Web design in Warwick and Leamington Spa

Two neighbouring towns with different strengths

Warwick and Royal Leamington Spa sit side by side south of Kenilworth, with the University of Warwick campus on the southern edge of Coventry a short drive away. Warwick is the county town, with its castle, historic centre and racecourse. Leamington is a Regency spa town with wide streets, a busy shopping centre, a large student population and a reputation for independent food and drink.

Both towns draw on the university and on the research and engineering employers across south Warwickshire, which brings a large professional and technical workforce into the area.

Silicon Spa: games and technology

Leamington is home to one of the UK's best-known clusters of video games studios, often nicknamed "Silicon Spa". Studios large and small are based in and around the town, alongside software, digital and creative businesses that have grown up nearby.

Technology and games firms have particular website needs. Recruitment is often as important as sales, so studio culture, open roles and the projects people would work on need to be presented properly. Portfolio work has to load quickly despite heavy media. And many of these businesses need to update their sites frequently around launches and announcements.

• Careers sections with role pages that can be added and removed easily.
• Project and portfolio pages built for video and large images without becoming slow.
• Press pages with downloadable assets.
• Clear, fast sites that work well on the devices developers and players actually use.

University spin-outs and research firms

The University of Warwick, including WMG with its focus on manufacturing and automotive research, produces spin-out companies and attracts research-led firms to the area. These companies often need a credible website quickly, ahead of funding rounds, grant applications or trade shows, with the technology explained in plain English. Our guide to building a website for a spin-out covers the essentials.

Independent retail and hospitality

Leamington's Parade and surrounding streets, and Warwick's historic centre around the castle, support a large number of independent shops, cafés, restaurants and bars. Warwick Castle draws visitors throughout the year, and Leamington's student and professional population keeps its evening economy busy.

For these businesses, competition in search is strong and reputation is everything. A beautiful but slow site will lose to a quick, clear one. We focus on fast pages, good photography, accurate information and a well-run Business Profile. For shops that want to sell online too, our ecommerce service covers click-and-collect and local stock.

How customers search here

Warwick and Leamington residents are often searching for specialist services and quality rather than the cheapest option. Visitors search by landmark and need. Tech businesses are found by name, through industry networks and by job seekers searching for roles. A good site here is usually one that knows exactly which of these audiences it is for and serves them clearly.

Getting started

If you are a Leamington studio or tech firm, start with the careers section: it is often the page most visited after the home page, and the one that is most out of date. If you run a shop, café or restaurant in Warwick or Leamington, start with your Business Profile and a menu or product page that loads quickly on a phone. If you are a research spin-out, start with a one-sentence explanation of what you do that a non-specialist would understand, and build the site around it.

• Careers pages for studios and tech firms.
• Fast menu and product pages for independents.
• Plain-English technology pages for research firms.

See our guide to choosing between WordPress, Shopify and a custom build if you are weighing up platforms, or get in touch for a free quote.