Websites and web apps that do a job, not just exist
IG Digital Lab designs, builds and runs websites, client portals, web apps and online stores for small and mid-sized businesses. Fast on a phone, accessible, measured, and built on code you own. Our office is in Sacramento, California; the work ships nationwide.
What does a business website actually need to do in 2026?
A business website has one job: turn a stranger into a booked call, a filled form, or an order. At IG Digital Lab in Sacramento we build sites that load fast on a phone, say plainly what you do, and hand the lead straight to your CRM or calendar instead of an inbox nobody checks.
Everything else is decoration. So on every build we check four things before we call it done:
- It is fast where your customers are. Most local traffic is mobile, on average hardware, on an average connection. That is the device we test on, not a designer's laptop.
- Every page has one obvious next step. Call, book, buy, or ask. A page with five equal options gets none of them clicked.
- Machines can read it. Clean HTML, headings that match the questions people ask, and structured data, so both Google and AI assistants can quote you correctly. That is the same groundwork behind our SEO and AEO work.
- You can see what it produced. Analytics and call or form tracking wired in at launch, so you know which pages pay for themselves.
This is the same thesis we apply everywhere: put the useful part inside the process, not next to it. A site that collects a lead and then does nothing with it is a brochure with a hosting bill.
What kinds of websites and web apps do we build?
Four kinds: marketing sites that sell one service well, web apps and client portals with logins and business logic, e-commerce stores, and rebuilds of sites that already exist. IG Digital Lab builds all four on the same stack, so a Sacramento marketing site can grow into a portal later without starting over.
Marketing sites
The site most businesses need: services, proof, pricing, contact, and a page per thing you actually sell. Copy structured around the questions buyers ask, forms that route to your CRM, and a page you can update without calling us.
Typically $2,500 to $6,000
Web apps and client portals
Logins, roles, dashboards, document sharing, scheduling, billing status. When the thing you need is closer to software than to a website, it is built like software, with tests and a repo. See custom software for the heavier end of that work.
Typically $6,000 to $15,000
E-commerce
Shopify when the catalog is standard and speed to launch matters, a custom stack when inventory, pricing rules or fulfillment have to talk to systems you already run. Payments, tax, shipping and inventory sync included in scope.
Typically $6,000 to $15,000
Rebuilds and rescues
A site that is slow, unmaintained, or held hostage by an agency that stopped answering. We audit it, take ownership of the domain and hosting, then fix or rebuild. Details on the website takeover page.
Scoped after the free audit
What makes this different from a template site?
Three things: we work to a written performance and accessibility budget instead of hoping for the best, we do not lock you into a page builder or a proprietary CMS, and you own the code, the repo, the domain and the hosting. If you ever leave IG Digital Lab, the site keeps working.
Performance and accessibility budgets
Page weight and load targets are set before design, not measured after launch. We test on mid-range Android hardware and throttled connections, and we check contrast, keyboard navigation and screen-reader labels as part of the build. Slow, unusable pages cost you customers quietly.
No page-builder lock-in
No stack of paid plugins, no visual builder that turns one paragraph into a hundred nested divs, no CMS you can only edit while you keep paying a license. Editing stays simple for your team, and the underlying code stays plain enough for any developer to pick up.
You own everything we build
Repository, source, domain, DNS, hosting account, analytics property, and a written handover doc. We host and monitor it for you if you want that, through servers and support, but ownership is never the leverage that keeps you here.
What does a website or web app cost?
Most business websites and moderate web apps land in One Process, $2,500 to $6,000. Larger portals, e-commerce and multi-integration web apps sit in Connected Systems, $6,000 to $15,000. Care after launch runs $300 to $500 a month. IG Digital Lab quotes the exact number in writing after a free audit.
A website or web app, built and shipped.
- Marketing site, service pages, and a contact or booking flow
- Design, build, content setup, launch and handover
- Analytics, call and form tracking wired in
- Schema markup and an llms.txt so machines can quote you
When the site has to talk to your other systems.
- Client portals with logins, roles and documents
- E-commerce with payments, shipping and inventory sync
- Web apps with custom business logic
- Integrations with CRM, calendar, billing or ERP
Keeping it alive after launch.
