visitor to do, whether that's book, call, or walk through your door.
In short
Joelle is a freelance web designer based in Calgary, Alberta. She builds websites for small local businesses — clinics, trades, shops and studios — handling design, build, copy and launch herself. Projects are quoted as one fixed price before any work starts, and the client owns the site, the domain and every login at the end.
What’s included
What you get.
Every project, as standard. Nothing here is an add-on.
01
A site built around one job
Before anything gets designed, we agree what a visit is supposed to produce. A booked appointment, a phone call, a quote request. Every page then points at that.
02
Written, not filled in
I write the words with you. Most small business sites lose people in the first paragraph because nobody ever wrote one — they just kept the placeholder.
03
Fast on a phone
Most of your visitors are on a phone, on mobile data, in a parking lot. The site is built to load in under two seconds there, which is also what Google measures you on.
04
Yours to update
You get the logins and a walkthrough. Changing your hours or adding a staff photo shouldn't require emailing anybody, including me.
05
Found on Google from day one
Every page ships with the technical basics done properly: titles, descriptions, structured data, a sitemap, and a Google Business Profile connected to it.
06
No monthly hostage fee
Hosting is a few dollars a month and it's in your name. Plenty of agencies rent you your own website. I don't.
Usually a good fit for…
- Clinics and practices that need people to book
- Trades and home services that need the phone to ring
- Studios, shops and restaurants that need to look open and real
- Anyone stuck on a site built in 2014 that nobody can edit
Websites — questions people ask
How much does a website cost in Calgary?
For a small business site, most Calgary agencies land somewhere between $3,000 and $10,000, and a freelancer usually sits under that. I quote one fixed number in writing before anything starts, based on how many pages you need and whether the words and photos already exist. The number doesn't change partway through. TODO: replace this with Joelle's real range.
How long does it take to build a website?
A straightforward small business site takes three to five weeks from the first call to launch. The part that decides the timeline is almost never the building — it's how fast the content comes back. If you have your photos and text ready, it's quicker.
Do I own the website when it's finished?
Yes. The domain is registered in your name, the hosting account is yours, and you get every login on handover. If you ever want to work with someone else, you take the site with you and nothing breaks.
What do you build websites with?
It depends on what you need to do with it. WordPress when you want to write your own posts and pages, Shopify when you're selling products, and a hand-built site when speed matters more than editing. I'll tell you which one fits and why, not just default to the one I like.
Do you work with businesses outside Calgary?
Yes. Most of the work is Calgary and area — Airdrie, Okotoks, Cochrane — but the process works the same over a video call anywhere in Canada. Local clients get an in-person kickoff if they want one.
Can you fix or redesign my existing site instead?
Often, yes. If the bones are fine and it just looks dated, a redesign on the existing platform is cheaper and keeps the Google rankings you already have. If it's a page builder held together with plugins, rebuilding is usually less work than repairing.
Also worth a look
Let’s talk about your business.
Tell me what you do and what you need. I’ll reply within a day, usually with a couple of questions and a rough idea of cost.