A plumber in Leeds, a gift shop selling online from Devon and an engineering firm in the Midlands all ask for the same thing: a website that brings in work. What they receive varies enormously, and the difference is rarely the design. It is a short list of things that are easy to overlook when buying and awkward to fix afterwards. This guide goes through them, and they apply whether your developer is down the road or, like us, in another country.
Brochure site, online store or bespoke build
| Type | Suits | Usually built with | Watch for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brochure site | Trades, consultancies, clinics, manufacturers | A site builder, WordPress or custom code | Enquiry forms that reach an inbox someone reads |
| Online store | Retailers and makers selling to the public | Shopify, WooCommerce or a custom store | VAT display, payment methods, delivery rules |
| Bespoke website | Booking, quoting, trade portals, customer accounts | Custom development | A written scope, and ownership of the code |
If a hosted builder or a Shopify theme covers what you need, use it; that is not a job for a development company. Bespoke work is for the site that has to do something a template cannot. Our comparison of Shopify, WooCommerce and a custom store helps place a shop on that line.
Cookie consent and the privacy notice
UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act govern personal data, and the regulator is the ICO. On a website this shows in two places. The first is the cookie banner. Many banners are decoration: the analytics and advertising scripts load whichever button is pressed. A working banner keeps those scripts switched off until the visitor accepts, makes refusing as easy as accepting, and remembers the answer. The second is the privacy notice, which should describe what your site actually collects through its forms, checkout and tracking, not what a template assumed.
A developer can build the banner and list every cookie and form field. The wording of the notice, and your duties as the business, are legal matters: have your lawyer or data protection adviser confirm them.
VAT shown correctly in a store
VAT in the UK has a standard rate of 20% and is administered by HMRC. Shoppers expect the price on the product page to be the price they pay, so stores selling to the public normally show prices with VAT included, while trade stores often show them without and say so. Whichever you choose, the product page, basket, confirmation email and invoice must agree. Behind the scenes, four details keep the figures right:
- Each product carries its own VAT code, set by your accountant, with no single rate assumed for the whole catalogue.
- The order record stores net, VAT and gross separately, so it can pass to Xero, QuickBooks or Sage without being recalculated.
- Refunds and discounts reduce the VAT on the order in step with the price.
- Sales to customers outside the UK are settled as a separate question before launch.
Whether you must register, which rate applies to a product and what an invoice has to contain are points to confirm with your accountant.
Payments UK shoppers expect
Cards come first, with Apple Pay and Google Pay beside them, because a shopper on a phone would sooner press a button than type a card number. PayPal still matters to buyers who do not know your shop yet. Klarna suits higher-priced consumer goods where spreading the payment helps the sale. Direct Debit is the usual method for subscriptions and repeat invoices. All of them run through a payment provider account opened in your business's name, so the money goes to your bank and not through your developer.
Delivery information
State the delivery charge, the dispatch time and the returns policy before the basket, not at the last step of checkout. The checkout should check the postcode, apply the charge for the service chosen, and send a confirmation with tracking once the parcel leaves. If you deliver only within a certain area, say so on the home page and save both sides a wasted order.
Speed and local search
A slow page loses the visitor before any of the above is read. The usual causes are oversized images, too many third-party scripts and a heavy theme; why slow pages lose enquiries explains how to measure them. For a business serving an area, search begins with the Google Business Profile: the right categories, current opening hours, and the same name, address and phone number as the site. After that come pages for the services and the towns you really cover, which is the work our SEO services in the UK are built around.
What to check before the site goes live
Refuse the cookies
Decline on the banner, then confirm in the browser that no analytics or advertising cookies were set.
Place a test order
Pay with each method, then compare the VAT on the page, in the email and on the invoice.
Send every form
Check that each enquiry reaches an inbox someone reads.
Open it on mobile data
Use an ordinary phone away from wifi and see how long the first page takes.
Search for your own business
Confirm that the Google Business Profile, address and phone number match the site.
Choosing a website development company, and where Operix stands
Operix is a software company in Karachi, and our website development for UK businesses is delivered remotely. We have no UK office and no published UK client. The portfolio is mostly Pakistan and the UAE, with some international work: Zoya Couture is an online store for a new Belgian fashion label, in Dutch, French and English, with collections, wishlist, customer accounts and checkout. If you want to sit across a table from your designer, a local agency is the better choice. If a written scope, weekly previews and calls in your morning suit you, see how we work with UK clients, or send us your current site and we will tell you what we would change.
Questions people ask
Does my UK website need a cookie banner?
A site that sets analytics or advertising cookies should ask for consent before it does so, and the banner must really hold those scripts back. If your site sets none, ask your data protection adviser whether a banner is needed at all.
Should prices on my online store include VAT?
Stores selling to the public normally show prices with VAT included, and trade stores often show them without and say so. Either way the product page, basket and invoice must agree; confirm the details with your accountant.
Which payment methods should a UK online store offer?
Cards with Apple Pay and Google Pay as the base, PayPal for buyers who are new to you, and Klarna or Direct Debit where the product suits them. All of them run through a payment provider account in your name.
Can a company outside the UK build my website?
Yes. The work is reviewed on screen and the site is hosted wherever you choose. What you give up is meeting in person, so insist on a written scope, weekly previews and ownership of the domain, hosting and code.
How much does a website cost?
Page count, whether the site takes orders and what it must link to all change the figure, so Operix publishes none. A short call is enough for us to send a written quote.
