Field Notes
Notes from the studio — what AI changed, what it didn’t, what we ship, what we won’t. Written for Greater Montreal small-business owners shopping for a real website.
Wix advertises $16/month. The 5-year math is closer to $1,560 — and that's without the apps you'll end up needing. Here's the honest side-by-side, with a live calculator you can run yourself.
Ranking isn't a black box and it isn't about hacks. It's about doing five specific things — the same five things — that nine in ten Montreal small-business sites skip. Here's the honest playbook.
The real shift isn't "AI built this site." It's that one experienced developer can now ship what used to take a 6-person agency.
Most agencies hide their pricing. Wix publishes theirs but charges for every basic feature. Here's what a custom site actually costs in Greater Montreal — and what you should walk away from.
Most websites score 30–60 on mobile. The ones ranking score 70–90. Hitting 100 is engineering discipline, not wizardry — and honestly, most agencies don't bother.
For five years, Wix and Squarespace templates were the answer for cheap small-business websites. They're not anymore — and the reasons should change how you spend your next budget.
Most owners with bad websites don't know it. You launched 3 years ago, it looks "fine" to you, and you assume new customers find you via Instagram. Here are 5 signs that's wrong.
Last month we built a full e-commerce storefront for a Montreal eyewear brand — brief on Monday, live two weeks later. Here's every day of the build, including what AI did and didn't do.