The East Neuk Lobster Hatchery website began with a simple conversation in early 2025.
Some websites begin with an existing business looking for a fresh new look. Others begin with a blank sheet of paper.
When the team first got in touch, there was no website, no content and no online presence – just an exciting vision for a charity dedicated to protecting Scotland’s native lobster populations.
From that very first conversation, it was clear this was going to be a special project.
It was the beginning of a journey that would take many months to bring to life.
Choosing the Right Name
Before a website could be designed, we needed the right online identity.
One of our first discussions was around selecting a domain name that was memorable, easy to find and clearly reflected the charity’s purpose.
Once we secured fifelobsterhatchery.com, we had the foundation on which to build everything else.
It’s amazing how one decision can shape an entire project.
Creating the Brand
Every memorable website begins with strong branding.
I’d like to give credit to Bill Bruce at Different Voice, who created the charity’s logo and visual identity. His branding perfectly captures the spirit of East Neuk Lobster Hatchery and provided a fantastic starting point for the website.
Having a professionally designed logo and colour palette meant the website immediately felt consistent, recognisable and true to the charity’s mission.
Website design and branding go hand in hand, and it’s always a pleasure collaborating with talented people to achieve the best possible result.
Bringing the Vision to Life
With the foundations in place, work began on creating a website that would do much more than simply provide information.
The aim was to tell the charity’s story, explain why native lobsters matter, showcase the importance of marine conservation and encourage people to support the project.
As with many website builds, ideas evolved along the way.
New pages were introduced, content was refined and layouts adjusted as the charity itself continued to grow and develop.
That’s one of the things I enjoy most about working closely with clients. A website should evolve naturally rather than trying to squeeze everything into version one.
It’s All About the Details
Visitors only ever see the finished website.
What they don’t see are the many hours spent planning page layouts, refining content, sourcing imagery, testing layouts across different devices and making sure every page works as intended.
Every decision, no matter how small, contributes to creating a better experience for visitors.
Good web design isn’t about adding more features.
It’s about making information easy to find, enjoyable to read and simple to navigate.
Launch Day
Reaching launch day is always exciting.
After months of planning, designing and refining, the East Neuk Lobster Hatchery website was finally ready to welcome visitors.
Before launch, I also carried out a full SEO review of the Home page and created an optimised launch blog to give search engines fresh content to discover and index.
Rather than trying to optimise every page at once, we focused on creating the strongest possible foundation. As the charity grows, the remaining pages and future blog posts can continue to build the website’s visibility over time.
After all, a successful website is never really finished.
Looking Ahead
The East Neuk Lobster Hatchery website has been built with the future in mind.
As the charity develops, the website can continue to grow with new stories, conservation updates, educational resources, fundraising campaigns and community news.
That’s exactly how a website should work.
It should support an organisation throughout its journey, not simply be something that’s launched and forgotten.
Thank You
Projects like this remind me why I love what I do.
Helping to turn an idea into a professional online presence is incredibly rewarding, especially when it’s supporting such an important cause.
I wish everyone involved with East Neuk Lobster Hatchery every success and look forward to watching the charity—and its website—grow for many years to come.
Thinking About Your Own Website?
Whether you’re launching a brand-new business, starting a charity or your current website no longer reflects who you are, every successful website starts with a conversation.
If you’d like to create a website that tells your story, builds trust and supports your long-term goals, I’d love to help.
Get in touch and let’s start planning your next chapter.
Every business owner wants the same thing from their website.
More enquiries
More bookings
More sales
A website can look modern, be beautifully designed and still fail to generate results.
I’ve reviewed websites for businesses across many different industries, and I’ve noticed something interesting. Most of them don’t need a complete redesign. They’re simply being held back by a handful of small issues that are stopping visitors from taking the next step.
Sometimes the homepage doesn’t make it clear what the business actually does. Other times it’s difficult to find the contact page, the mobile experience is frustrating or there’s nothing on the website to build trust with potential customers.
On their own, these issues might not seem particularly important.
Together, however, they can make the difference between someone getting in touch and someone leaving your website without taking any action.
For example, imagine you’ve spent time and money attracting visitors to your website through Google or social media. If they can’t immediately understand how you can help them, or if it’s difficult to contact you, you’ve already lost the opportunity.
