Professional Web Development in Houston, Texas
Custom websites, local SEO, and e-commerce solutions for Houston businesses. Veteran-owned with 14+ years of experience and transparent flat-rate pricing starting at $250.
Houston Web Development: Big City Market, Small Business Service
Houston is massive—2.3 million people, fourth-largest city in America, an economy that would rank as a top-40 country if it were independent. The Texas Medical Center alone employs over 106,000 people. The Port of Houston handles more foreign tonnage than any other U.S. port. The Energy Corridor houses headquarters for companies that power the world.
In a market this size, you'd think only big agencies with downtown offices could compete. But here's the reality: most Houston small businesses don't need (and can't afford) a $50,000 website from a Galleria high-rise agency. They need professional, effective websites at reasonable prices—exactly what we provide.
At StephensCode, we serve Houston businesses from our base in Conroe, just 40 minutes north. We combine the personal service of a local developer with the expertise to compete in Houston's sophisticated market. No corporate overhead means better prices. Direct communication means better results. And our 14+ years of experience means we know how to build sites that actually generate business in competitive markets.
The Houston Digital Landscape
Houston's online business environment is brutally competitive. With millions of potential customers comes thousands of competitors—all fighting for the same Google rankings, the same clicks, the same conversions.
Consider what you're up against:
Saturated markets: Search "plumber Houston" and you'll find over 1,000 competing businesses. "Restaurant Houston" returns tens of thousands. Standing out requires more than just existing online—it requires strategic optimization and differentiation.
Sophisticated consumers: Houston is educated and diverse. Residents research extensively before buying, compare multiple options, read reviews carefully, and expect professional presentation. A cheap template site signals a cheap business.
Geographic sprawl: Houston covers 670 square miles. "Houston web developer" is almost meaningless—customers search by neighborhood, district, or proximity. Local SEO in Houston means hyperlocal SEO.
Industry concentration: Certain industries cluster in specific areas—medical in the Med Center, energy in the Energy Corridor, tech in Midtown. Your SEO strategy must account for these patterns.
Multilingual market: Houston is one of America's most diverse cities. Depending on your customer base, you may need Spanish-language content or other multilingual considerations.
Succeeding in Houston requires a website that's technically excellent, strategically optimized, and genuinely differentiated. Template sites and DIY builders won't cut it.
Houston's Diverse Economy: Industry by Industry
Houston's economic diversity means no two businesses have identical web needs. Here's how we approach major Houston industries:
Medical & Healthcare
The Texas Medical Center is the world's largest medical complex. Beyond the Med Center, Houston has thousands of private practices, clinics, surgery centers, and healthcare facilities spread across the metro area.
What medical websites need:
- Online appointment scheduling (integration with your practice management software)
- Provider directories with credentials, education, and photos
- Patient portals and secure form submissions (HIPAA compliance)
- Insurance and payment information
- Location pages for multiple office locations
- Condition and treatment information for SEO
Local SEO focus:
- Med Center-specific keywords
- Neighborhood targeting (River Oaks, Memorial, Bellaire)
- Provider name optimization
- "Accepting new patients" keywords
- Condition-specific searches ("cardiologist Houston," "back pain treatment Memorial")
We've built websites for Houston-area physicians, dentists, chiropractors, therapists, and specialty practices.
Energy & Industrial
Houston is the energy capital of the world. Oil and gas companies, oilfield services, engineering firms, and industrial suppliers all need sophisticated B2B websites.
What energy/industrial websites need:
- Detailed service and capability pages
- Project portfolios and case studies
- Safety and certification information
- Equipment specifications and documentation
- RFQ/contact forms for procurement
- Multiple location support
SEO considerations:
- Technical/industry terminology optimization
- Long-tail keyword targeting for specific services
- Geographic targeting for service areas
- LinkedIn and industry directory integration
Legal Services
Houston's legal market is enormous—corporate law, personal injury, immigration, family law, criminal defense, and every specialty imaginable.
