Phone buttons that dial a fake number
The template's placeholder number was never replaced. Customers on a phone tap it and reach no one.
For established Marin businesses
Small business websites for Marin County, built before we meet.
I build your new website first. Then I walk in and show you.
A website where customers find your hours, see what you sell, and call, book, or order without getting stuck. I build it with your logo, photos, and menu before we meet, then show it to you on my laptop at your shop.
- You own the site and every account
- Flat, posted prices
- Monthly care is optional
Michael PuenteBakery owner for 21 years · Mill ValleyMore about me
What I keep finding
Small problems that cost you customers every week
These all came from real Marin business websites I reviewed in October 2026. None are hard to fix. Together they make people give up and go somewhere else.
A site hidden from Google
One setting left switched on after a redesign told Google to skip the whole site.
Template filler still on the home page
Placeholder text and made-up testimonials from the theme, live for years.
Ordering through a service that closed
The button still points to a delivery app that shut down, so online orders go nowhere.
Directories pointing to the wrong place
Old listings send customers to someone else's website, or to an address you left years ago.
An old promotion still on the front page
Nobody had an easy way to change it, so it stayed. With monthly care, you send me the new one and it's up within two business days.
Who I work with
Businesses with loyal customers and a website that hasn't kept up
Your site is out of date
You have a website. It just doesn't help anymore.
- Built years ago on Squarespace, Wix, WordPress, or by a nephew
- Hours, prices, or the menu are wrong, or missing
- Changing anything means a password nobody remembers
- You're paying a monthly plan for a site you're embarrassed by
You don't have a site yet
Great reviews, but only on Yelp and DoorDash.
- Hundreds of good Google reviews and no website to send people to
- Delivery apps take a cut of orders that could come straight to you
- Customers can't find your menu, hours, or how to book
- A simple, fast site with your own address gives those customers somewhere to go, and online ordering (Phase 3) lets them order from you directly
- I set up the domain, listing, menu, and photos with you (see the $500 add-on below)
Cafés and bakeriesDelis and taqueriasSalons and barbersPet groomersTailors and cleanersAuto repairNeighborhood retailBoutiques with online shops
How it works
I build it first. You decide after you've seen it.
Each month I pick a few Marin businesses whose websites are holding them back. If I pick yours, the preview costs you nothing and there's no obligation. If you'd like me to build one for your business, there's a $250 deposit, credited to your project when you go ahead.
Work orderNo. 0042
CustomerMain Street Café, San Rafael
ProblemNo hours on home page. Order button goes nowhere. © 2018 in the footer.
Work done✓ New site built
✓ Hours, menu, tap-to-call
✓ Shown at the counter
✓ Hours, menu, tap-to-call
✓ Shown at the counter
PricePhase 1 · $1,500
Example ticket. Every business gets its own.
Built before
we met
we met
How I pick who I walk in on
I choose you, and only when I'm confident it will pay off.
I look for good businesses whose website is holding them back or doing nothing for them. Usually the site is old, it was never finished the way the owner asked, or the listings and directories that Google and AI tools use to send people your way were never set up or kept current. I only bring a proposal when I'm close to certain a better website will bring in more customers. That's why I pick you, and why I build the site before we ever meet.
-
I review and rebuild
I go through your current site on a phone and a computer, note what's broken or missing, and build the new one with your logo, photos, and menu.
Before we meet · Free if I picked you -
I walk in
Twenty minutes at my laptop. You click through the new site and keep a printed proposal with what I found, what it costs, and the timeline.
At your shop -
You decide, we launch
Pick your phases, confirm the details, and get one round of edits. Your email isn't touched, and old links keep working.
Live about 2 weeks after access -
I measure
I record where you stand before launch, then report at 90 days on calls, direction requests, and search clicks.
Day 90
Pricing
Three phases. Take one, two, or all three.
Flat prices, paid as the work is delivered. I recommend starting with Phases 1 and 2. Selling hundreds of products online? See the Shopify option for catalog shops below. These are introductory prices for my first Marin clients while I build my portfolio.
