Introducing Bridge Road News.
Client: Bridge Road News
Sector: Retail
Project Overview
Bridge Road News has been part of the local community for years, but when I first approached the business, there was no dedicated website bringing everything together.
Having grown up on Bridge Road myself, I already knew the shop and what it meant to the area. The aim was to create something that gave the business greater visibility online while capturing the community-focused feel that made it more than just another convenience store.
Starting from scratch, I designed and built a Squarespace website that brought together everything customers might need — from the services available and practical information through to a better introduction to the business itself.
Since launching, the website has received nearly 600 visits from almost 500 unique visitors, generating more than 900 pageviews, giving a small local business an online presence that continues to be found and used.
My Approach
There wasn't an existing website to redesign or a template to replicate. Instead, I worked closely with then-owner Jas to take elements he liked from other websites and combine them with my own ideas to create something that felt right for Bridge Road News.
One of the biggest advantages was having genuine photography to work with. Rather than filling the site with generic stock imagery, we used photographs taken in and around the shop, including going to slightly questionable lengths to get the right angles outside! It helped make the finished website feel unmistakably theirs.
The design itself was kept simple, colourful and easy to navigate, giving customers somewhere to quickly find the information they needed while also showcasing the personality and community feel behind the business.
As with every by Stoneman build, the site was created to work properly across desktop and mobile, with SEO foundations in place to help Bridge Road News become more visible in local searches.
For me, this was another reminder that a website doesn't need to belong to a huge business to have a purpose. Sometimes it's simply about taking a business people already know locally and making sure its online presence does it justice too.