What law firm websites need:
- Attorney profiles with credentials, bar admissions, case results
- Practice area pages with substantial content
- Case results or testimonials (within ethics rules)
- Blog for thought leadership and SEO
- Secure contact and intake forms
- Video content for attorney introductions
Local SEO focus:
- Practice area + Houston keywords
- Neighborhood targeting for proximity searches
- Specific legal issue keywords
- Reputation management
Restaurants & Hospitality
Houston's restaurant scene is world-class—James Beard winners, celebrity chefs, incredible diversity from Vietnamese in Midtown to Tex-Mex everywhere. Competition is fierce.
What restaurant websites need:
- Online menus with dietary filters and pricing
- Reservation system integration (OpenTable, Resy, etc.)
- Online ordering for takeout/delivery
- Private event and catering inquiry forms
- Gift card sales
- High-quality food photography
- Happy hour and specials management
Local SEO focus:
- Cuisine-type keywords ("Vietnamese restaurant Midtown")
- Neighborhood targeting
- "Best of" and "near me" keywords
- Review integration
Real Estate
Houston's real estate market is massive—residential, commercial, property management, new construction. Agents and firms need websites that generate and capture leads.
What real estate websites need:
- IDX integration for property searches
- Agent profiles and contact information
- Neighborhood guides and market reports
- Blog content for SEO
- Lead capture with CRM integration
- Virtual tour and video support
Local SEO focus:
- Neighborhood-specific keywords
- Property type targeting
- "Homes for sale in [neighborhood]" keywords
- Agent name optimization
Professional Services
Accountants, consultants, financial advisors, architects, engineers—Houston's professional services sector serves both individuals and corporations.
What professional service websites need:
- Team pages with credentials
- Service descriptions with clear value propositions
- Case studies or client results
- Resource libraries and thought leadership
- Secure client portals
- Appointment scheduling
Houston Neighborhoods: Hyperlocal SEO
"Houston" is too broad for effective local SEO. Real optimization targets specific neighborhoods and districts:
Inside the Loop
Downtown: Office workers, convention visitors, residents of new high-rises. Lunch spots, professional services, convenience retail.
Midtown: Young professionals, nightlife, Vietnamese and Asian restaurants. Tech startups, creative agencies.
Montrose: Eclectic, artsy, LGBTQ-friendly. Boutiques, galleries, restaurants, specialty retail.
The Heights: Historic homes, families, walkable retail. Restaurants, antiques, home services.
River Oaks: Affluent residential, luxury services, high-end retail. Medical practices, wealth management, premium home services.
Upper Kirby/Greenway: Upscale residential and commercial. Restaurants, boutiques, professional offices.
Museum District: Cultural institutions, Rice University proximity. Restaurants, parking services, tourism-related.
Outside the Loop
The Galleria/Uptown: Major shopping, hotels, office towers. Retail, restaurants, business services.
Memorial: Affluent families, excellent schools. Home services, family activities, healthcare.
West University: Academics, professionals. Family services, restaurants, retail.
Energy Corridor: Corporate headquarters, business services, lunch restaurants. B2B, corporate housing.
Memorial City: Medical facilities, shopping, mixed-use. Healthcare, retail, entertainment.
Clear Lake: NASA, aerospace, waterfront. Technical services, boating, seafood restaurants.
Your website needs content optimized for the specific neighborhoods you serve. Generic "Houston" optimization means competing against everyone for everything—and losing.
Why Choose an Outside-the-Loop Developer?
You might wonder why a Houston business would work with a developer in Conroe. Here's the honest answer: it's better for you.
Lower overhead = better prices: Houston commercial real estate is expensive. Agencies in the Galleria or downtown have rent, parking, and urban operating costs that get passed to you. We don't.
Same expertise, more attention: We have the same technical skills and market knowledge as Houston agencies—but we're not juggling 50 clients. You get personal attention.
No agency bloat: Big agencies have account managers, project managers, creative directors, and developers who never talk to each other. You pay for all of them. With us, you talk directly to the person building your site.
Easy access: We're 40 minutes from downtown Houston—closer than Katy or Sugar Land. We come to Houston regularly for client meetings.
