01
Semantic HTML, no DIV-soup
Real <article>, <section>, <nav>, <main>, <header>, <footer>. LLMs and crawlers parse structure before content.
Website design & development · Astro + headless CMS
Custom website design and development that loads in under a second and shows up in Google and ChatGPT.
We design and build marketing sites on Astro and a headless CMS, migrate them off WordPress, Squarespace or Wix without losing rankings, and hand you the code. Builds launch in 30 days to 11 weeks.
/ 00 — What it is
What is a custom Astro website build?
A custom Astro website build is a marketing site designed around your brand and built on Astro, a web framework that ships finished HTML and loads JavaScript only where a page needs it. Content is managed in a headless CMS, Sanity by default, so your team edits in a browser while the site itself stays fast.
The result loads in under a second, carries full schema markup and AI-crawler manifests on every page, and lives in a code repository you own. Elevato builds in seven phases, from discovery and content modelling to launch and 30 days of post-launch optimization.
Astro vs WordPress vs Webflow vs Squarespace: how the stacks compare.
Most business sites run on one of four stacks. Here is how they differ on the things that decide whether a site ranks and converts.
| Criteria | Astro + headless CMS (our build) | WordPress + page builder | Webflow | Squarespace / Wix |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| How pages are delivered | Finished HTML from the edge, JavaScript only where needed | Rendered by PHP on each request, plus builder scripts | Hosted static pages with Webflow runtime scripts | Hosted template pages with platform scripts |
| Typical page weight | Under 200 KB compressed | 2 to 5 MB with Elementor or Divi | Moderate | Moderate to heavy |
| Core Web Vitals | Pass by design; LCP under 1 s is the contract | Usually needs caching, CDN and cleanup | Usually pass | Mixed |
| Schema and meta control | Full, per page type, validated | Through plugins | Custom code per page | Limited |
| AI crawler controls (robots, llms.txt) | Full | Depends on host and plugins | Limited | Limited |
| Content editing | Sanity Studio, real-time, with preview | WordPress admin | Webflow Editor | Built-in editor |
| Who owns the code and content | You, in your own repository | You, but tied to plugins and host | Webflow hosts it; export is static HTML without the CMS | The platform |
| Security and maintenance | No plugins to patch | Ongoing plugin and core updates | Managed | Managed |
| Design flexibility | Unlimited, custom components | Template or builder constraints | High, within Webflow | Template |
| Best fit | Businesses that win customers through search | Sites that depend on specific WordPress plugins | Design-led small sites | Hobby and very small sites |
A hand-rolled React or Next.js site can match this on speed, but only with server rendering done right and a content model your marketers can use. Most marketing sites do not need React on every page.
A modern stack built for speed and editability.
Your team controls content; we handle the engineering.
01
Edge delivery
Pre-rendered HTML served from a global CDN. First byte under 100 ms anywhere your customers live. Netlify, Cloudflare Pages, or Vercel — we choose with you.
02
Astro build pipeline
Static-site generation by default. Islands of React, Vue, or Svelte only on interactive components. Optimized images at build time (AVIF + WebP, explicit dimensions, lazy below the fold).
03
Headless CMS (Sanity)
Structured content your team edits from any browser. Real-time collaboration, image pipeline, GROQ querying, generous free tier. We propose Sanity by default — we'll evaluate Storyblok, Payload, Contentful, Hygraph, or Decap if your situation calls for it.
04
Owned data + integrations
Your content lives in your CMS, your repo, your accounts. HubSpot, Salesforce, Marketo, Segment, GA4 — wired in as first-class citizens, not third-party scripts that tank performance.
Built for both search engines and the LLMs that quote them.
AI Overviews, Perplexity, ChatGPT Search, and Gemini don't read your site the way Google did in 2015. We build for the way they read it in 2026.
02
Disciplined heading hierarchy
One H1 per page. H2s framed as questions where it reads naturally — directly extractable into AI Overview answers.
03
JSON-LD schema on every page
Organization, WebSite, BreadcrumbList, Service, FAQPage, Article, LocalBusiness — chosen per page type, validated against Google's Rich Results test.
04
llms.txt + llms-full.txt at root
Explicit manifests telling Claude, GPT, Gemini, and Perplexity what your site is about and which content is canonical.
05
Robots policy that welcomes AI crawlers
GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot, Google-Extended — allowed by default, with per-path control when you need it.
06
Content structured for extractive answers
Short lead paragraphs that summarize. Definition boxes. FAQ blocks. Tables where comparisons live. Exactly what LLMs reach for first.