- Hosting, backups, uptime and security monitoring
- Small content and design changes as they come up
- Updates, patches and incident response
- Optional, and never a condition of owning your site
These are corridors, not a menu. Scope moves the number, so we scope first: the free audit ends with a written quote you can compare. Full corridors for every service are on the pricing page.
How long does a website take to build?
A focused marketing site at IG Digital Lab is usually live in 3 to 5 weeks, a larger site with custom sections in 6 to 10, and a web app or portal in 8 to 16. The clock starts when content and access are in hand, which is the step that slows most projects down.
| What we are building | Typical timeline | What drives it |
|---|---|---|
| Focused site, 1 to 5 pages | 3 to 5 weeks | One service, one audience, one call to action. Fastest path to a page that converts. |
| Full marketing site, 8 to 15 pages | 6 to 10 weeks | Service pages, location pages, insights section, and the content to fill them. |
| Rebuild of an existing site | 4 to 8 weeks | Audit, redirect map, and migration of content that already exists and already ranks. |
| E-commerce store | 6 to 12 weeks | Catalog size, payment and shipping rules, and whether inventory has to sync with another system. |
| Web app or client portal | 8 to 16 weeks | Number of user roles, how much custom logic there is, and how many systems it integrates with. |
We work in visible stages: audit and scope, then structure and copy, then design, then build, then launch. You see something real at the end of each stage, so nothing is a surprise at the end. Rush timelines are possible when a launch date is fixed; we say so up front instead of quietly cutting testing.
Already have a site someone else built?
Yes, we take those over. IG Digital Lab audits what is there, gets the domain, hosting and repository into your name, fixes what is broken, then decides with you whether to rebuild or keep improving. Most takeovers start with a free audit and a written list of findings.
The common cases: the developer stopped replying, the agency owns your domain, the site is on a platform nobody can edit, or plugins have not been updated in two years. None of that is unusual, and none of it is your fault. If you are in the Sacramento area we can go through it in person, see web design in Sacramento, and we work in English and Russian.
How a takeover works See all servicesFrequently asked questions
What people ask us before starting a website or web app project.
How much does a small business website cost?
Most small business websites at IG Digital Lab fall in the One Process band, $2,500 to $6,000, covering design, build, content setup and launch. Sites with e-commerce, logins or several integrations move into Connected Systems, $6,000 to $15,000. You get the exact number in writing after a free audit, not a guess on a call.
Do I own the code and the domain?
Yes. The repository, the code, the domain registration and the hosting account are all in your name. We hand over admin access and written documentation at launch. If you decide to work with another team later, nothing has to be rebuilt and no license has to be bought back from us.
Can you take over a WordPress site from another developer?
Yes. We take over WordPress, Squarespace, Wix, Webflow and custom builds. We start with an audit of the code, hosting, plugins and backups, move the domain and hosting into your name, then fix, maintain or rebuild depending on what the audit finds. Our website takeover page explains the handover step by step.
Do you do e-commerce?
Yes. We build storefronts on Shopify or on a custom stack, depending on catalog size, fulfillment and how much the store has to talk to your other systems. Most e-commerce projects sit in the Connected Systems band, $6,000 to $15,000, because payment, shipping and inventory integrations carry the work.
Will my site be fast on mobile?
That is a build requirement here, not a hope. We set a performance budget before design starts, test on mid-range Android hardware and throttled connections, and keep Core Web Vitals in the green at launch. We usually aim for under 2.5 seconds to largest contentful paint on a phone.
Can you redesign without losing my Google rankings?
Usually, yes. We keep URLs where we can, map redirects for the ones that change, carry over titles, headings and structured data, and compare crawl and traffic before and after launch. Rankings can move for reasons outside a migration, so we measure and fix rather than promise. We aim for no drop caused by the rebuild itself.
Tell us what the site has to do.
Book a 30-minute audit. We will look at what you have now, tell you what it would take, and send the scope and the number in writing.
Prefer to talk now? Call or text (916) 618-0502, or email [email protected].