Focus on results: We're not trying to win design awards or pad portfolios. We build websites that generate business. That's it.
The dirty secret of big Houston agencies: they often outsource development overseas anyway. At least with us, you know exactly who's building your site.
Houston-Specific Considerations
Building websites for Houston businesses requires understanding local factors:
Hurricane preparedness: Houston businesses need websites that stay up during storms. We use resilient hosting with CDN distribution. We also help service businesses (roofers, restoration, etc.) prepare landing pages for storm-related surges.
Flooding concerns: Many Houston businesses need to communicate about flood impacts. Easy content updating is essential.
Heat and seasonality: AC companies are slammed in summer, outdoor businesses slow down. Your site needs to handle seasonal traffic patterns and messaging.
Traffic patterns: Houston commute times affect service businesses. Customers search for "near me" relative to work and home locations.
Diversity: Consider whether Spanish language support makes sense for your customer base. We can build bilingual sites or add Spanish pages to English sites.
Property taxes: Houston's lack of income tax but high property taxes affects how residents make purchasing decisions. Emphasize value appropriately.
Our Pricing: Houston Quality, Not Houston Prices
Big Houston agencies charge big Houston prices—often $10,000+ for a basic business website. We charge fairly:
- Plug and Play (4 pages): $250
- Standard Site (8-12 pages): $850
- Website Rebuild: $600
- E-Commerce Store: $1,100
- Premium Custom Platform: Starting at $2,500
These aren't "introductory" prices or "starting at" estimates that balloon later. These are the actual prices for complete websites including design, development, SEO optimization, mobile responsiveness, and 30 days of support.
For Houston businesses, this often means getting a superior custom site for less than agencies charge for template modifications.
The StephensCode Difference
Flat-rate transparency: You know exactly what you'll pay before we start. No hourly billing surprises.
Direct communication: You work with the actual developer—no account managers or intermediaries.
Modern technology: Next.js and modern frameworks, not outdated WordPress themes.
Local SEO expertise: We understand Houston's geographic complexities and search patterns.
Speed: Most sites completed in 1-2 weeks, not 2-3 months.
Veteran-owned values: Discipline, integrity, accountability.
Ready for a Better Website?
Houston business owners: you don't need to overpay for a bloated agency or settle for a DIY template. You need a professional custom website at a fair price, built by someone who understands your market.
Free consultation: Let's discuss your business and what you actually need.
No sales pressure: Honest advice, even if it's "you don't need a new site."
Clear pricing: You'll know the exact cost before deciding anything.
Call (936) 323-4527 or email kyle@stephenscode.dev.
We're just up I-45—and we'd be happy to come to you.
Web Development Services for Houston Businesses
Custom Website Development
Our custom websites are built specifically for your Houston business—not modified from a template. Every element is designed to achieve your business goals, whether that's generating phone calls, booking appointments, or selling products online.
What's included:
- Custom design tailored to your brand and industry
- Mobile-first development (over 70% of Houston searches are mobile)
- Fast loading speeds (under 2 seconds)
- Contact forms, click-to-call, and lead capture
- Google Analytics and Search Console setup
- Basic SEO optimization for Houston keywords
- SSL security certificate
- 30 days of post-launch support
Pricing: Plug and Play (4 pages) starts at $250. Standard sites (8-12 pages) are $850. Website rebuilds are $600.
Local SEO for Houston
Getting found in "Houston" searches requires specialized local SEO. When someone searches "plumber Houston" or "restaurant near me" from Downtown, you need to appear in the results—and our SEO-optimized sites make that happen.
Local SEO elements we implement:
- Location-specific keyword optimization throughout your site
- LocalBusiness schema markup for rich search results
- NAP consistency (Name, Address, Phone) across all pages
- Google Business Profile optimization guidance
- Local citation building recommendations
- Neighborhood and area-specific landing pages
- Mobile optimization for "near me" searches
- Fast Core Web Vitals scores (Google ranking factor)
Most clients see significant ranking improvements within 60-90 days. One Harris County contractor went from page 4 to page 1 for their main service keywords after we rebuilt their site with proper local SEO.
