Can a Bit of Clever Coding (and a Dash of AI) Bring You More Business? Absolutely.

Ever sat down in a restaurant, flicked through a complicated menu, and just given up? Or landed on a website that’s so clunky you can practically hear it creaking? You’re not alone – and it’s costing North East businesses more than a few missed bookings.

Let me tell you about a restaurant in Newcastle. We got the crayons out, looked at how folk are actually using the site, and realised most just want to book a table for two, tonight, as quick as possible. So we binned off the fiddly forms and built something dead simple. Click. Book. Done.

The result? Forty-five extra bookings every week. That’s four grand more coming through the till, all by tidying up a bit of code and making it as easy as ordering chips on a Friday night.

What’s Actually Putting People Off Your Website?

Here’s the harsh truth: people won’t faff about on a website that’s ugly or slow. In fact, 38% will sack it off completely if it doesn’t work right or looks a mess. Just like you wouldn’t eat in a place with sticky tables and no atmosphere, people judge your business on your website before they’ve even met you.

Here’s what we see all the time:

– Confusing menus that make you feel like you need a treasure map
– Forms that ask for your shoe size, star sign and mother’s maiden name
– Endless clicks just to do something simple

We worked on a whistleblowing company’s site with two types of users – one lot paid the bills, the other didn’t spend a penny. The fix? We added a dead simple filter at the top: “Who are you?” One click, and you’re off down your own path. Instantly, the right people landed in the right place, and bounce rates dropped by half.

That’s like emptying all the timewasters out the back door and giving the good customers a box seat.

Building for Real People (Not Just for Google)

When we worked with Gen 2, the brief was simple: less faff, more action. We looked at what people actually wanted:

– Pay rent
– Report a repair
– Make a complaint

So we got the crayons out, mapped the main jobs, and stripped out everything else. Suddenly, user engagement shot up by 85%. People sorted themselves online instead of clogging up the phone lines, so staff could help the people who genuinely needed it.

Websites aren’t just digital brochures. They’re storefronts, ticket booths and helpdesks all rolled into one. If they don’t work, customers walk.

Let AI Do the Boring Stuff (And Free Up Your Own Time)

Let’s talk automation. If your team spends hours posting events, booking confirmations, or routine updates, there’s a better way. Take Stack, for example. Their events list changed daily, and the events team added new details all the time – but the social media posts took forever, and no one loved doing them.

So we built a system that automatically scraped the latest events from the website, picked out the best photo from a set, matched it with the date and time, and posted it to Instagram in the right colours and branding. Every single day, without anyone lifting a finger.

Sadly, it never got the green light, but the potential was huge. It would have kept content on brand, saved bags of time, and meant the social media manager could actually focus on talking to customers instead of copying and pasting all day.

Why Does AI Work Here? Because It’s Fast, Consistent, and Never Needs a Brew Break.

A decent AI set-up can:

– Write posts in your own voice
– Stick to your brand guidelines every time
– Post at the perfect time, day after day

That’s more hours back in your week and way less stress when someone goes off sick.

From Crayons Out to Colouring In: Getting Results That Actually Matter

A clever site or slick automation tool isn’t about showing off – it’s about making life easier for you and your customers. We always start with a blank sheet, get the crayons out, and sketch what people need to do: find info, book, pay, ask a question, whatever.

Once that’s clear, it’s just a case of colouring in – tightening up the designs, hooking things up behind the scenes, and adding the polish that makes people want to click (and come back).

Ready to Ditch the Faff and Get More Done?

Here’s what you should check on your own website or booking system:

– Can someone do the main job – book, pay, find info – in two or three clicks?
– Does it look tidy and work on your phone (not just on a big monitor)?
– Are you or your staff wasting hours on repeat jobs a bot could do in five minutes?

If the answer to any of those is “not really”, it might be time to get the crayons out with us.

Recap: Make things simple, use clever coding and AI where it makes sense, and spend less time fixing and more time serving customers. Fancy a brew and a chat about making your website or marketing work smarter, not harder? Give us a shout and we’ll put the kettle on.

How many hours could you claw back if your website just worked for people? Or better yet, what would you do with all that extra business?