Before Designed By Dane, I spent about a decade working in HVAC and the home-service industry, working directly with customers, business owners, and the people who depend on a business's website to decide whether to call.
That experience changed the way I look at websites. Most customers aren't studying every detail. They're trying to decide whether they understand the business, whether they trust it, and whether it's worth taking the next step.
Designed By Dane is an independent, Washington-based practice. Every site — design, improvements, management, audits, and ongoing oversight — is handled directly by me, not passed off to a larger team.
My professional background is in service businesses, particularly HVAC and home services. I spent years working directly with customers and seeing the decisions people make before they buy, book, approve a project, or trust someone in their home.
That time taught me a few things that now shape every website I build.
Industry knowledge inside the business doesn't automatically translate to the customer. Knowing how something works is not the same as explaining it clearly to someone who's never seen it before.
Presentation, communication, reviews, photos, credentials, and clarity all contribute before the first conversation ever happens. Most of the decision is made before anyone picks up the phone.
If customers can't understand the service or what to do next, the website is making their job harder — not easier. Unclear information costs businesses opportunities they never see.
Not because it needs aggressive sales language, but because it helps someone decide whether to continue.
That's the perspective I brought with me when I started building websites.
Before Designed By Dane, I spent approximately 10 years working in HVAC, including roughly six years with CM Heating.
That background gives me a different perspective when I review service-business websites. A website visitor isn't simply another number in an analytics report. They may represent a repair call, a replacement opportunity, a maintenance customer, an emergency lead, or someone arriving through an advertising campaign the company paid significantly to generate.
I've been inside the home-service customer journey far enough to understand what actually matters on those pages — and what doesn't.
The calls that actually turn into work.
Not every lead is worth the same.
The distinction that changes what the visitor needs.
And why they have to be stated clearly.
When they help, and when they don't.
Offers that have to be visible and current.
The proof customers actually look for.
And why the website has to work at 2 a.m.
The cost of traffic generated through advertising.
That background shapes how I view every website I work on: a contractor website isn't simply there to look good. It needs to turn expensive, hard-won traffic into calls, appointments, estimates, replacement opportunities, and trust.
I use that experience when discussing HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and other home-service businesses — and the same rigor applies to any industry.
A lot of small businesses are genuinely good at what they actually do. But the website they're showing the world is often:
The business itself often isn't the problem. The website simply isn't communicating it well.
Designed By Dane exists to close that gap.
Before I think about how a website looks, I try to answer a few questions in order.
Design matters. But it works a lot better once those questions have answers.
The colors matter too. They're just not the first problem I'm trying to solve.
Designed By Dane is intentionally small. When you send an email, review a page, ask a question, or request a change, you're communicating with the person actually working on the website.
You don't explain the project to someone whose job ends after the sale.
The person discussing the website with you is the person working on it.
Project communication stays direct.
That doesn't make Designed By Dane a giant agency alternative. It makes it a different kind of service.
Website projects involve a lot of small decisions — copy, images, links, page structure, revisions, access, pricing, and launch details.
Keeping most project communication in writing gives both of us something to refer back to and helps prevent important details from disappearing between conversations.
Scope stays documented
Revisions are easier to track
Links and assets stay organized
Both sides can refer back
Clear documentation usually makes the project easier, not less personal.
Different businesses need different things from their website. Existing accounts, editing preferences, functionality, budget, and future plans can all affect which platform makes sense.
The goal is to choose the tool around the business — not force the business around the tool.
For existing website improvements, Designed By Dane works across platforms including WordPress — existing-site improvements and website management, with existing WordPress websites supported after review.
Ongoing management is optional. Where the platform allows it, you can manage your own website after launch. Website Management exists for convenience — not because the website stops working without it.
Normal third-party platform and domain costs remain separate, and future work can be requested whenever it's actually needed.
Ongoing help is there when it's useful — not because the website is designed to depend on me.
Can someone understand the business?
Does the website give them enough reason to feel confident?
Does it still work when someone finds it from their phone?
Does the website actually represent what the business offers?
Does the client understand what they have and what happens after launch?
Is the page helping the customer, or just filling space?
Three projects, three very different kinds of business — and three very different jobs for the website to do.
Families researching care need to quickly understand whether a home is a good fit. The decision is emotional and personal, so the website leads with the setting, the care, and a calm, honest picture of day-to-day life — not a list of features.
An author's website isn't trying to book a service call — it's trying to introduce a person, a story, and a body of work. The design decisions are built around storytelling and a clear identity rather than a conversion funnel.
This site exists to present training products clearly and give customers a straightforward path from understanding the offer to purchasing it. Different goal, different structure, different decisions.
Designed By Dane
Camano Island, Washington
Washington State Business License · UBI 606273060
Website design and management are provided directly by Dane.
You don't need to know the platform, the exact page count, or what the final website should look like yet.
Tell me what the business does, what you currently have, and what you're trying to improve. I'll tell you what I think makes sense.