E-Commerce for Houston Retailers
Whether you're a Houston boutique looking to sell online, a restaurant adding online ordering, or a service business selling gift cards and merchandise, we build complete e-commerce solutions that work.
E-commerce features include:
- Product catalog with categories and filters
- Shopping cart and secure checkout
- Payment processing (Stripe, PayPal, Square)
- Inventory management
- Order notifications and tracking
- Shipping rate integration (USPS, UPS, FedEx)
- Tax calculation
- Customer accounts (optional)
- Product management dashboard
Pricing: E-commerce sites start at $1,100. This includes everything you need to start selling online.
Website Maintenance & Support
Your website needs ongoing care to stay secure, fast, and effective. We offer maintenance plans for Houston businesses who want peace of mind without the hassle.
Maintenance plans include:
- Security monitoring and updates
- Regular backups
- Uptime monitoring
- Content updates (text, images, pricing)
- Performance optimization
- Priority support
Pricing: Plans start at $50/month for basic maintenance, $100/month for standard (includes content updates), and $150/month for premium (includes priority support and unlimited small updates).
Industries We Serve in Houston
We've built websites for Houston businesses across virtually every industry. Here are some of the sectors we serve most frequently:
All industries
Custom solutions for Houston all industries businesses with industry-specific features and local SEO.
Medical
Custom solutions for Houston medical businesses with industry-specific features and local SEO.
Energy
Custom solutions for Houston energy businesses with industry-specific features and local SEO.
Legal
Custom solutions for Houston legal businesses with industry-specific features and local SEO.
Technology
Custom solutions for Houston technology businesses with industry-specific features and local SEO.
Hospitality
Custom solutions for Houston hospitality businesses with industry-specific features and local SEO.
Retail
Custom solutions for Houston retail businesses with industry-specific features and local SEO.
Manufacturing
Custom solutions for Houston manufacturing businesses with industry-specific features and local SEO.
Home Services & Contractors
Houston homeowners need reliable contractors, and they're searching online to find them. We build websites for HVAC companies, plumbers, electricians, roofers, landscapers, and general contractors that generate phone calls and quote requests.
Key features for contractor sites: emergency contact buttons, service area maps, before/after galleries, license and insurance badges, customer reviews, and online quote request forms.
Healthcare & Medical Practices
Houston has a growing healthcare sector serving the local population. We build websites for dentists, doctors, chiropractors, veterinarians, therapists, and other medical professionals that build trust and streamline patient acquisition.
Key features for medical sites: online appointment booking, patient portal integration, provider profiles with credentials, HIPAA-compliant contact forms, insurance information, and new patient resources.
Restaurants & Food Service
Houston's dining scene ranges from casual eateries to upscale restaurants. We build websites that showcase your menu, handle online orders, take reservations, and promote specials—all optimized to appear when locals search for places to eat.
Key features for restaurant sites: online menus with dietary filters, reservation systems, online ordering integration, event and catering inquiry forms, location and hours, and photo galleries.
Professional Services
Law firms, accountants, financial advisors, consultants, and other professional service providers in Houston need websites that establish credibility and generate qualified leads. We build sophisticated sites that position you as the expert choice.
Key features for professional service sites: attorney/advisor profiles with credentials, practice area pages, case studies or client results, consultation request forms, blog for thought leadership, and testimonials.
Serving All Houston Neighborhoods
We provide web development services throughout Houston and all surrounding neighborhoods. Whether your business is located in Downtown, Midtown, or anywhere else in the area, we're here to help you succeed online.
Each neighborhood in Houston has its own character and customer base. We take these local nuances into account when building your website, ensuring it resonates with your specific target audience and ranks for hyperlocal searches.
Our Web Development Process
We've refined our process over 14+ years to deliver excellent results efficiently. Here's what to expect when you work with us on your Houston business website:
1. Discovery & Consultation (Free)
We start with a free consultation to understand your business, goals, and target customers. For Houston businesses, we'll discuss local competition, target neighborhoods, and search terms your customers use. This conversation shapes everything that follows.
