Web development
A custom website you can edit yourself — change text, prices, photos and pages in a few clicks, no code and no waiting on a developer. No monthly platform fee, and you own the whole thing outright.
The problem
Your prices went up months ago. The opening hours are wrong since the summer. There's an offer you'd love to put up — but changing a single line means emailing your developer, waiting, and sometimes paying for the privilege.
So the site drifts out of date. Or you went the other way and built it on Wix or Squarespace — easy to edit, but you're paying every month, it's a generic template, and you don't really own it. Stop paying and it disappears.
What that quietly costs you:
A website you can update yourself fixes both ends of it: a proper custom site, built for your business, that you can edit yourself in plain English — and own outright, with no monthly fee and no developer needed for everyday changes.
No obligation · same-day reply
Tell me about your business and what you'd want to change yourself. I'll give you a straight answer on what would suit — and what it would cost.
It's a custom website with a simple built-in editor, so you can change your own text, prices, photos and pages — clicking and typing on the page, with no code and no developer. Unlike a rented builder such as Wix or Squarespace, it's built for your business, has no monthly platform fee, and you own it outright.
Click the text you want to change, type, and save. Swap a photo, update your prices, change your opening hours, add a notice — no code, no waiting, no developer. If you can use email and a phone, you can run your own website.
Run a special offer, post an update, add a new service, put up a 'closed for the bank holiday' notice — yourself, the moment you need to, from your phone or laptop. The site keeps up with your business instead of going stale.
Editing your own site doesn't mean a slow, bloated one. It's built to stay fast and Google-ready, the tricky technical parts are handled for you, and you own the lot — the code, the content and the domain. No monthly builder subscription holding it hostage.
What it looks like
Here's the idea: you open your own site, click the bit you want to change, and type. A small toolbar lets you make text bold or add a link; a photo swaps by dragging a new one in. When you're happy, you hit save and it's live.
No dashboard full of jargon, no theme settings to get lost in, no staging-and-deploy. The page you edit is the page your customers see — what you see is what you get. And because it's built around your business, the design holds together no matter what you type: you change the content, and the site stays fast, tidy and on-brand by itself.
Who it's for
If your information changes through the year — and whose doesn't — you shouldn't need a developer on speed-dial to keep your own site current.
Change prices, menus and opening hours yourself, the day they change.
Update services, prices and your team yourself as they change.
Add new services, photos of recent jobs and seasonal notices — no callout fee.
Update staff, services and info pages yourself as your practice grows.
Keep rates, availability notes and seasonal pages current all year.
Post news, fixtures and events yourselves, week to week.
What you get
This isn't a stripped-back DIY builder. It's a full custom site built to bring in enquiries, with a simple editor on top so the everyday updates are yours to make.
You get the best of both: the quality, speed and ownership of a custom-built site, plus the freedom to keep it current yourself without paying or waiting for anyone.
Three ways to run a website
Most Irish businesses end up with one of three setups. Here's how a custom site you can edit yourself compares with a rented builder and with a site only your developer can touch.
| Feature | Editable & you own it | DIY builder (Wix, Squarespace) | Developer-locked site |
|---|---|---|---|
| Make everyday changes yourself | Yes — click, type, save | Yes, but on a template | No — every change goes through them |
| Monthly fee | None | Every month, forever | Usually per change or retainer |
| Who owns it | You do, outright | You rent it | You own it, but can't edit it |
| Custom design for your business | Yes | Generic template | Yes |
| Speed & Google-readiness | Built and kept fast | Often slows down | Depends on the developer |
| Lock-in | None — it's yours | Leave and it's gone | Tied to one developer |
The sweet spot is the first column: a custom site that's yours to own and yours to edit. Tell me how you run your site now and I'll tell you honestly which setup you're really on — and whether it's worth changing.
Own it, don't rent it
Your website should work for you, not the other way around.
A site you can update yourself keeps your business current without an invoice or a wait — and because you own it outright, there's no monthly rent and no one holding it hostage.
Talk it throughWhat it costs
You get one fixed price up front — no hourly meter and no surprises. There's no monthly platform fee, so over a year or two it usually works out cheaper than a DIY builder's subscription, and far cheaper than paying a developer for every small change. If a simpler setup would do the job for less, I'll tell you.
Many small Irish businesses can also part-fund this through the Trading Online Voucher — up to €2,500 from your Local Enterprise Office toward exactly this kind of work. I can help you scope the project and put together the quote for the application.
The honest bit
Some businesses genuinely set a site up once and never touch it — and that's fine. The self-editing part earns its place when your prices, hours, offers or pages actually change through the year. If they don't, I'll tell you, and we'll keep it simple.
Who builds it
Dave Coleman
Dublin-based full-stack web developer and SEO specialist. I build fast, custom websites for Irish businesses that you can update yourself and own outright — no jargon, no lock-in. More about how I work →
Common questions
No. You edit straight on the page — click the text or photo you want to change, type or drag in a new image, and save. It works like writing an email or a social post. There is no code, no HTML and nothing technical to learn; if you can use a phone and email, you can run your own site.
No. Wix and Squarespace hand you a generic template you arrange yourself — quick to start, but your site ends up looking like everyone else's and is easy to slow down. This is a website designed from scratch around your business and your customers, built to be fast and to bring in enquiries, with the editing made simple on top. You get a properly designed custom site, not a DIY template — and you can still edit it yourself.
Day-to-day, you change everything that actually changes: text, prices, photos, opening hours, staff, posts, offers and adding or editing pages. Bigger structural work — a brand-new section, a redesign, a new custom feature — is where I come in. The whole point is that the routine updates never need me, so they never cost you or hold you up.
No. The site is built so the bits you edit stay inside a clean, fast design — you can change the words and images, but you can't accidentally break the layout or bloat the page. It stays fast and Google-ready as you go, which is often not the case with a DIY builder where it's easy to slow things down.
You own it. The code, the content and the domain are yours, with no monthly platform fee and no lock-in. That's the key difference from a builder like Wix or Squarespace, where you're effectively renting — stop paying and the site goes with them. Here, the site is an asset you own, the same as any other part of your business.
It's a one-off fixed price agreed before any work starts — not an hourly meter. The exact figure depends on how many pages and features you need, but there's no monthly subscription, so over a couple of years it usually works out cheaper than the recurring fees of a DIY builder, and far cheaper than paying a developer for every small change. Tell me what you need and I'll give you a real number.
Sometimes — it depends on how it's currently built. For some sites I can add a simple editor to what you have; for others, especially older or page-builder sites, a clean rebuild is the better value. I'll look at what you're on and tell you straight which makes more sense, with a fixed price either way.
You're never on your own. I'll walk you through how everything works when the site goes live, and I'm available if you get stuck or would rather I did a particular change for you. The difference is that it's your choice — the everyday updates are easy enough to do yourself, but help is there when you want it.
Yes. The security, backups and technical upkeep are handled for you in the background, so editing your own content never means taking on the technical risk. You look after the words and pictures; the plumbing is looked after for you.
Yes. I'm a Dublin-based web developer, so I'm well placed to work with businesses around Dublin and Leinster, though I build for businesses anywhere in Ireland. Wherever you are, the build, the fixed price and the you-own-it setup are exactly the same.
Want the background first? Read my plain-English guide to updating your own website.
Related services
What I do
Insights & guides
