Web Design, WordPress & Shopify Agency in Dorset
WordPress is our deepest specialism. Shopify is a serious part of the offer. The platform, structure and build method are chosen around what your business needs, not what is easiest for an agency to resell.
A website should fit the business, not the agency’s favourite shortcut.
The difficult part of a website project is rarely putting text and images into pages. It is deciding what the website needs to achieve, how customers will move through it, what the business must be able to manage and which technology will still make sense after launch.
Blunt Notion handles that thinking and the implementation. We start with the business model, customers, content, existing visibility and operational requirements. The sitemap and commercial page structure are planned early because design, development and SEO all work better when the right destinations exist from the beginning.
WordPress is usually the right foundation for content-rich service websites, publishers and organisations that need flexible ownership. Shopify is often the better answer when ecommerce operations, product management and established retail tooling are central. We also inherit and develop other established PHP-based content systems where replacing everything would be wasteful.
Interfaces are designed around the project. Builds are tested across real devices and browsers, with accessibility, performance, editing and search requirements considered throughout. You are not passed from salesperson to project manager to somebody quietly installing a theme.
Blunt Notion works throughout Dorset without pretending to be based there. Yeovil places us close to Sherborne and within practical reach of the wider county. Meetings can happen in person when useful, while focused remote reviews keep projects moving when travel adds nothing.
Understand the commercial job.
We start with what the website needs to change: better enquiries, clearer services, ecommerce growth, easier content management, a platform migration or functionality the current site cannot support. Existing analytics, Search Console data and valuable URLs are reviewed where available.
Plan structure and platform together.
Services, products, locations, proof and customer questions need clear destinations. We plan the sitemap and content model alongside the platform decision so WordPress, Shopify or another CMS supports the work instead of dictating it.
Design and develop the real thing.
Interfaces are designed for the project, then developed into responsive and accessible templates. WordPress builds use bespoke themes and reusable editing components. Shopify work can include custom theme development, product structure and integrations rather than a lightly restyled storefront.
Test, launch and stay useful.
Content, forms, ecommerce journeys, integrations, responsive layouts, accessibility, performance and critical search settings are tested before launch. After handover, you can run the website internally or retain Blunt Notion for hosting, support and phased development.
Design, development and SEO decisions that connect.
Dorset businesses don’t need every digital service thrown into one proposal. They need the right capabilities applied to the same commercial problem.
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Website design
Original responsive designs shaped around your customers, content and conversion priorities, not a generic theme with different colours.
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WordPress development
Custom WordPress themes, WooCommerce, integrations and editing experiences developed by somebody who understands the platform beyond plugins and page builders.
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Shopify development
Bespoke Shopify theme development, responsive storefronts and ecommerce structures designed around how the business sells and operates.
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SEO
Technical, on-page and local SEO grounded in useful page structure, sound implementation and relevant search intent, not manufactured traffic reports.
Built for businesses that’ve outgrown the easy answer.
Blunt Notion is a good fit when the website has to support more than an online introduction.
We regularly help businesses that:
- have outgrown Wix, Squarespace, a marketplace theme or an inflexible agency platform;
- need WordPress without page-builder dependency and unnecessary plugin weight;
- want to move an ecommerce business onto Shopify or improve an existing store;
- serve several Dorset towns and need a credible location structure rather than duplicated pages;
- rely on seasonal, visitor or mobile demand and need important journeys to work quickly;
- need bookings, ecommerce, APIs or third-party systems to connect properly;
- are redesigning or migrating without wanting to throw away established search visibility;
- want direct access to somebody capable of recommending and implementing the technical answer.
A project can include discovery, sitemap and content architecture, wireframes, bespoke visual design, responsive development, WordPress or Shopify implementation, ecommerce configuration, integrations, migration, technical SEO, analytics, testing, training and launch support.
The scope, timescale and investment depend on complexity, content, functionality and deadline. Projects can be phased where delivering a strong foundation first is more responsible than squeezing everything into one launch. Hosting and support are available but not compulsory, and clients retain ownership of their website code.
Apex Brewing Co
Dorset Shopify project
A full-throttle Shopify store for a Dorset brewery.