07
Open Graph + Twitter / X cards on every page
Hand-tuned share images, not auto-generated. Strong social referrals lift AI training signal too.
08
Canonical clarity
One canonical per page, no conflicting signals. Paginated archives use rel=next/prev where appropriate.
These aren't aspirations. They're the contract.
If your site doesn't hit these numbers at launch, it's not done. Measured on a cold cache, slow 4G simulation, mobile-first.
Lighthouse Performance
≥ 95
Mobile + desktop, cold cache, from a slow 4G simulation.
Lighthouse SEO
100
No exceptions — this is table stakes.
Lighthouse Accessibility
≥ 95
WCAG 2.2 AA as the floor. Real focus states, real alt text.
Lighthouse Best Practices
≥ 95
HTTPS, no console errors, modern image formats.
LCP (Largest Contentful Paint)
< 1.0 s
Hero image preloaded, fonts subset and self-hosted.
CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift)
< 0.05
Explicit width/height on every image. No content-reflow on load.
INP (Interaction to Next Paint)
< 200 ms
Minimal JS. No hydration overhead. Interactivity feels native.
Total Page Weight (median page)
< 200 KB compressed
Down from typical WP+Elementor pages weighing 2–5 MB.
Want these numbers on your own site?
Get a Build EstimateDon't take the commitments on faith. This page just hit them.
Measured from your actual session on this page, right now. Values update live as the browser reports them. Compare to the contract we sign with every build.
Largest Contentful Paint Target: < 1.0 s
— s
Measuring… How fast the largest visible element rendered
Cumulative Layout Shift Target: < 0.05
—
Measuring… How much the layout jittered while loading
Interaction to Next Paint Target: < 200 ms
— ms
Interact to measure How fast the page responds when you click, tap, or type
Page weight (transferred) Target: < 200 KB
— KB
Measuring… Compressed bytes the browser actually downloaded
Values are from your current page session in this browser, on whatever network you're on. Numbers are typically better on a warm cache and worse on first paint — that's why we commit to first-paint numbers (cold cache, slow 4G simulation) in our contracts.
Everything from workshop to launch to 30 days after.
Concrete scope, not a checklist of vague deliverables.
- Discovery + content model workshop
- Information architecture and conversion-first wireframing
- Brand-aligned visual design across breakpoints
- Astro build with islands of React/Vue/Svelte only where they earn their place
- Headless CMS setup (Sanity by default — alternatives evaluated case-by-case)
- On-page SEO: titles, metas, headings, internal linking, image alts
- Full JSON-LD schema implementation (Organization, WebSite, Service, FAQPage, Article, BreadcrumbList)
- Open Graph + Twitter / X card art for every page
- Edge-deployed hosting (Netlify, Cloudflare Pages, or Vercel — chosen with you)
- 301 redirect map from your legacy site, tested before cutover
- GA4 + your conversion tracking of choice (HubSpot, Plausible, Fathom)
- Core Web Vitals monitoring + 30-day post-launch optimization window
Seven phases. As quick as 30 days.
Repeatable, documented, measurable. Click any phase to see deliverables, who's involved, and what changes after it launches.
01
Phase 1 · 3 days – 1 week
Discovery & Audit
Diagnostic before any decision. We start by understanding what you actually have.
We don't recommend a single architectural choice until we've audited your current site, your brand, your content, and your conversion goals. Half the engagements end up with a different scope than the kickoff implied.
Deliverables
- Brand workshop and content inventory
- Competitor scan + competitive ranking analysis
- SEO equity audit + URL mapping
- Conversion-goal alignment + measurement plan
- Audit summary document (what we found + what it means)
Who's involved
Our owner (yours through delivery), brand lead, and one engineer for the technical audit.
What a custom website build costs.
Most builds land in one of three tiers. Page count, content migration, integrations and custom interactivity move a project between them. Every number is confirmed after discovery, and the final figure is sometimes lower.
Basic site
Around $3,000
Up to about 10 pages, your brand applied to our templates, standard contact form and tracking.
Mid-size site
Around $5,000
Custom design across key templates, blog or resources section, CMS training, SEO migration.
Larger or complex site
$7,000 to $10,000
Many pages or locations, e-commerce, heavy interactivity, integrations or custom features.
Setup and onboarding fees, ad spend and custom scopes are extra. Get an instant range from the pricing calculator, or request a scoped estimate.
Get a Build EstimateBuilt for teams that win customers on their website.
