I’m Kayla. I run a little tea shop on SE Hawthorne. I also sell tea online. My old site was slow, buggy, and kinda blah. Rainy-day blah. I needed help, and I wanted people here in Portland who get our vibe—plants, bikes, cozy stuff, and strong coffee.
So I tried three local teams. Some wins, some face palms. You know what? It was worth it.
If you want a second opinion on how Portland shops like mine tackle web projects, I found this honest rundown helpful: I Hired Three Portland Web Design Teams—Here’s What Actually Happened.
My mess, my goals
My site ran on WordPress with WooCommerce. The cart broke a lot. The mobile menu stuck open like old gum. Folks bounced.
What I wanted:
- Fast pages on phones
- A shop that didn’t crash
- A brand that felt like Portland, not a big box store
- Clear pages that grandma and teenagers both could use
Who I hired (and why)
1) GRAYBOX — the fix-it crew
I hired GRAYBOX first to stop the bleeding. They cleaned up my WordPress plugins, fixed my checkout, and tuned speed.
- Tools we used: Trello for tasks, GitHub for code, Loom for quick video notes
- Real numbers: my mobile Lighthouse score went from 41 to 89; cart errors dropped to near zero that week
- Cost: $4,800 for the sprint
- Good: They were calm; they explained stuff in plain words; no drama
- Not so good: Email replies were slow on Fridays; I had to nudge twice on a tiny font bug
I met Matt from their team at Coava (Granary). We traded notes over a cappuccino with oat milk. Very Portland. Very helpful.
2) Murmur Creative — the brand and the look
Next, I wanted a fresh face. Murmur Creative built a style guide, new logo tweaks, and a new theme. We moved the shop to Shopify. That shocked me at first, but it made sense. The store just worked.
- Stack we used: Shopify + Judge.me for reviews + Klaviyo for email
- Design flow: Figma mockups → feedback → final build
- Cost: $16,500 all in (brand kit, homepage, product pages, a few custom bits)
- Good: The site feels like home—soft greens, clean type, photos that show steam and leaves; checkout is smooth
- Not so good: We slipped by two weeks; content handoff got messy, and that was on me too
For a perspective outside the Pacific Northwest, this hands-on review of finding a web design agency in Melbourne shows how universal some of these design headaches are.
We talked in Slack. I sent product shots. They asked for alt text and short blurbs. I learned to write less copy. Short lines sold more tea. Who knew?
3) Emerge — the plan people
I didn’t hire Emerge to build. I brought them in for a one-day UX workshop. We mapped the store flow. We cut extra clicks. They gave me a sitemap, wireframes, and notes on the nav.
- Cost: $3,500 for the workshop
- Good: Very clear thinking; their wireframes became our base
- Not so good: It felt a bit big-agency for my tiny team; more formal, less scrappy
I kept their PDF in a Google Drive folder named “Do Not Mess This Up.” It helped.
Real results (no fluff)
- Page load on mobile: about 1.6 seconds on key pages
- Search clicks: up 38% in three months (from Search Console)
- Sales: up 22% over 90 days after launch
- Return rate: up, and support emails down (fewer “how do I check out” notes)
Beyond my own store metrics, I also poked around how other niche businesses handle their local presence online. A curious example is the way specialized directories showcase service-based companies such as Rubmaps Shawnee — exploring how they highlight hours, verified reviews, and clear calls-to-action gave me fresh inspiration for tightening my Google Business Profile and making my tea listings more enticing to first-time visitors.
Folks told me the new site feels “calm.” That word stuck. Calm sells tea.
The Portland touch
We added small local bits. A photo near the St. Johns Bridge. Copy that nods to Powell’s on a rainy day. Icons with tiny fern tips. It’s not loud. It’s a wink. People from here get it. Tourists like it too.
We also shot product photos at a friend’s kitchen in Sellwood. Natural light, ceramic mugs, no fake steam. The site smells warm, even though it can’t. I like that trick.
The rough spots (and my own oops)
- Content lag: I was late with photos and blurbs. That delay bounced back and hit the timeline.
- App creep: Shopify apps pile up fast. We cut two after launch to keep speed.
- DNS day: Moving the domain felt scary. GRAYBOX walked me through it on Zoom. Still, sweaty palms.
- Scope slips: I asked for “one more” section. And then another. That added cost. My bad.
On nights when I felt the urge to poke at live code just to “see what happens,” I leaned on this brutally honest primer about how to test changes safely and quietly: Fuck Around and Not Get Caught. It lays out step-by-step backup tactics and rollback tricks so you can experiment without blowing up your storefront or your sanity.
Reading this shop-owner’s reflection on launching a site with Kovak Web Design made me feel a lot less alone with those late-night “did I miss something?” worries.
Tools that actually helped
- Figma for feedback, so we could point and comment
- Slack for quick chat, with thread emojis for sign-off (green check meant go)
- Google Docs for copy (short lines, no fluff)
- Search Console and Shopify Analytics for the real story
- Lighthouse to keep me honest on speed
Simple stack. Clear wins.
Who should you call?
This is just my take, from my own butt-in-seat work.
- Need a rescue on WordPress or speed? GRAYBOX was steady and clear.
- Want a fresh brand and a smooth shop? Murmur nailed the feel and the flow.
- Need a plan before you build? Emerge gave me a map I still use.
I also met with Daylight Studio and Harlo Interactive. Nice folks, strong decks. We didn’t move forward because of my budget and timing, but they were straight with me on scope.
For extra reading, 2ExpertsDesign has a no-fluff checklist on picking the right web team that helped me sanity-check my choices.
What I’d do different next time
- Write product copy first. Short, friendly, scannable.
- Pick must-have apps only. Add later if needed.
- Set a feedback rule: two rounds, max. Save the tiny tweaks for post-launch.
- Book a half-day shoot. Good photos beat fancy words.
- Add email flows early: welcome, abandoned cart, review ask. Klaviyo made that easy.
Dollars and sense
People always ask, “What did it cost?” So here:
- Fix and speed work: $4.8k
- Brand + site build: $16.5k
- UX workshop: $3.5k
- Photos, props, tea towels, snacks (yes, snacks): about $900
Was it a lot? For me, yes. But the site paid it back in a few months. And my stress dropped like a rock.
Final take
Would I hire them again? Yes.
- GRAYBOX for fixes and tech stuff
- Murmur for brand and feel
- Emerge when I need a smart map
The site is fast. It feels like Portland without yelling “Portland.” My customers find what they need. I sleep better. Also, I drink less coffee now. Funny, right?
If you’re hunting for Portland web design, bring clear goals, honest copy, and a rain jacket. Ask real questions. Look at real work. And when a team shows their wireframes and their mess, not just shiny shots—pay attention. That’s the good sign.