I run a tiny kids art studio near Magnolia Park in Burbank. Bright paint. Sticky tables. Happy noise. My old site looked tired. It was slow on phones and hard to use. Folks kept calling to ask how to book. So I hired a local team to fix it. If you want to compare notes, here’s another candid recap of hiring a Burbank web design team that I found helpful.
This is what worked, what bugged me, and what I wish I knew sooner.
Who I Hired (And Why)
I went with Magnolia Web Co on Magnolia Blvd. They felt local in the best way. Our first meeting was at Romancing the Bean. We talked goals, not just colors. I said, “I need more class sign-ups and a site I can update fast.” They nodded, took notes, and asked smart stuff about waitlists, parking, and how parents pay.
Before I signed the contract, I browsed the portfolio at Design Web Magic to gather ideas and questions that helped me steer the project.
They suggested Webflow. “It’s fast, and you can edit it yourself,” they said. I didn’t care about the tool; I cared if I could change a date at 6 a.m. on a Saturday. They promised I could.
I later read a comprehensive TechRadar review of Webflow’s website builder, which confirmed a lot of what the team told me about speed and design flexibility.
The Plan, In Plain English
- Week 1: brand tune-up, mood board, and a rough layout in Figma
- Week 2–3: real pages, copy polish, and photos
- Week 4: build in Webflow, connect forms, test on phones
- Week 5: soft launch, fix bugs, go live
It ran five weeks, not four. My photographer got sick, and we had to reshoot. Was I mad? A little. But they kept me posted on Slack and put new dates on our Trello board. It felt handled.
Real Design Choices I Liked
They gave me three home page looks. I chose the one with soft brush strokes and warm coral. It felt like my studio walls. The headline they wrote was simple: “Art Classes for Kids in Burbank.” No fluff. No buzzwords.
The hero photo is my actual Tuesday class, not stock kids. You can see the big blue table and the paper roll in back. Parents noticed. One mom said, “Oh, that’s Mia’s smock!”
They used:
- Figma for drafts
- Webflow for the build
- Square Appointments for booking
- Mailchimp for the newsletter
- A Google Map with a little star on Magnolia Park (nice touch)
They also added alt text to photos and better contrast. I didn’t ask. They just did it. The emphasis on accessibility echoed many of the principles highlighted in this piece on designing senior living websites.
What Bugged Me (Because Nothing’s Perfect)
- The intake form was long. I get why, but it felt like homework.
- The first draft of the copy sounded glossy. I asked for plainer words. They fixed it fast.
- On launch day, the mobile menu broke on my old iPhone SE. It took two days to patch. They owned it, but still.
Turns out I’m not the only one who’s wrestled with surprise bugs—this breakdown of hiring a lawn care web design team had eerily similar bumps.
Numbers That Made Me Smile
I like simple results, not fancy charts. Here’s what I saw in the first six weeks:
- Class sign-ups went from about 3 a week to 10–12
- Google PageSpeed on mobile: 52 to 95
- Load time: about 7 seconds to about 2 seconds
- We went from page 5 to page 1 for “Burbank kids art classes”
- Halloween workshop sold out in 3 days (last year took two weeks)
Curious about how listing your business in other hyper-local directories can boost those numbers even more? This deep-dive into the Morgan Hill Backpage alternatives breaks down how location-based classifieds funnel ready-to-act visitors to neighborhood services and might spark ideas for expanding your own reach beyond Burbank.
Could that be luck? Maybe some. But the site is faster, clearer, and easier to book. It all adds up.
Late-night research rabbit holes became my guilty pleasure during the project—one minute I was reading about color psychology, the next I was wondering whether a nicotine pouch could really sharpen focus by nudging hormone levels. Nicotine and testosterone — does it actually work? The piece sifts myth from science, and it’s a good reminder that data-backed answers beat hunches every time.
Cost, Clear and Simple
- Design + build: $5,800
- Copy polish: $600
- Webflow CMS hosting: $85/month
- One-time SEO tune-up: $300
For anyone pricing out their own build, Webflow’s official pricing page breaks down exactly what that $85/month CMS plan includes, so you can see where every dollar goes.
Not cheap for a tiny shop like mine. But I also stopped losing time on calls. Fewer “Hey, how do I sign up?” messages. More “Booked!” emails. That saved my brain.
The Little Things That Helped
They made me a Notion guide with short Loom videos. “Here’s how to add a new class.” “Here’s how to swap a photo.” I used it twice the first week. Now I barely need it.
They added a FAQ about parking on Magnolia and a note about stroller access. Parents kept asking. Now the page does the talking for me.
They also reminded me to add photos from local spots. So we shot at Johnny Carson Park and out front by the big Burbank mural. It felt real. Because it is.
My Before-and-After Snapshot
Before:
- Cluttered pages
- Hard to book
- Slow on phones
- I dreaded updates
After:
- One clean page for each class
- Tap to book with Square
- Faster load, happier parents
- I update dates in minutes
Was it perfect? No. Was it worth it? Yeah.
If You’re Local, A Few Tips
- Gather real photos. Parents can tell.
- Write your FAQs first. Parking, refunds, “Can siblings sit in?”
- Pick one booking tool and stick to it.
- Test the site on an older phone. I learned that the hard way.
- Launch before a busy time. I launched before fall classes. It helped.
The Verdict
Magnolia Web Co got the job done. The site looks like us. It feels easy. It made money back faster than I thought. I do wish the menu bug got caught sooner. I also wish the intake form was shorter. But those are small things.
Would I tell a Burbank friend to call them? Yes. Bring your real photos. Ask for simple words. Plan for an extra week. And you know what? Have fun with it. A site should feel like your shop door—open, friendly, and easy to find. Mine finally does.