Law firms
Practice-area pages that rank, intake forms that convert, and a site the marketing team can update.
See how we work with law firmsB2B SaaS
Product pages structured for comparison searches and AI answers, with a CMS built for frequent releases.
See how we work with b2b saasFinancial services
Fast, accessible, compliant pages with schema that search engines trust.
See how we work with financial servicesHigher education
Program pages at scale, multi-campus content models, and accessibility as the floor.
See how we work with higher educationFranchises
One codebase, many locations, each with its own local pages and schema.
See how we work with franchisesConstruction staffing
Job and location pages that load fast on a phone in the field.
See how we work with construction staffingThe site you're reading is the demo.
It hits every commitment on this page. View source, run it through Lighthouse yourself — there's nothing hidden.
This site itself
The site you're reading. Astro, headless content, Lighthouse 95+ on cold cache, sub-second LCP. View the source — there are no surprises.
See the live PageSpeed scoreThe things people ask before they sign.
How much does a custom website cost?
Most builds land in one of three tiers: around $3,000 for a basic site, around $5,000 for a mid-size site, and $7,000 to $10,000 for larger sites or builds with e-commerce, heavy interactivity or custom integrations. Page count, content migration and the number of custom templates are what move a project between tiers. The pricing calculator gives an instant range, and we confirm the number after discovery.
Why not just use Squarespace or Wix?
They're fine for a hobby site. For a business that depends on search visibility and conversion, they hit walls fast: no real schema control, no AI-crawler manifest, locked-in templates, mediocre Core Web Vitals, and your content lives in their database, not yours. The price difference vanishes the first time you need to do something they don't support.
Is Astro faster than WordPress?
Yes, and the difference is structural. Astro ships finished HTML and loads JavaScript only where a component needs it. WordPress renders pages in PHP on each request, and page builders add megabytes of scripts and styles on top. Caching plugins narrow the gap on repeat visits but not on first loads, which is what Core Web Vitals measure. Our builds target LCP under one second and a median page under 200 KB.
Can you migrate my existing site without losing rankings?
Yes. We build a per-URL redirect map during the information architecture phase, test it before and after launch with a script that fails on any 404 or non-301, preserve or improve every page's schema, and resubmit the sitemap to Google and Bing on cutover day. Skipping that work is where most redesign ranking losses come from.
Who owns the code?
You do. Repository hosted in your GitHub or GitLab organization from day one. We hand over the keys at launch. No platform lock-in, no proprietary "agency CMS" you can't move off of.
What CMS will my team actually edit in?
By default, Sanity Studio, a real-time, collaborative content editor your team can run from a browser. It's the strongest fit for structured content, image handling, and Astro integration we've found. We'll evaluate alternatives (Storyblok, Payload, Contentful, Hygraph, Decap) if your situation calls for something else, and document the decision.
Can my marketing team edit the site without a developer?
Yes. Content lives in Sanity Studio, a browser-based editor with real-time collaboration, image handling and preview. Your team edits pages, posts, FAQs and metadata. A developer is needed only for new page types or components, and we document the content model at handover.
Do I need React for a marketing site?
Usually not. Astro renders static HTML and lets us add React, Vue or Svelte only to the components that need interactivity, such as a calculator or a filterable directory. The rest of the page ships with no framework JavaScript at all.
What about AI search, ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews?
This is most of why people come to us right now. We publish llms.txt and llms-full.txt manifests, allow legitimate AI crawlers (GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot, Google-Extended) by default, structure content for extractive answers, and use schema that LLMs treat as canonical. You won't just rank. You'll be the source they cite.
How long does a build take?
A tight-scope marketing site can launch in as little as 30 days; a full marketing-site build typically runs 6 to 11 weeks end to end. An enterprise build with content migration, multi-language, or e-commerce can be 4 to 6 months. We give you a real timeline after the discovery phase, never before.
What happens after launch?
Thirty days of optimization are included. We watch real-user Core Web Vitals, fix the slowest 10% of pages, compare conversion rates with your old site, and meet weekly. After that you can continue as an ongoing partner or take the keys.
/ Pricing
Ballpark your build in 60 seconds.
Most builds land between $3,000 and $10,000 depending on size and features. Answer three quick questions and see where yours lands.
Try the pricing calculator ~60 seconds, real rate-card pricing
/ 12 — Next move
Get a real estimate for your build.
Thirty minutes on a call. We'll scope the project, give you a real number, and you'll know what we'd do differently than your current stack — whether you hire us or not.