Introductory
prices
prices
New website
$1,500one time
- A new site in your brand, built for phones first
- Hours, address, and tap-to-call on every page
- Hours pulled from your Google listing, so they stay current
- Your menu or services as real text Google can read
- Search basics: page titles, descriptions, photo descriptions, sitemap
- Domain moved with email untouched, old pages redirected
- One round of edits after your review
Local and AI search
$950one time
- A keyword plan for the searches your customers make
- Google, Apple Maps, and Bing listings set up and matched
- Directory cleanup: Yelp, TripAdvisor, and the ones for your trade
- Seasonal pages that go up before people start searching
- Questions-and-answers content that ChatGPT, Siri, and Google's AI answers can use
- A counter QR card that opens your Google review page
- A baseline before launch and a 90-day progress report
Online ordering
$1,250one time, or $1,000 if added within 6 months of Phases 1 and 2
- A shopping cart with Stripe checkout, Apple Pay, and Google Pay
- Pickup, shipping, and gift cards
- Holiday preorders with limits and cutoff dates
- Order emails to your team and receipts to customers
- Lets you cancel an expensive Squarespace or Wix store plan, with a sign-off checklist first
- Test orders and training for your team
Add-on to Phase 1
Starting from scratch
For businesses with no website yet, or with no usable photos or menu online. I register your domain in your name, claim or verify your Google listing, write up your menu or services from your menu board and a short conversation, and spend an hour at your shop taking photos.
$500one time, added to Phase 1
Recommended start
Phases 1 and 2
$1,000 to start · $750 at launch · $450 when Phase 2 is done
Best value
All three phases
Pay in four steps, or $3,040 paid up front (5% off)
For catalog shops · Shopify
Hundreds of products? I move your store to Shopify.
When a shop sells a large catalog with colors, sizes, and shipping, a Shopify store works better than Phases 1 and 3. Shopify handles inventory, shipping, tax, and orders. Your catalog comes over from your current store's product export, so nobody retypes it.
Store build
$2,500one time, replaces Phases 1 and 3
- A Shopify store in your brand, built for phones first
- Clear menus for a big catalog, with filters by color and type
- Checkout with Shop Pay, Apple Pay, and Google Pay
- Shipping zones, including international, and sales tax set up
- Your domain connected, with email untouched
- One round of edits and an hour of training in your Shopify admin
Catalog move
$750up to 100 products, then $5 per product
- Every product, price, option, and photo moved from your store's export
- Product codes cleaned up into proper SKUs
- Each color or size matched to its photo
- Photo descriptions and search descriptions written for every product
- Every old product link redirected to its new page
Catalog package
$3,900store build, catalog move up to 150 products, and Phase 2 · $4,450 separately
$1,900 to start · $1,550 when the store goes live · $450 when Phase 2 is done
Larger catalogs add $5 per product over 150. I confirm the count from your export before we start.
Ongoing · optional
Monthly care · $350 a month
Send a photo and a sentence. I handle the rest. Keeps the site from drifting out of date again.
- Up to 3 hours of updates a month: menu, prices, hours, products, promotions
- Changes made within 2 business days
- Seasonal pages and holiday specials each year
- Two Google posts a month and review-reply drafts in your voice
- A short monthly report
3-month minimum, then month to month with 30 days' notice. For Shopify catalog shops, care covers up to 5 new products or color updates a month; seasonal collections and bulk uploads are quoted separately. Without care, updates are quoted per request.
Change requestOct 3
“Pumpkin loaf is back through November. Can you put it at the top of the home page and post it on Google?”
✓ Live on the site and Google · Oct 4
Running costs
Small bills from the services your site runs on. Each account is in your name and billed to you directly, separate from my prices.
| Service | Cost |
|---|---|
| Netlify hostingRuns the website | $9/month |
| StripePhase 3 only, no monthly fee | 2.9% + 30¢ per order |
| Shopify BasicCatalog shops only; replaces Netlify and Stripe. $39 if billed monthly | $29/month, billed yearly |
| Shopify PaymentsCatalog shops only. Amex and business cards 3.5% + 30¢ | 2.9% + 30¢ per order |
| Google Business Profile, Search Console, Analytics | Free |
| Your domain and email | No change |
How payment works
- Any one phaseHalf when we start, half when it goes live.
- Phases 1 and 2 $2,200$1,000 to start, $750 when your new site goes live, and $450 when the search work is done.
- All three phases $3,200The same three payments, then $1,000 when online ordering goes live. Or pay $3,040 up front and save 5%.
- Catalog package (Shopify) $3,900$1,900 to start, $1,550 when your store goes live, and $450 when the search work is done.
