Web design & development · Ann Arbor, Michigan
Web design and development in Ann Arbor, without the hand-offs.
I’m Erik, a director of digital experience who still designs and builds. I plan, design and develop websites for companies and nonprofits in Ann Arbor and across Southeast Michigan, and the person on the first call stays on the work through launch.
What will it cost? Try the 2026 website cost estimator
What I can take on
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Websites, designed and built
Strategy, information architecture, design in Figma and development in Webflow, WordPress or a custom stack like React and Next.js. One plan from first sketch to launch.
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Redesigns and rebrands
New brand, new name, new parent company. I’ve carried sites through all three without losing the content, rankings or campaigns that depended on them.
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Ecommerce
Shopify builds, migrations and custom features for stores that have outgrown their theme.
Shopify & ecommerce -
Search and AI visibility
Technical SEO, local search schema and the structure that helps Google and AI answer engines describe your business correctly.
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Fractional digital leadership
Need a director more than a vendor? I lead roadmaps, teams and partners part-time and stay hands-on.
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Product design
Discovery, UX and launch for new digital products. Two of my own are in the work below.
How a project runs
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A real conversation
Goals, constraints and what’s actually broken. You get a straight read on what it takes, including what you can skip.
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A plan you can hold me to
Scope, sitemap, timeline and the few decisions that matter most, written down before design starts.
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Design and build, in the open
You see working pages early, not a big reveal at the end. Design and code move together, so nothing gets lost in a hand-off.
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Launch and after
QA across devices, redirects, analytics and search setup. Then a clean hand-off or ongoing help, whichever fits.
Relevant work
All work- → Website experience, content migration and paid landing pages through successive acquisitions. View project
- One website for adoption, vet care, fundraising, events and help, redesigned and rebuilt. View project
- B2B AI rebrand and Webflow system completed in eight weeks. View project
- Local SEO, schema and AI discoverability for a basement waterproofing company. View project
- Waypoint A live, visual project tracker built into the tools teams already use: Monday.com, Jira, Asana, Notion and more. View project
From a client
I’ve worked with Erik on a few different projects and each has been a success for our company.
We’ve hired several designers over the past few years, but none brought the same level of communication, collaboration and quality of work that Erik has delivered. I especially appreciated Erik’s process on our first call—he asked questions about our brand, project and goals that pushed us to think critically and directly translated to a high quality deliverable. There’s more than a few reasons we continue to go back to Erik.
Connor KitkoDirector of Product Marketing ·
Based near Ann Arbor
I live and work in Chelsea, about 20 minutes west of downtown Ann Arbor. I work with teams across Southeast Michigan, including Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, Dexter, Saline, Brighton and Detroit, and remotely with clients anywhere in the US. Local helps when a whiteboard beats another video call.
Questions people ask
Do you work with small businesses, or only big teams?
Both. I’ve led programs for global companies and done search work for a local service business. What matters is that the site has a real job to do.
What platforms do you build on?
Webflow, WordPress, Shopify, and custom builds in React and Next.js. I’ll recommend whatever your team can actually run after launch, not whatever I’d find most fun.
How much does a website cost?
It depends on what’s behind it: page count, content, integrations and how custom the design is. After a short call I’ll give you a straight estimate and point out what you could skip to save money.
Can you handle bigger projects?
Yes. I co-own Codified, a small, senior team, and bring them in when a project needs more hands, like custom integrations or large migrations.
Will a redesign hurt my Google rankings?
Not if it’s planned. Redirect maps, metadata, structured data and analytics are part of the build, and I check them again after launch.
Do you only work in Ann Arbor?
No. Ann Arbor and Southeast Michigan are home base, and plenty of my work happens remotely with teams across the US.
What will it cost? Try the 2026 website cost estimator
Selling online? Shopify & ecommerce
Need someone who can lead the work and get it launched?
contact@erikleavell.com