2. Proposal & Agreement
Based on our discussion, we'll provide a detailed proposal with exactly what's included, the total price, and the timeline. No surprises, no hidden fees. Once you approve, we collect 50% deposit and get started.
3. Design & Content
We create design mockups for your review and collect your content (text, photos, etc.). We'll provide a content questionnaire to make this easy. You'll see the design before we build, ensuring it matches your vision.
4. Development
We build your site with clean code, fast loading, and all the features we agreed on. We develop on a staging server so you can review progress without affecting any existing site.
5. Review & Revisions
You review the completed site and we make revisions based on your feedback. All packages include 2 rounds of revisions—usually plenty to get everything perfect.
6. Launch & Training
Once approved, we launch your new site, connect analytics, and provide training on how to make basic updates. We collect the remaining 50% payment at this stage.
7. Ongoing Support
You get 30 days of free support for questions and minor adjustments. After that, we're available for additional work or ongoing maintenance as needed.
Timeline: Most Houston business websites are completed in 1-2 weeks from start to finish, assuming prompt feedback and content delivery from you.
Why Houston Businesses Choose StephensCode
Local Knowledge & Presence
Based in Conroe, we're just 40 minutes from Houston. We understand Harris County and the Greater Houston market. We know what local customers search for, what competitors are doing, and what it takes to succeed here. And if you prefer meeting in person, we can do that.
Transparent Flat-Rate Pricing
No hourly billing that spirals out of control. No hidden fees. No "it'll cost extra" surprises. You know exactly what you'll pay before we start. This is how pricing should work, and it's how we've always operated.
Direct Developer Communication
You work directly with the developer building your site—not a salesperson, not an account manager, not a project coordinator. This means faster communication, fewer misunderstandings, and better results.
Modern Technology & Best Practices
We use Next.js and modern frameworks that deliver exceptional performance. Our sites load fast, score high on Google PageSpeed, and are built with current SEO best practices. No outdated WordPress themes or clunky page builders.
Veteran-Owned Integrity
As a Marine Corps veteran with 14+ years of experience, I bring military discipline and integrity to every project. I do what I say I'll do, when I say I'll do it. Your success is my reputation.
Results That Matter
We don't just build pretty websites—we build websites that generate business. Better search rankings, more phone calls, more quote requests, more sales. That's what we're optimizing for.
Frequently Asked Questions from Houston Business Owners
How much does a website cost for a Houston business?
Our pricing is straightforward: Plug and Play sites (4 pages) are $250, Standard sites (8-12 pages) are $850, Website Rebuilds are $600, and E-Commerce stores are $1,100. Premium custom platforms start at $2,500. These are flat rates—not estimates that balloon later.
How long does it take to build a website?
Most Houston business websites are completed in 1-2 weeks. Plug and Play sites can be done in 3-5 days. E-commerce takes 2-3 weeks. These timelines assume prompt feedback and content from you—delays on your end extend the timeline.
Will my website rank in Houston searches?
We build every site with local SEO best practices. This gives you a strong foundation for ranking in "Houston" and "near me" searches. Most clients see ranking improvements within 60-90 days. Results depend on your industry's competition and your ongoing SEO efforts.
Do you offer ongoing maintenance?
Yes, we offer maintenance plans starting at $50/month. These include security updates, backups, content updates, and support. Many Houston business owners prefer this for peace of mind and to keep their sites fresh.
Can I update the website myself?
Yes! We can integrate a content management system so you can update text, images, blog posts, and products without touching code. We provide training on how to use it. Many Houston business owners prefer to handle simple updates themselves.
Do you work with businesses outside Houston?
Absolutely. While we're highlighting our services in Houston on this page, we serve all of Greater Houston and work with clients nationwide. Everything can be done remotely via video calls and email.
Ready to Grow Your Houston Business Online?
Let's discuss your project. Free consultation, no pressure, just honest advice about what you need to succeed.