I often encourage clients to look at their own website as if they were visiting it for the very first time.
Ask yourself:
Is it immediately obvious what my business does?
Can visitors quickly find my contact details?
Does my website work well on a mobile phone?
Do I include testimonials or reviews that build trust?
Is there a clear next step on every page?
If you answered “no” to any of those questions, there’s a good chance your website isn’t working as hard as it could be.
The good news is that most of these problems are straightforward to fix. Small improvements can often have a much bigger impact than people expect.
That’s exactly why I’ve created my free guide:
9 Website Mistakes That Could Be Costing You Business
Inside, I’ll explain the most common mistakes I find when reviewing business websites and share practical tips you can use yourself.
If, after reading the guide, you’d like an experienced web designer to review your own website, you can also book a JR Digital Website Health Check.
Every review is carried out personally by me. I’ll assess your website, identify what’s working well and highlight practical opportunities to improve its performance.
Whether you decide to make the changes yourself or ask me to help, you’ll know exactly where your website stands and what to do next.
Because at the end of the day, your website shouldn’t just look good.
How to get your content together for your website. If you’re planning a new website, having a checklist can save you a huge amount of time and frustration.
One of the biggest misconceptions about building a website is that the design comes first.
It doesn’t.
In fact, before I can design a single page, there are a few things I need from you. The funny thing is that most of them have nothing to do with websites.
If you’re wondering how to prepare for a new website, the good news is that you don’t need everything to be perfect before you get started. What you do need is a few key pieces of information that will help your project run smoothly.
How to Prepare for a New Website: What You’ll Need Before Your Project Begins
Before you get started, it’s worth gathering everything in one place.
#1 Your Website Copy
First, let’s look at your website copy….
Most people think they need perfectly written content before speaking to a web designer. That’s simply not true.
What I need is the information that’s already in your head.
Tell me about your business.
Tell me what you do.
Tell me who you help.
Tell me the questions customers ask all the time.
A rough draft is absolutely fine. Bullet points are fine. Notes scribbled on paper are fine.
The hardest part is getting started.
My job is to help shape that information into a website that makes sense to your visitors.
#2 Your Images
Next, you’ll want to gather your images.
That’s why genuine photos of you, your team, your products or your work are always more powerful than generic stock images.
You don’t necessarily need a professional photographer.
In fact, many of my clients provide excellent images taken on a smartphone.
#3 Your Branding
In addition, make sure your branding files are easy to access.
If you already have branding, great.
I’ll need things like:
Your logo
Brand colours
Fonts (if you have them)
Brand guidelines
If you don’t have a full brand package, that’s perfectly fine too.
After all, many small businesses start with a logo and a colour palette.
The goal is to create a website that feels consistent and recognisable.
#4 Access to Existing Accounts
If you already have a website, there may be a few accounts I’ll need access to.
This could include:
Website hosting
Domain name registration
Email accounts
Google Business Profile
Google Analytics
Don’t panic if you don’t know where everything is.
Helping clients track down account details has become an unexpected part of my job over the years!
#5 Your Website Goals
This is the most important one.
What do you want your website to do?
Do you want more enquiries?
Do you want people to book appointments?
Do you want to sell products online?
Do you want to showcase your work?
Your website should support your business goals, not simply look nice.
When I understand what success looks like for your business, I can design a website that helps you get there.
The Good News!
You don’t need everything to be perfect before we start.
In fact, waiting for perfection is often what causes the biggest delays.
The clients who make the fastest progress are usually the ones who provide a first draft, knowing we can refine things together.
If you’re wondering about choosing WordPress or Wix for your new website, you’re not alone — it’s one of the most commonly asked questions I get asked as a web designer. The choice between WordPress and Wix depends on your goals, your confidence with tech, and how much control you want over your website. Both platforms have their place — but they serve slightly different types of business owners.
WordPress – Flexible, Scalable, and Built to Grow
Best for: Businesses serious about growth and SEO
Flexibility & Customisation With WordPress, you can build pretty much anything — from brochure sites to full membership platforms.
Full Ownership You own your website, your data, and your hosting. That control is a big deal long-term.
