Website design in La Porte, Indiana.
I opened every independent La Porte business website listed on OpenStreetMap, all 93 of them, on a phone-sized screen. Here's what I found, and what I charge to fix it.
Most La Porte websites need work
Of the 78 La Porte websites that were up, 19 passed every check. The other 59 failed at least one of the sixteen checks.
The most common problems here were a missing Google description, pages over four megabytes and a missing main heading. The table below has the full count.
The 10-second test. Open your site on your phone, on mobile data, and count how long it takes to appear. Then search for your business and read the gray text Google shows under your name.
What I found on La Porte websites
These are the problems I found on the 78 La Porte websites that were up. Most had more than one, so the numbers add up to more than 78.
| What was wrong | Sites in La Porte |
|---|---|
| No description for Google to show | 21 |
| Over 4MB to download, not counting video | 19 |
| No main heading | 18 |
| Took over six seconds to load | 16 |
| Copyright year two or more years old | 11 |
| No icon for the browser tab | 11 |
| Phone number isn't a link | 10 |
| A dozen or more bits of text under 12px | 4 |
| No HTTPS, so browsers say Not secure | 3 |
| Not set up for phones, so it opens at desktop width | 2 |
| Laid out with old-style HTML tables | 2 |
| On a site builder's free address, not its own domain | 2 |
| Almost no readable text | 1 |
Twelve of the 93 websites were down. I opened each one on two evenings and in two browsers before counting them.
- Five addresses no longer exist.
- Two were old Google business.site addresses. Google shut those down in 2024.
- Two addresses led to someone else's websites.
- Two showed parked, for-sale, private or placeholder pages.
- One address led to a gambling site.
Two more have a working website, but the map lists the wrong address: a typo, a page that moved, or a www that isn't there. I didn't count them as down. It's worth checking what your own listing says.
For 20 La Porte businesses, the map's website link goes to a page on another platform, usually Facebook. That works, but the business doesn't own the page. Whether it's enough depends on how people find you: Facebook page or website?
One site blocked my browser. That's a security setting, not a fault, so it's in neither count.
Of the 78 that were up, 33 were built on WordPress, seven on GoDaddy and four on Weebly. The rest use something I don't recognize or were written by hand.
The full audit explains how I checked and has the numbers for every town. You can run the same checks on your own site with the free website checker.
What a website costs in La Porte
$499 or $899, paid once. There's no monthly fee and no retainer. Your domain and your site are in your name from day one, so if you ever leave, you take them with you.
Rebuilding a site you already have usually costs the same as starting fresh, and your old page addresses keep working. Most builds take two to ten days once I have your content.
The packages page shows what each price includes, and the scope and terms page lists what costs extra. To compare prices, see what websites cost in Northwest Indiana.
Sites that keep working
No website can protect you from a missed domain renewal, so I remind every client to renew, every year.
The sites I build have no plugins and no database, so there's nothing to update and nothing to break while you're busy. Why I build sites this way explains it, including what WordPress does better.
Working with La Porte businesses
I live in Porter County, between Valparaiso and Chesterton, one county west of La Porte. Meetings are on a video call, and the rest happens by email. If you'd rather meet in person once you've hired me, I'll come to your business at no extra cost.
Is your business in La Porte?
Send me your business name and I'll tell you what I found on your site, whether you hire me or not. You can also open the five example sites on my home page.