What we do
Websites and web apps that keep working.
You were probably sent here because something isn’t working: a site you can’t update, a system nobody will touch, a project that stalled. That’s usually where we start.
The situations we walk into
If any of these sound familiar, you’re in the right place.
- Your site was built by someone who’s no longer around, and nobody knows how it works.
- You have a system that has to keep working while everything around it changes.
- Two systems that should talk to each other don’t, and your staff is the bridge.
- You’ve outgrown a do-it-yourself builder and need to own what you have.
- Your parent company has standards, and your site doesn’t meet them.
- The idea is bigger than a website, and you need people who can build it.
What we build
The work, in plain terms.
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Websites
Designed for your audience and built as a custom theme, not a template with your logo on it. WordPress most often; Kentico, Umbraco, Shopify, or hand-coded PHP when the project calls for it. The platform is a recommendation, not a requirement.
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Web applications
Software that runs in a browser: subscription products, portals, donation platforms, internal tools. One of ours analyzes a voice in real time. Another processes thousands of Mass requests a day.
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Mobile apps
Native iOS and Android apps, on the App Store and Google Play, tied to the same back end as the website so the client runs one operation, not two.
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Integrations
Getting systems to talk: Salesforce, payment processors, email delivery, address validation, and back-office systems that were never meant to connect to anything. Often the hardest part of a project, and the part that matters most.
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Taking over
Sites other firms built. We figure out what’s there, fix what’s broken, and give you something you can maintain.
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Hosting and care
One flat monthly fee: hosting, security monitoring and firewall, plugin and license fees, updates, backups, and a set number of support hours. No long-term contract.
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Ecommerce and giving
Stores, donation pages, and products that don’t fit a template. Mass requests that get fulfilled by mail, a store for log-home maintenance supplies, donation flows for a nonprofit. The payment processor talks to the back office, so the client isn’t retyping orders.
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Being found
Clean structure, titles and descriptions written for people and for search, schema markup so answer engines can cite you, Google Business Profile alignment, redirects handled at launch. Part of every site, not an add-on.
Designers who build. Builders who design.
Small firms get typed. Some clients look at Lava and see developers who can’t handle the creative. Others see the creative and assume we’re too small for the technical requirements. In 21 years, both have been proven wrong on the same projects.
Other agencies bring us in for exactly this reason. When a marketing firm wins a large account and the work needs web and web app technology they don’t have in-house, they call Lava. Some of the biggest projects we’ve built went out under another agency’s name, and the client never saw a seam. We’re comfortable in either seat.
How a project goes
What working with us looks like.
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Listen
We start with your situation, not our services. Discovery is a conversation, sometimes questionnaires for your staff and customers, so we build for how you actually work.
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Recommend
Then we tell you what we’d do and why. We aren’t tied to any one technology, so the recommendation fits the problem.
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Design
Every page is designed for your content and your audience. You see it and react before anything is built.
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Build
A custom theme or application from the approved designs, on the platform that fits.
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Launch
Security testing, redirects, analytics, search setup, and a launch scheduled with your team and your IT people together.
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Train and stay
Recorded training, documentation written for your site, and a monthly plan so the site keeps working. When you call, you reach the person who built it.
Three partners. No account managers.
Ed handles strategy, design, and the relationship. Dave leads development. Tom handles architecture and integrations. That’s the whole team, and all three of us work on every project.
Meet the partnersQuestions
Questions we get from people who were sent here.
A straightforward website usually takes 6 to 8 weeks, depending on size and how quickly content and feedback come back. Custom platforms and apps are scoped and scheduled up front, in weeks, and we keep to it.
Yes. The design, the content, the files, all of it. Unlike Wix, Squarespace, or GoDaddy builders, a site we build belongs to you. You can host it anywhere, update it anytime, and you’re never locked into a platform.
Every site and app we build works on phones, tablets, and desktops. Most of your visitors will see your site on a phone first, so we design for it first.
Every site we build follows accessibility guidelines: color contrast, readable type, keyboard navigation, screen-reader-friendly structure. We design it in rather than patch it on.
SSL encryption, strong password policies, regular backups, firewall protection, and monitoring for updates and security patches come with every site. If your site takes payments, we use PCI-compliant third-party processors. For clients with insurance or corporate requirements, we build to pass their testing.
No. Every site is designed for your brand, your content, and your goals. We use proven frameworks underneath for performance and reliability, but the design is yours.
Yes. We build editing for the people who’ll actually use it, and we train them. Adding a page, updating text, swapping a photo, posting news: your team does it, no developer required.
Every site launches with clean on-page structure and the tools to maintain it. We show your team how to keep titles, descriptions, and content in shape as the site grows. We don’t promise rankings. Nobody honest does.
GEO is getting your business cited when someone asks an AI assistant a question, the way SEO is getting found in a search. It comes down to structure: schema markup, clear facts about who you are and what you do, consistent information across the web. We build it into every site, and we do the same for our own.
Yes, throughout our work: development, testing, search and GEO, and quality checks. It’s part of how three partners deliver what larger firms staff for. The judgment, the design, and the accountability are ours. You’re working with the people who built your site, and they’re the ones who answer the phone.
Technical support and minor updates to your existing site: text changes, image swaps, small fixes. New pages, new content, and new features are quoted separately. Hours are month to month and don’t roll over, so we can plan time fairly for every client. We keep hosting rates consistent; if a third-party provider raises its price, we tell you clearly and in advance.
No. You can end services at any time, with work paid to date. Most of our clients stay for years because the site works and we answer when they call.
That’s most of the sites we take on. We start by figuring out what you actually have, tell you honestly what’s worth keeping, and fix what isn’t. You won’t be asked to start over unless starting over is the right call.
Yes. Our clients have trusted us with CRM integrations, gated content, memberships, custom calculators, ecommerce, and mobile apps years after their site launched. Tell us what you need and we’ll quote it.
Ed, Dave, or Tom. There’s no account manager between you and the people doing the work.
Pittsburgh, since 2005. Most of our clients are in Western Pennsylvania; some are across the country. Everything we do works at a distance when it has to.
Tell us what isn’t working.
A few sentences are enough. We’ll tell you whether we’re the right fit, and if we’re not, we’ll say so rather than waste your time.