Web Design and SEO Company Limited
Mum 'took the plunge' and now has her own web design business
They are a roaring success - and even have their very own office Labrador.
A Plymouth mum ‘took the plunge’ to set up her own web design company – which is now one of the best in the city.
Diana Crabtree started the company in 2015 working from her dining room table one day a week and self-taught herself web design and search engine optimization.
A few years later she went full-time with another web developer, who now is a permanent member of the team, and now she owns her own premises at Reynolds Park in Plympton.
The Web Design and SEO Company are a small team of seven "fantastic" web, SEO, and digital marketing employees – and a Labrador – and who are all working towards the same aim to help local, and national businesses grow and make the most out of digital presence.
Diana had been an employee for over twenty-five years before starting up her own business, and she told PlymouthLive she feels "proud" to have won the '3 Best Rated Website Designers' for the third year in the row.
Diana said: "It was a big move because I had a good job, I worked in my dining room part-time for a couple of years and it was a big decision.
"I have always wanted to run my own business, but have always worked for other people all my life."
"I never came up with the idea that would be good commercially, but then I worked with a company in Estover for five and a half years."
"When I got to 50 I thought I can actually do this myself and thought that I could do it really well- so at that point I thought if I don't do it now, I'm never going to do it."
"I just took the plunge and started to build the business by myself, my team is really creative, my area of business is commercial and helping people grow their businesses."
Staff at The Web Design and SEO Company. October 28, 2021
The Web Design and SEO Company award meant they faced a rigorous fifty-point inspection that included everything from checking reviews, ratings, reputation, history, complaints, satisfaction, and trust and cost to the general excellence- that they passed with flying colors.
They now have close to one-hundred clients, some of who have been there since the early days of opening, from Plymouth, Devon, and Cornwall including Moorland Heating, MLT Plumbing and Heating, Plympton Osteopathic Clinic, and Crownhill Conservatories.
They also work with Plymouth University, Nash and Co, Solicitors, and Tamar Caravan Centre and pride themselves on providing "first-class customer service" to their customers.
Diana told PlymouthLive: "We have had clients who have been with us literally since day one, it's all about building long-term relationships with our customers and really being a trusted partner- and they really do trust us.
"One of our clients had a follow-up meeting and the clients said they were 'so pleased' and 'uplifted' by the new website and to hear that, it makes our jobs really worthwhile."
In May 2019, Diana found her Web Design and SEO Company a new home renting out the top floor of an office that was available at the time.
Before long Diana decided to buy the whole premises which included a garage that has been converted into a staff room, with a fully equipped kitchen, and a purpose-built meeting room for staff and clients.
Diana said the reason why she decided not to buy the location straight away was that with the pandemic, she wanted to make sure her business is going to be sustainable in the future.
"We have only been in the office for just over two years, we rented it and then bought it. We have done everything really carefully so we know it will be sustainable for the future," she said.
"Downstairs was literally just a garage and we had it completely ripped out and worked with all local people and tradesmen, including one of our clients, who helped us transform it."
"We also have a lovely staff room and a really nice, big meeting room now that we use not only for internal interviews but for our clients who prefer to meet face to face."
"We had a meeting in here yesterday and it was a website we put live a couple of weeks ago and the husband and wife came in with their little boy."
She added: "It's just a nice place for people to come, we welcome them in and make them a cup of tea- it's just a friendly and welcoming place to be."
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