Web Design & SEO Services for Small Businesses — NexusForge Digital

Professional web design and SEO optimization for small businesses — agency-quality results at freelancer speed and price. Get a fast, search-ready website with no long-term contracts.

Website Packages

One-time builds designed to fit where your business is today — from a first professional presence to a full growth-ready site.

Starter

$900–$1,500 one-time
  • 3–5 page responsive website
  • Basic on-page SEO (titles, meta, alt text)
  • Google Business Profile setup
  • 1 round of revisions

Pro

$4,000–$7,500+ one-time
  • Everything in Growth
  • Booking/e-commerce integration
  • Competitor & keyword research report
  • Analytics/tracking setup
  • Launch SEO audit

Ongoing Support Plans

Keep your site fast, secure, and visible after launch — or as a standalone plan for a site I didn't build.

Care Plan

$150–$250/mo

Hosting monitoring, security, backups, minor edits (up to 2 hrs/mo)

SEO Growth

$450–$800/mo

Care Plan + keyword tracking, monthly content updates, technical SEO fixes, reporting

Growth Partner

$900–$1,500+/mo

SEO Growth + conversion tweaks, competitor monitoring, quarterly strategy call

How Does the Process Work?

Five focused steps — from initial audit to measurable results. No agency bloat, no 12-week onboarding.

  1. Website & SEO Audit — We run a full technical scan: page speed, structured data, meta tags, heading hierarchy, and AI crawler visibility. You get a clear list of exactly what's costing you traffic.
  2. Fix Technical Issues First — Before touching content, we clear any spam flags, correct Open Graph images, repair broken heading structures, add missing favicons, and resolve indexing errors.
  3. Add Structured Data (Schema) — We add FAQPage, HowTo, and LocalBusiness JSON-LD schema so your site is readable by AI tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews.
  4. Optimize Content for AI Search — Titles and headings are rewritten to match search intent. FAQ answers are expanded. Key Takeaways boxes are added so AI assistants can extract and cite your content.
  5. Measure & Report Results — We track SEO and AEO scores before and after. You get a clear before/after report — something concrete you can share or use to justify the investment.

Frequently Asked Questions

Straight answers to the questions small business owners ask most.

What is the difference between SEO and AEO?

SEO improves how your site ranks in traditional Google results. AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) goes further — it structures your content so AI tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews can extract and cite your site directly. AEO relies on schema markup, well-structured FAQs, and clear definitions.

How long does a web design or SEO project take?

A Starter website build takes 2–3 weeks. The Growth package runs 3–5 weeks depending on content readiness. SEO and AEO optimization passes on an existing site can often be completed in 1–2 weeks. Timeline depends on how quickly feedback rounds are completed.

Do I need to sign a long-term contract?

No. One-time builds and audits have no ongoing commitment. Monthly support plans are month-to-month — cancel or pause with 30 days' notice.

What is an AEO score and why does it matter?

An AEO score (measured by tools like seoscore.tools) shows how well your site is structured for AI-powered search. A score below 60 means AI tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity likely can't extract useful answers — and won't cite your site. A score above 80 means your content is consistently readable and citable by AI answer engines, which increasingly drive zero-click traffic.

Can you work on a site you didn't build?

Yes. The SEO Growth and Growth Partner retainer plans are available for any existing site. The Website & SEO Audit ($250–$450) is a good starting point — it gives a full picture of what's holding back your current site before committing to ongoing work.

Real Results

Two recent projects — technical SEO, performance, and AI search optimization. See what a focused pass can do.

SEO Audit & Performance Optimization

Case Study: Sunrise Café & Bistro

Turning a Slow, Under-Optimized Website into a Fast, Search-Ready Growth Engine

Client: Sunrise Café & Bistro, Whitchurch-Stouffville, ON — breakfast, lunch & catering

The Challenge

  • Hidden text SEO violation — active Google spam flag
  • Sitemap submitted 7 non-indexable anchor links
  • Open Graph image wrong size (693×867px declared as 1200×630)
  • Slow load times: 3.0s+ first paint
  • No structured data, no AI-search-ready content
  • Email address obfuscated by Cloudflare — opaque to crawlers

The Approach

  • Cleared hidden text violation: removed Cloudflare scripts, fixed font sizes, replaced obfuscated links with direct mailto:
  • Built correct 1200×630 branded OG image from real logo
  • Generated complete favicon suite (6 sizes + .ico)
  • Created structured llms.txt for AI assistant crawlers
  • Launched 5-week Google Posts campaign for local visibility
  • Performance engineering: lazy-loading, images, fonts, scripts
MetricBeforeAfter
SEO Score (webscore.now)Multiple flagged issues90+ on all pages
Hidden text violationActive Google spam flagCleared
Open Graph imageWrong size (693×867px)1200×630 branded image
Favicon coverage1 size only6 sizes + .ico
First Contentful Paint3.0s0.8s
Largest Contentful Paint3.6s0.8s
PageSpeed Score (mobile)—99 / 100

Google PageSpeed Insights — Mobile (after)

99
Performance
90
Accessibility
96
Best Practices
100
SEO

"Not a redesign — a precise set of fixes that turned an existing site into one that's fast, indexable, and built for how people actually search today."

⬇ Download Full Case Study (PDF) Detailed breakdown of every fix and result

AEO / GEO Optimization

Case Study: NexusForge Digital

From Invisible to AI-Ready: +31 AEO Points and SEO 70 → 92 on a Digital Product Site

Client: NexusForge Digital — AI toolkits & productivity systems for solopreneurs — nexusforgedigital.net

The Challenge

  • AEO/GEO score of 57 — invisible to ChatGPT, Perplexity & Google AI Overviews
  • All 3 free resource page titles over 60 chars — truncated in search results
  • Homepage "How It Works" section set to display:none — hidden from users and crawlers
  • No FAQPage or HowTo schema on any page
  • FAQ answers were single sentences — too thin for AI extraction

The Approach

  • Added FAQPage JSON-LD with full paragraph-length answers (5 Q&As per page)
  • Added HowTo JSON-LD with numbered steps matching visible content
  • Built Key Takeaways boxes — first-extractable summaries for AI snippets
  • Added <dl>/<dt>/<dd> term definitions favoured by answer engines
  • Fixed all title lengths to 30–60 chars with primary keyword in first 30
  • Made hidden section visible with real content; added dateModified & author meta
MetricBeforeAfter
SEO Score (seoscore.tools)7092 (+22 pts)
AEO/GEO Score (seoscore.tools)5788 (+31 pts)
SEO title violations3 pages over limitAll within 30–60 chars
FAQPage + HowTo schemaNoneAll pages
AI crawler visibilityNoneFull structured data

seoscore.tools — Homepage (after)

92
SEO Score
88
AEO/GEO Score
+22
SEO Points Gained
+31
AEO Points Gained

"The AEO/GEO score is the number that matters most right now — it's what determines whether AI tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity find your site and cite it in answers. Going from 57 to 88 is the difference between invisible and discoverable."

⬇ Download Full Case Study (PDF) Full breakdown of every AEO signal added and why it works

Not sure where to start?

Get a $250–$450 Website & SEO Audit — a clear, concrete look at what's costing you visitors and customers online. No obligation.

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