Plugins & SEO Power Tools like Yoast SEO, WooCommerce, and membership plugins give you huge capability.
Scalability Your site can grow with your business — without needing to rebuild from scratch.
Learning Curve There’s more to learn, especially around hosting and updates.
Maintenance You (or your web designer) need to manage updates, security, and backups.
Wix – Simple, Stylish, and Straightforward
Best for: Beginners who want something quick and easy
Ease of Use Wix is incredibly user-friendly. Its drag-and-drop builder makes it easy to create a website without any technical knowledge.
Design There are hundreds of professionally designed templates that help you get a polished website live quickly.
Maintenance Everything is handled for you — hosting, security, updates. It’s very much a “hands-off” experience.
Built-in Features Wix has an all-in-one ecosystem with apps and tools ready to go.
Limitations The trade-off? Flexibility. As your business grows, you may find Wix restrictive when it comes to customisation and advanced functionality.
So… Which One Should You Choose?
If you want something quick, simple, and low-maintenance → Wix is a great starting point.
If you’re building a business and want long-term flexibility, better SEO control, and room to grow → WordPress is the stronger option.
If you’re still not sure which platform is right for you — or you’d love to learn how to build and manage your website properly — that’s exactly why I created the JR Digital Academy.
Inside, I’ll guide you through a step-by-step process, so you can feel confident making the right decisions for your business and actually take control of your website (without the fear).
When reviewing client websites, one issue appears again and again.
The text is simply too difficult to read.
Sometimes the font size is too small. Sometimes the spacing is too tight. And sometimes there are too many fonts competing for attention.
Typography might seem like a small design detail, but it has a huge impact on how visitors experience your website.
Clear, well-structured text helps your website feel more professional, easier to read and more trustworthy.
The good news is that there’s one simple fix that can dramatically improve your website readability.
Start With the Right Font Size
If your body text is too small, visitors have to work harder to read your content.
And when people have to work too hard to read something online, they usually leave.
For most websites, the recommended body text size is:
16px – 18px
This range is widely accepted as the most comfortable reading size for websites and works well across both desktop and mobile screens.
Anything smaller than 16px can quickly become difficult to read, especially on phones.
Spacing Makes a Big Difference
Font size is only part of the picture.
Line spacing also plays an important role in readability.
When lines of text are too close together, the page feels cramped and overwhelming.
For most websites, a line height between 1.5 and 1.7 works best. This gives text enough breathing room and makes it much easier for visitors to read longer sections of content.
Keep Your Font Choices Simple
Another common mistake I see on websites is using too many fonts.
While it might seem like a good idea to mix different styles, this often makes a website look cluttered and inconsistent.
A simple approach usually works best:
• one font for headings • one font for body text • an optional accent font if needed
In most cases, two fonts are more than enough.
Fonts such as Open Sans, Montserrat, Lato and Poppins are popular choices because they are clean, modern and highly readable on screens.
Don’t Forget Mobile Users
Today, more than half of website traffic comes from mobile devices.
That means your typography must work just as well on a phone as it does on a desktop.
Before publishing any changes to your website, always check how your text looks on a mobile screen. If visitors need to zoom in to read your content, it’s a clear sign the text is too small.
Download our Free Font Size Guide
If you’re unsure what font sizes your website should be using, I’ve created a simple resource to help.
The Perfect Website Font Size Guide
This quick reference guide shows the recommended font sizes for headings, body text and mobile screens, making it easy to create a website that is clear, professional and comfortable to read.
You’ll also receive a companion guide:
7 Typography Mistakes to Avoid on Your Website
These are some of the most common typography problems I see when reviewing client websites, along with simple fixes that instantly improve readability.
Typography might not always be the first thing people notice on a website, but it quietly shapes how visitors experience your content.
When your text is clear, well spaced and easy to read, your website immediately feels more professional and trustworthy.
And sometimes, a small change like adjusting your font size can make a surprisingly big difference.
I help small business owners build, manage and improve their websites without the tech overwhelm.With over 30 years in the design world (and a lifelong love of typography), I’m passionate about helping business owners create websites that are clear, professional and easy to use.
And yes… I really am silently judging your font choices.