Apex Brewing Co are independent petrolhead brewers based at Patson Hill Farm near Sherborne. They already had a bold visual identity and an ambitious supplied website design. The development challenge was turning that creative direction into a responsive Shopify store that still made products, merchandise, events and brewery information easy to use.
Blunt Notion delivered custom Shopify theme development, responsive front-end work, ecommerce structure, product setup and technical planning around the brewery’s wider operational systems. The result feels unmistakably Apex without sacrificing the ordinary jobs an online shop needs to perform.
No invented revenue graph is required. The live store, project decisions and Apex’s own review provide stronger evidence than an unsupported percentage.
What Apex Brewing Co said.
Kieron is so easy to work with, he over delivers, really knows his stuff, and is on hand to make the launch of your new website smooth and stress free. He built some cool little bespoke features into the new brewery project he worked on with me.
Sadie Wilkins | Apex Brewing Co | Google Review
More Recent
Work
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Apex Brewing Co
Content implementation, Ecommerce structure, Responsive front-end development, Shopify theme development, Technical planning
Independent brewery and ecommerce
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Collaborative Counselling
Branding, CMS, Content Creation, Hosting & Maintenance, SEO, Web Design, Web Development, WordPress
Counselling, Wellbeing
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South Hams Accounting
Branding, CMS, Content Creation, Hosting & Maintenance, SEO, Web Design, Web Development, WordPress
Accounting
Based near the border. Working across Dorset.
Blunt Notion is based in Yeovil, Somerset, not in a fictional Dorset satellite office. That puts us close to Sherborne and within practical reach of businesses throughout the county, while the same project process works remotely for Bournemouth, Poole, Weymouth and beyond.
Dorset is not one uniform market. A company serving the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole area may need a different content and search structure from a rural trade, a Weymouth visitor business or a product company selling throughout the UK. The website should reflect the real customer journey and operating area rather than stuffing every town into one paragraph.
We work across Dorset including Bournemouth, Poole, Weymouth, Dorchester, Sherborne and Shaftesbury, as well as businesses operating across the county and wider South West.
Web design in Bournemouth
Web design in Poole
Web design in Weymouth
Web design in Dorchester
Web design in Sherborne
Web design in Shaftesbury
Straight answers before you commission a website for your Dorset business.
Location matters less than capability, communication and whether the working relationship makes sense. These are the practical questions to settle before choosing an agency.
No. Blunt Notion is based in Yeovil, Somerset, close to the Dorset border. We work with Dorset businesses in person and remotely, including Apex Brewing Co near Sherborne. We would rather be precise about that than manufacture a local office for a landing page.
Yes, where an in-person meeting will improve discovery, planning or review. Many later stages work efficiently through focused online calls and shared designs. The project method is agreed around the people and work rather than forcing every conversation into one format.
Cost depends on the number of page types, content, design requirement, ecommerce, integrations, migration and deadline. Blunt Notion does not compete with £500 template packages. After an initial conversation, we define the scope and provide a clear proposal. Larger builds can be delivered in phases.
WordPress is usually stronger for flexible content-led websites, service businesses and custom publishing requirements. Shopify is often the better operational choice for a product-led ecommerce business. We work with both and recommend the platform according to the requirement rather than forcing every client into one answer. We can also work with other CMS and bespoke builds.
Yes. We inherit, audit and improve existing sites regularly. The first step is understanding the theme, plugins or apps, hosting, integrations, content and search visibility. We will explain whether focused development or a controlled rebuild is the better investment.
A redesign should account for valuable URLs, content, metadata, internal links, redirects, structured data and technical indexability before launch. No agency can promise rankings will never move, but migration risk can be investigated and managed rather than ignored.
Yes. WordPress projects use practical reusable components appropriate to the content. Shopify projects use sensible sections, templates and product structures. Training and handover can be included so routine changes do not require a developer or damage the design. We want the process of managing your website to be as simple as possible.
No. Hosting, maintenance and ongoing development are available and often sensible, but they are not compulsory. The website code remains yours and the project is not structured around trapping you on a proprietary platform.
Tell us what your website needs to achieve.
Whether you are replacing a site that has become a problem, planning a new WordPress build or need a Shopify store capable of supporting the next stage of the business, start with the situation as it really is. We will tell you what looks sensible, what needs investigating and whether Blunt Notion is the right fit.