Web design agency in Southampton: Websites that look like the place they're for.
We design and build websites for established brands and organisations from our Southampton studio. Visitors should get a feel for you before they book, buy or get in touch, so we make the photos, illustration and film for your site as well.
Trusted by Moor Hall, The Fat Duck, Fortunate Son and The Kirkmichael Arms
engineWebsite design in Southampton, built around your visitors
Beyond is a web design agency in Southampton, Hampshire. Every site we design starts with what you most want visitors to do, whether that's booking a stay, ordering from your shop, asking for a quote or getting in touch.
We plan every page around those actions, so the next step is always easy to find, on a phone as much as a laptop. The design makes the site look like your business and nobody else's, and our own developers build it from scratch, with an editing system your team can use.
We also make the pictures. Our illustrators, photographers and film-makers work beside the web designers, so you brief one team instead of three suppliers.
Do you need a new website?
If you're not sure, start here. If two or three of these sound familiar, a new site is probably worth it.
Signs it's time
- 01
It doesn't look like you
Your business is better than the website makes it look.
- 02
People phone or email instead
Booking, buying or getting in touch online takes too many steps, so people give up or ring instead, especially on a phone.
- 03
Only someone else can change it
Updating a page, a price or a photo means waiting for a developer.
- 04
The business has outgrown it
You've added services, products or a second location, and the site was never planned for them.
- 05
It's slow on a phone
Pages take seconds to appear, and visitors leave before they do.
What your website has to do
Whatever your business, a good website does a handful of jobs well, on a phone as well as a laptop. Many visitors will meet you for the first time on a small screen, so every page, photo and animation has to load quickly there.
Five jobs your site has to do
- 01
Turn visits into bookings, sales or enquiries
The thing you most want visitors to do is one tap away on every page, and it connects to the systems you already use, such as your booking system or shop.
- 02
Explain what you offer, quickly
Visitors can tell what you do, and whether it's for them, within a few seconds of arriving.
- 03
Stay up to date
Your team changes pages, prices and news whenever they need to, without waiting for us.
- 04
Bring everything together
Several venues, product ranges or services, all reached from one home page, so visitors find the right one quickly.
- 05
Show what you're really like
Real photos, film and illustration of your business, so visitors know what to expect before they get in touch.
We make the pictures as well as the pages
If your photos are out of date, or you have none, our photographers can shoot your products, your spaces and your people. Our illustrators can draw characters or scenes for the site, and our animators can make them move. For film, we can shoot it ourselves or edit footage you already have.
Because it's all made for the website from the start, the artwork fits every screen size and doesn't slow the pages down.
How we design a website
Moor Hall: one website for a restaurant, rooms and The Barn
Moor Hall in West Lancashire has a three-Michelin-star restaurant, guest rooms and The Barn, its Michelin-starred sister. Its old site had no single home page to welcome guests and send them the right way.
We designed a home page that introduces the whole estate, then lets guests choose dinner, a stay or The Barn. Moor Hall's own illustrations, which we animated, move gently through the site. Booking takes a few short steps and the menus are easy to find. In the month after launch, time spent on the home page rose 40.7%.
“We worked with BEYOND last year on our website, not only did they bring a wealth of creative ideas to the table, but they also took the time to truly immerse themselves in Moor Hall - understanding our brand ethos and the vision Mark had for our digital identity. The entire process was seamless from start to finish, and they translated our ideas into something that genuinely exceeded our expectations. We couldn't recommend the team highly enough.”
More websites we've designed
Web design questions
How do I choose a web design agency in Southampton?
Look at sites they've designed that are still live, and try them on your phone. Ask who designs the site and who codes it, and whether those people work together. Check your team will be able to update it after launch. Then talk to the people who'd do the work. Our studio is in Southampton, and the first call is free.
What makes a website bespoke rather than a template?
A template fixes the layout before you've said anything about your business, and you fill in the gaps. A bespoke site is planned from your content and your visitors, so every page and link comes from you. If you need a simple site quickly and on a tight budget, a template will do. Bespoke is worth it when a template would make your place look like everyone else's, or when the site has real work to do, like bookings, a shop or several venues.
How much does a website design cost?
We don't publish prices. The cost turns on how many kinds of page your site needs, how much artwork, photography and film we make for it, and what it has to connect to. Once we've talked it through, you get a written plan and a price against it, before any design starts.
How long does it take to design and build a website?
The size of the site, the amount of artwork and what it connects to all change it, so we agree the timeline with you before we start. If you're working to a date you can't move, such as an opening or a relaunch, say so early and we'll build the plan backwards from it.
Do you design websites for restaurants and hotels?
Yes, it's most of our work, and much of it is for high-end restaurants, including three-Michelin-star ones. We know the jobs a hospitality site has to do: take bookings, show the current menu, sell vouchers and bring several venues together. Each site starts from the place itself, so no two of them look alike.
Can I update the website myself?
Yes. Every site comes with an editing system, usually Sanity, set up around your team, so you can change text and photos, add pages and post news without touching the design. We show your team how to use it when the site goes live, and we're there if you get stuck.
Will my new website be good for SEO?
We build the groundwork for SEO, the work that helps people find you on Google, into every site: a clear structure, fast pages and words that match what people search for. After launch we can run SEO for you too. The Kirkmichael Arms saw website traffic rise 45% in its first three months, with the new site and SEO working together.
Do you redesign existing websites?
Yes. If your site no longer fits the business, we redesign it properly, with a new structure and new design, and move across the content worth keeping. Tell us what's wrong with the current one, even if it's only that it doesn't feel like you any more.
Do you design the site and build it as well?
Both. Our developers build the sites we design, in the same studio, usually in Next.js with Sanity for editing. With designers and developers in one room, nothing gets lost between the design you approve and the site that goes live.
Do you work with businesses across Hampshire?
Yes. We're a web design agency based in Southampton, and we designed the website for Incognito, whose flagship cocktail bar is in Winchester. Outside Hampshire, we design sites for clients across the UK, in Provence and in California. Wherever you are, the first call is free.
Ready when you are
Talk to us about your website.
Tell us about your business and the website you have now, even if all you know is that it doesn't feel like you. We'll reply within one working day and set up a free call to talk it through.
What happens next
- 1You'll hear back from us within one working day.
- 2We'll set up a free, no-obligation call with the people who'd actually do the work. Everything is made in-house.
- 3You get a clear proposal with scope, timeline and cost, usually within a week of our call.
Related services
