I’m Kayla. I run a small candle shop online. I also help with a local food drive each fall. I’ve worked with PG Web Designs on both. Two very different projects. Same team. Same vibe. Here’s how it went, the good and the messy.
For readers who landed here from a search and want the shorter, publisher-edited story, I also shared this experience on 2 Experts Design under the title “I Hired PG Web Designs Twice—Here’s My Honest Take.”
Project 1: My Candle Shop Got a Real Storefront (On a Screen)
I came to PG with a clunky Shopify site. It looked cute, sure, but it was slow. The cart broke on mobile. My mom couldn’t even check out on her iPhone. That’s rough.
We did a 45-minute discovery call. Easy chat. They asked about my top sellers (citrus ginger, by the way), repeat buyers, and where folks drop off in checkout. They pulled up my analytics while we talked. I liked that. Not fancy. Just focused.
If you’re the kind who likes to scan the fine print before jumping in, you can skim PG Web Designs' official services page to see every package and platform they cover.
- Timeline: 5 weeks, start to launch
- Cost: $4,800 for the build, then $600 later for product import help
- Tools they used with me: Figma for layouts, Trello for tasks, Loom for walk-through videos, and Slack for quick notes
They built a custom Shopify theme. They added a “sticky add to cart” bar on mobile. They set up local pickup, which my neighbors love. Stripe stayed, Apple Pay was added, and yes, they fixed my SSL issue that made some folks get that scary “not secure” warning.
They made a simple content guide for me. Short words. Clear headlines. They even wrote first drafts for product pages and told me, “Keep scent notes in the first two lines.” It worked. People read those lines.
And the speed? Big change. My home page went from 5.4 seconds to 1.7 seconds on my Pixel. On PageSpeed, mobile jumped from a sad orange to a nice green. I’m not a numbers person, but I could feel it. The site just snapped open.
Three weeks after launch:
- Conversion went from 1.2% to 2.3%
- Bounce rate dropped about 15%
- Email signups almost doubled (they cleaned up my form and moved it higher)
If you’re comparing studios, you might like my write-up on how Kovak Web Design handled my original shop relaunch. It shows a different approach, but the stats line up in some surprising ways.
You know what? I didn’t think moving a form six inches would matter. It did.
If you want even more candid chatter—think unfiltered, real-world rants and raves from fellow small-business owners—check out the community threads over at Fuckbook where blunt, firsthand posts can help you spot red flags (and green flags) before you hand over a deposit to any web shop.
Some hiccups I have to mention
- Safari bug: On an older iPhone 8, the sticky bar jumped. Took them two days to patch. Not the end of the world. Still, those two days felt long.
- Extra fees: I asked for bulk product import late. That was on me. But the $600 add-on stung a bit.
- Stock photo swap: One hero image was too “stocky.” Smiles too glossy. They swapped it fast once I said it felt fake.
- Color contrast: One button was too low contrast for screen readers. They fixed it the same day.
- 404s: After launch, I found two missing redirects from old blog posts. They added them in minutes. Quick, but I had to ask.
Project 2: A One-Page “Give What You Can” Site
Next, our neighborhood food drive needed a simple site. One page. Clear info. A form. A map to donation spots. We had four days. I know. I asked a lot.
They suggested Webflow for speed. $900 flat. One round of edits. Map, form, and a sign-up link to our Mailchimp list. Clean and plain, but not boring. The headline was big and friendly. The hero had a photo from our street, not a stock image. Felt real.
They made the form work for folks who use screen readers. Labels were neat. Errors showed in red with clear text. The little stuff mattered here.
We printed posters with a QR code that led to the site. That week, 127 people signed up to help. We got enough pantry items to fill two vans. And I cried a little at pickup. It was a good week. A hard week, too, but good.
Support: Calm Heads, Even on a Sunday
I pay $75 a month for Shopify support. They do plugin updates and keep an eye on uptime. One Sunday morning, my DNS records got messy when I changed email hosts. I panicked. They replied in 12 minutes and fixed it in under an hour. That fast reply changed my whole day.
There was one oops. A staging change went live mid-day and broke the cart for about 15 minutes. They rolled it back fast, told me what happened, and added a month of support credit. I didn’t love the moment. I did love the honesty.
How They Communicate (And Why It Helps)
- Weekly check-ins on Slack. Short and sweet.
- Loom videos for anything tricky. I watched one on shipping zones twice, then got it.
- A handoff doc with tiny things I forget, like “where to swap hero images” and “how to add alt text.”
- No fancy talk just to sound smart. If they used a term, they explained it. LCP? “The big image that loads first.” That I can work with.
Who They’re Great For
- Small shops and makers who sell online
- Local groups and non-profits that need a clean page fast
- Coaches, artists, and photographers who want a sharp portfolio without a huge build
Need a little inspiration on how other service-based businesses present themselves? Take a quick look at how massage studios in vacation spots showcase their offerings on Rubmaps Palm Coast. Browsing the listings can spark ideas about photo angles, succinct service descriptions, and pricing layouts you might borrow when shaping your own site brief.
Maybe not the best fit if you need:
- A heavy custom web app
- Complex brand strategy from scratch
- A big team with deep agency layers and long decks
They can shape a brand, sure. But if you need a full naming workshop, mood films, and deep research, you might bring in a brand partner first.
A Few Tips If You Work With Them
- Bring real photos. Your face, your space, your hands at work. It changes everything.
- Be picky about your top headline. They’ll help, but your voice matters most.
- Leave a buffer week for edits. Life happens.
- Check your site on an older iPhone and a cheap Android. Weird stuff shows up there.
Pros and Cons From My Chair
Pros:
- Clear, kind, steady
- Fast mobile sites that actually sell
- Thoughtful about forms and access needs
- Helpful videos and docs I can use later
Cons:
- Small bugs on older devices took extra time
- Add-ons can add up if you change scope
- Stock images can feel off if you don’t guide them
For balance, I’ve also chronicled my collaboration with another small studio in this first-person take on Sila Web Design LLC. If you’re shopping around, the contrast might help you spot what matters most for your own project.
My Verdict
I’d rate my full experience a solid 4.5 out of 5. Real people. Real care. Good craft. Not perfect, but present. Still weighing opinions? This comprehensive review of PGWD pulls together case studies and third-party feedback that echo a lot of what I saw firsthand.
I’d hire PG Web Designs again, and I already did. If you’re still mapping out your own project, the practical guides over at 2 Experts Design can help you shape a smart brief before you ever hop on a call. And hey, my mom can now buy candles on her phone without calling me. That alone was worth it.