Eyup. If you’ve typed “web development agency Leeds” into Google, chances are you’re past the “we need a nicer website” stage. You’ve got something that needs to do a job: take bookings, pull in stock, talk to your CRM, sync data from somewhere else.
Here’s a quick look at what web development actually means at Our Agency, how we go about it, and how to tell if an agency (us included) is the right fit.
Web design vs web development: does the difference matter?
In short, yes. Web design is how a site looks and how people move through it: the layouts, the user journeys, the UI. Web development is the build underneath: the code, the CMS, the integrations, the bits that talk to other systems.
Plenty of agencies do one well and bolt on the other. We’d rather the same team handles both, because the best-looking design in the world isn’t much use if nobody thought about how the content gets edited, or how the booking data gets in. If design is your main concern, our web design Leeds page covers that side. This post is about the engine room.
What we build
Most of what comes through our door falls into one of four camps.
Bespoke WordPress sites
Our bread and butter, every site is custom built, no off-the-shelf themes, using ACF flexible content blocks. In plain English, your team gets a library of page sections (we call them flexible blocks) they can mix, match and edit themselves. We build modular on purpose as it keeps sites tidy, quick to extend and a lot cheaper to look after in year two and three.
Ecommerce
We build on both Shopify and WooCommerce. We’re an official Shopify Partner, and for businesses that want their shop sitting right inside WordPress, WooCommerce is the best shout. The honest answer to “which one?” depends on your products, your stock setup and who’s running the shop day to day. We’ll tell you which we’d pick and why.
Integrations and data-driven sites
This is where web development earns its name, a good example is Fusion Students: their accommodation data sits centrally, and we built an API connection that feeds and live syncs every student accommodation location onto the website. Nobody’s copying and pasting room details across dozens of pages.
If your business has data living in one system and a website that needs it, that’s the sort of job we enjoy.
Web systems and AI integration
Sometimes the thing you need isn’t really a website at all, it’s a portal, a tool, a workflow, an MVP. Our web systems work starts with a proper process review and spec before anyone writes a line of code. We do AI integration too, from workflow automation to chatbots hooked into your own data. Only where it actually saves someone time and not because it’s on trend.
How a build actually runs
No mystery to it, but it’s worth knowing what you’re signing up for.
- Discovery. We get under the skin of the business: who the site’s for, what it needs to connect to, what success looks like. This is where most bad projects could have been saved.
- Spec and structure. Sitemap, user journeys, wireframes, and for anything with integrations, a written technical spec so everyone knows what’s being built.
- Design. UI design and prototypes, signed off before development starts.
- Build. Development, integrations, content population and testing across devices.
- Launch and aftercare. Go live, check everything, then ongoing maintenance and support if you want it.
A typical bespoke build takes somewhere between six and twelve weeks. The biggest variable usually isn’t the code, it’s content. If your copy and images are ready, things move reyt quick.
Built to be found, not just to look nice
Every build gets proper technical SEO foundations from day one: clean structure, sensible page speed, schema markup, and content laid out so both Google and AI tools like ChatGPT and Gemini can understand what you do. If you want to push further, our SEO, GEO and AEO team picks it up from there.
Why Leeds businesses work with us
We’ve been at this since 2007, we’ve got a studio at White Rose Park in Leeds, so we’re close enough to pop in for a brew rather than doing everything over a video call.
We’re a small, senior team, the people you meet in the first meeting are the people building your site, not handing it off to someone you’ll never speak to. Design, development, copywriting, photography and video all sit under one roof, which means fewer handovers and fewer “that’s not our bit” conversations.
We’re also Cyber Essentials certified, which matters more than people think when your site is handling customer data or plugging into internal systems.
Clients we’ve built for include Fusion Students, Lodestone Projects, and Trinity Walk. Have a gander through our projects to see the range.
How to pick a web development agency (even if it isn’t us)
A few questions worth asking whoever you speak to:
- Will we be able to edit the site ourselves? If the answer involves “just send us your changes”, be wary.
- Who owns the code and the hosting? You should. Full stop.
- What happens after launch? Updates, security, backups. Get it in writing.
- Can you show me something you’ve built that connects to another system? If integrations matter to you, ask for proof, not promises.
- Who’s actually doing the work? Meet them if you can.
Any decent agency will answer all five without squirming. If you want to see how we’d answer them for your project, drop us a line.
