Small-business websites · Canton, Michigan & beyond
I design, build, host, and care for small-business websites for one flat monthly price. No setup fee. No surprise invoices. No disappearing after launch. Just a working relationship with the person who fretted over every line. Software built with ❤️.
$2,400 initial commitment · billed at $200/month for 12 months · no setup fee
The model
The traditional way to buy a website is a big one-time project: a large invoice, a launch day, a handshake — and then silence, right when the real work begins. A subscription matches how websites actually live.
Content goes stale, browsers change, software needs patching, your business evolves. A site that isn’t cared for quietly rots. Ongoing care isn’t an upsell — it’s the actual job, so it’s built into the price.
No estimates, no scope negotiations, no surprise line items. You can plan around it and so can I. A five-figure redesign becomes a predictable monthly cost that flexes with your business instead of ambushing it.
In month one I learn your business and we start building something together. By month six I know your customers, your busy season, and which page actually earns you business. That context compounds — and it’s something no vendor-of-the-week can offer.
Project shops make their money on change orders and rebuilds. I do well only if your site keeps working for you, month after month — so keeping it fast, healthy, and useful is how I earn my keep.
The difference
Site builders and AI generators are genuinely impressive tools. But a tool only gives you output. It can’t give you attention.
With Wix or Squarespace, the subscription buys you software — the work is still yours. You’re the designer, the writer, the SEO person, and the one debugging the layout at 11 p.m. That’s a second job, not a solution.
An AI will produce a plausible, averaged version of a website in seconds. It won’t sit with you, ask the second question, notice your booking page is broken on mobile, or call you when something looks off. Judgment and follow-through are the product here — not markup.
No ticket queues, no account managers, no support chatbot. When you email, the person who answers is the person who built your site and will fix it. I reply within two business days, often sooner.
Every site is shaped, reviewed, and tested by me — no page-builder bloat, no stack of 50 plugins. That keeps the result fast, portable, and easy to test across modern devices and assistive technology. Search engines appreciate the clean foundation too. This page is one; view source and look around.
Experience
I’m a front-end developer in Canton, Michigan, with more than a decade of professional experience at a large insurance company. I’ve spent that time making complicated interfaces clearer, faster, and easier to use.
empatheticbot is my new studio, built around a simple idea: small businesses deserve that same level of care without hiring a department or managing a pile of vendors. When you work with me, you work directly with the person doing the work.
What’s included
Pricing
$200 per month
$2,400 initial commitment, billed as twelve monthly payments of $200. Then month-to-month with 30 days’ notice.
Basic hosting and one standard domain are included. If your site needs another paid third-party service, you pay that provider directly. I never mark up those costs or add one without your approval.
Questions
You do. Your custom website, content, domain, and third-party accounts are yours. While you subscribe, I may manage the included domain, code repository, and hosting on your behalf, but you’ll always have access to the repository. If we part ways, I’ll transfer the repository and domain, provide the source, assets, and deployment notes, and give reasonable help moving elsewhere. You arrange the replacement hosting — I make sure you have what you need. No hostages.
Send as many requests as you like; I work through them one at a time, and most are done within a few business days. “Small” means things like content changes, new photos, a new section, a tweak to a form. Bigger ideas get planned into upcoming months — that’s the fun part.
I focus on small-business marketing and service websites. Simple booking embeds or payment links may fit. Full online stores and complex web applications usually require a larger budget than this subscription is designed for, but they aren’t off the table. If you have a larger or unusual project in mind, reach out and we can see whether a separate arrangement makes sense.
One standard domain and basic hosting are included. The domain is yours; I handle its registration, DNS, and day-to-day administration during the subscription. Other third-party services stay in your name and use your payment method while I handle setup and integrations through secure access. Any additional provider fees are shown to you first, paid directly, and never marked up.
Often, yes. We can start by taking over care of your current site — maintenance, updates, improvements — and rebuild it properly once I understand your business. You don’t have to start from zero to start being looked after.
The plan continues month-to-month, and you can cancel with 30 days’ notice. Your $200 rate is fixed for the initial year. If pricing changes later, existing clients receive at least 90 days’ notice and new-client pricing will usually change first.
The first year is a real commitment, not month-to-month; the $2,400 minimum applies. I also understand that businesses can face genuinely difficult circumstances. If that happens, talk to me early. I’ll listen and work in good faith toward a reasonable written solution where I can, but early cancellation isn’t automatic. The agreement protects the up-front work; it isn’t an excuse to treat people unfairly.
Say hello
A few questions so our first conversation counts. I read every submission personally and reply within two business days.
Prefer email? Write to hello@empatheticbot.com.