Local shops
Your name on the internet, not a social network’s.
Plenty of shops exist only on a social network. That is building on somebody else’s land: the account, the followers and the rules are theirs.
The shop registers its domain in its own name and uses email under that domain, so its presence on the internet does not depend on an account with an outside platform that can change its rules or close without warning.
Last reviewed:
Building on somebody else’s land
A shop that only has a social media profile is renting its shop window. If the platform changes its algorithm tomorrow, raises the cost of advertising or closes the account through an automated error, the shop vanishes from the internet with nobody to appeal to. It has happened, it happens and it will keep happening.
Your own domain is the opposite: it is in your name, nobody can close it by mistake and it moves with you if you change provider. Social media stays useful; what is not advisable is for it to be the only thing.
An address that fits on a bag
A short domain can be printed on the bag, the receipt, the shopfront and the van. An enormous link to a social profile cannot. That difference seems small and it is what makes somebody remember you once they get home.
Email carrying the shop’s name
Writing to a supplier from a free address with the shop name inside it works, but it says what it says. With your own domain the address carries your name, and the three marks Gmail and Outlook check before deciding whether a message goes to the inbox or to spam get set up along the way.
And it is yours if you leave
The domain is registered with your business as the holder. We appear as the technical contact, which is who administers it, not who owns it. If you ever change provider, you ask for the transfer code and it goes with you: it is a right of the holder recognised by ICANN.
The same thing, explained in general: Your own domain
What we do about it
Part of the maintenance: you never have to ask, and it is never billed apart.
- A domain in your name With the shop’s details, not ours.
- Renewal watched It renews itself and we warn you of every expiry.
- Email on your domain The accounts you need, set up on the phone.
- Email that arrives The three domain marks in place from day one.
- A short address One that fits on the bag, the receipt and the shopfront.
- Transfer if you leave Authorisation code to hand, no argument.
And this you change with one sentence
You write what you want changed and we publish it.
I want an account for supplier orders
Created and set up on the shop phone.
We have bought the hyphenated domain too
Redirected to the main one, so both land in the same place.
Put the website address on the receipt footer
We send you the exact text for the till software.
Frequently asked questions
So do I drop social media?
No. It is good for showing the day to day and for being discovered. What is not advisable is for it to be your only presence: you control neither the account nor who sees your posts.
Whose domain is it?
Yours. It is registered with your business as the holder and with its tax details.
How many email accounts do I need?
The ones you actually use. Plus aliases like shop@ or orders@, which reach an existing mailbox without adding more to watch.
What if I have had a domain for years?
We keep it, because it already has history. We transfer it and point it at the new site.
Where all this comes from
Every figure and every rule quoted above, linked to the official text.
The rest of what a website for local shops includes
A window for your products
What you sell, with photos and by category. Without running an online shop you then cannot staff.
Google profile
Hours, photos and directions, updated where people actually look for you.
WhatsApp to reserve
"Have you got it in a 40?" answered on the spot, and the item put aside.
Hours and campaigns
Bank holidays, sales and summer hours, changed with a sentence and never left stale.
Reviews worked on
We ask the happy customer for the review and warn you about bad ones in time to reply.
Neighbourhood SEO
So it is you who comes up when someone searches for what you sell near your street.
Legal and backups
Legal notice, privacy and cookies reviewed, and a daily copy of your whole site.
Does your shop exist outside social media?
If the answer is no, you are one algorithm change away from disappearing. And fixing it costs little.
Write to us