K2 Website Design

Website care for North Bay businesses

Companies in Northern California, mainly the North Bay, turn to K2 Website Design to have their websites built and looked after. The firm began in 2004, and its site says that repeat customers and referrals supply most of its projects, many of whom stay for five to ten years or more. It reports more than 250 websites launched, and says its approach is to build relationships first and websites second.

How it started

The firm's founder began building sites as a teenager, when his father asked him to make one for the family tree company. He went on to build sites for friends' parents' businesses and became the person people asked about websites. The company still describes itself as small enough to be personal and large enough to be agile, with low overhead and a business model built on long-term relationships.

Design and development

K2 builds custom WordPress and Shopify sites tailored to each brand, designed for reliability, fast loading and good performance on phones. It says it designs each site around the goals and market of the individual business, and does not sell extras that will not pay off. The aim, the firm says, is for the website to earn more than it cost as quickly as possible, and it presents long-term returns as the reason clients come back for later projects.

Hosting and maintenance plans

The hosting and maintenance plans are described as the backbone of the company. They come in three levels, and clients stay because the team updates their sites, fixes problems quickly, manages security and runs backups. The plans cover daily backups, SSL management, malware protection, uptime monitoring and troubleshooting. They also include up to 30 minutes of site changes each month, such as text edits, image swaps, new sections and small features, and the higher levels add priority fixes, full site management and hours of SEO work.

Search engine optimization

For local visibility on Google, K2 uses what it calls ethical, long-term SEO strategies, drawing on social media, blogs and link building. Its recommended plans combine hosting and email support, updates and repairs, ongoing on-site SEO and speed management, project management and reporting, off-site SEO work each month and custom blog posts.

Local firms across six counties

The firm names clients in the counties of Solano, Sonoma, Marin, Napa, Lake and Mendocino, among them eateries, contractors, engineering practices, wineries, shops and other service companies. Its own old site also said it served Southern California.

K2 Website Design builds and looks after websites for businesses in Northern California, mainly the North Bay. The founder, Brian Wallace, began building sites as a teenager for a family tree company and for friends' parents. Today most of its work comes from return and referral clients.

Products and services

• Custom websites: WordPress and Shopify sites designed around each brand.
• Hosting and maintenance: managed hosting, updates, security, backups and fixes.
• Search engine optimisation: long-term work to improve local visibility on Google.
• Ongoing support: responsive help from a small team.

Clients

Local firms in Sonoma, Marin, Napa, Mendocino, Lake and Solano counties, including restaurants, service companies, contractors, engineering firms, wineries and shops.

Key facts

• Based in: Northern California
• Founder: Brian Wallace
• Experience: more than 20 years serving local businesses
• Track record: over 250 websites launched, per the site