Website Consulting
Honest advice on your website, hosting, and digital presence — without the upsell.
What Website Consulting Actually Means
Website consulting at Metro North Computer Consulting is not web design. We do not build websites as a primary service. What we do is help small business owners make informed decisions about their website and digital presence — decisions that are currently being made under significant information asymmetry. Most small business owners do not know enough about web technology to evaluate what they are being sold, and the web industry is full of providers who exploit that gap. We level the playing field by giving you an independent, honest assessment of your current situation and your options.
Evaluating Your Current Website
We assess existing websites across several dimensions. Performance — how fast does the site load, and how does it score on Google's Core Web Vitals metrics? Mobile responsiveness — does the site work correctly on phones and tablets, which now account for the majority of web traffic? Security — is the site running on current software, is SSL properly configured, and are there known vulnerabilities in the platform or plugins? SEO fundamentals — does the site have proper title tags, meta descriptions, structured data, and a sitemap? Hosting — is the site on a reliable host with adequate performance, or is it on a shared server that is causing slow load times? We provide a written assessment with specific, actionable findings.
Hosting and Domain Advice
Hosting and domain management are areas where small businesses frequently overpay or make decisions that create problems later. We see businesses paying $50 per month for hosting that should cost $15, businesses that do not control their own domain name (it is registered in the web designer's account), and businesses that have their domain set to auto-renew on a credit card that has since expired. We help you understand what you are paying for, whether it is appropriate for your needs, and how to ensure you have proper control over your own digital assets.
Platform Selection
The choice of website platform — WordPress, Squarespace, Wix, Webflow, Shopify, or a custom-built solution — has significant long-term implications for cost, flexibility, and maintenance burden. Each platform has genuine strengths and weaknesses, and the right choice depends on your specific situation: your budget, your technical comfort level, your need for customization, and your plans for the site over the next several years. We help you evaluate platforms based on your actual requirements rather than on which platform the web designer prefers to work with.
Things to Watch Out For
The web industry has several practices that are worth understanding before you engage a web designer or agency. Proprietary platforms that lock you in — where the designer owns the platform and you cannot take your site elsewhere — are a significant risk. Ongoing maintenance contracts that charge monthly fees for work that takes minutes are common. SEO services that promise first-page Google rankings are almost always oversold; legitimate SEO is a long-term investment, not a quick fix. And be cautious of any web project that does not give you full administrative access to your own website, hosting account, and domain registrar.
Digital Presence Beyond the Website
A website is one component of a digital presence, but for local businesses, Google Business Profile is often more important. A well-optimized Google Business Profile with accurate information, current photos, and a steady stream of reviews will drive more local business than most website improvements. We advise on Google Business Profile optimization, review generation strategies, and the relationship between your website and your local search presence. We also advise on email marketing, social media presence, and online directory listings — not as a marketing agency, but as a technology advisor helping you make informed decisions.
Our Role
We are not a web agency. We do not have a financial interest in any particular platform, hosting provider, or web designer. Our role is to be the independent technical advisor who helps you evaluate what you are being sold, understand what you already have, and make decisions that serve your business rather than your vendor's revenue. We charge for our time, we give honest assessments, and we have no incentive to recommend anything other than what is genuinely best for your situation.