- Starting from scratch $500Added to your first payment.
- A preview you ask for $250Paid before I build it. It comes off your first payment if you go ahead.
- Monthly care $350 a monthBilled on the 1st of each month.
Bank transfer, card, or check. Bigger jobs, like online booking for a salon with many stylists, get their own quote after we talk.
What you can count on
Plain terms
You own all of it
The site files, the domain, the photos, and every account stay in your name. The site can move to another host any time.
Your email keeps working
I move the website without touching your email. Your current checkout keeps running until you choose to switch.
No promised rankings
No one can promise you the top spot on Google or in AI answers, and I won't. I promise the work, and a report that shows what changed.
Very little to maintain
Plain, fast web pages with no plugins, theme updates, or security patches to keep up with, which is what usually breaks other sites.
About
Hi, I'm Michael.
I live in Mill Valley and own a bakery, so I know what a small business owner's week looks like and how little of it is left for the website.
I started Walk-In Website after noticing how many of my favorite places in Marin had websites that sent customers away: no hours, broken order buttons, menus from three years ago. The businesses were excellent. The websites just hadn't kept up.
I'd rather show you than pitch you, so I build your new site before we meet. I work with a handful of businesses at a time, and you deal with me directly, from the first visit to the 90-day report.
Questions
What owners usually ask
Why would you build my site before I've agreed to anything?
Because a website is hard to judge from a description. Seeing your own menu and photos on a fast, clear site tells you more than any pitch. I choose the businesses I walk into, and for those the preview is free. If you don't want it, I don't publish it, and nothing of yours is used anywhere.
What happens when you visit?
It takes about twenty minutes. You click through your new site on my laptop, including how it looks on a phone, and keep a printed proposal with what I found on your current site, screenshots of the new one, prices, and a timeline to show your partner or manager. I live in Mill Valley, so the person who builds your site is the one who answers when you need a change.
Can I ask you to build a preview for my business?
Yes. There's a $250 deposit, and I build the preview and bring it to your shop like any other visit. If you go ahead, the full $250 comes off your project. If you decide not to, the deposit covers my time and the preview isn't published.
Do I have to leave Squarespace, Wix, or WordPress?
No. Phase 1 replaces the website itself. If your online store runs on one of those platforms, it can keep working at a shop address (like shop.yourbusiness.com) until you decide whether Phase 3 makes sense. For some businesses, dropping the platform saves several hundred dollars a year; I'll show you the numbers for your plan.
I sell hundreds of products online. Can you handle that?
Yes. For a big catalog, I build your new store on Shopify instead of Phases 1 and 3, and move your products over from your current store's export: prices, colors and sizes, photos, and descriptions. Old product links are redirected so customers and Google still find them. The catalog package is $3,900 for up to 150 products, including Phase 2. Shopify's plan costs about what a Squarespace store plan does, so the reason to switch is a store that works better and is easier to keep up, not a lower bill.
Will my email stop working?
No. Email and the website are set up separately on your domain. I only change the website records and leave your email exactly as it is.
What do you need from me?
Your current hours, prices, and any allergen or service details to confirm, plus manager access to your Google listing and your domain account. If you have a logo and photos, I use them. If not, we'll figure out photos together.
I don't have a website at all. Is that a problem?
Not at all, though it takes more setup. There's nothing to move, but there's also no domain, no photos, and no written menu to start from. The $500 "Starting from scratch" add-on covers that: your domain registered in your name, your Google listing claimed, your menu or services written up, and an hour of photos at your shop. With Phase 1, that's $2,000 total.
How do changes work after launch?
With monthly care, you send a photo and a note and I make the change within two business days. Without care, I quote each change before doing it.
Do you work outside Marin?
Most of my clients are in Marin County, where I can visit in person: Mill Valley, Sausalito, Tiburon, Corte Madera, Larkspur, San Anselmo, San Rafael, and Novato. I'm happy to talk with businesses in San Francisco and nearby.
Get in touch
Met me at your shop? Or want me to stop by?
If I've already visited, this is the easiest way to ask about your proposal or get started. If I haven't, tell me about your business; questions cost nothing. If you'd like me to build a preview of your new site and bring it by, that's a $250 deposit, which comes off your project if you go ahead.
- Reply within 2 business days
- No website yet? Send your business name and I'll start from your Google listing
Or email me directly: mike@walkinwebsite.com