We Make Brands
Visible.
Magnetic.
Sorted.
Mint.
Unmissable.
Web Design, SEO & Digital Marketing Agency in Sunderland & the North East
Websites, SEO and Google Ads for North East businesses, run by Dave since 2012. 37 five-star Google reviews. Clear price ranges on every service page and a fixed quote before we start.
Everything you need to
grow online
Strategy, creative, and technology. All under one roof. No middlemen, no confusion.
Web & UI Design
Fast, canny websites built to bring in enquiries, not just compliments.
Get a New Website 02AI Automation
We automate the repetitive stuff so your team can focus on the work that matters. CRM, workflows, and AI tools, sorted.
Automate Your Business 03Branding
Logos, identity systems, and brand guidelines that stick. The kind people actually remember.
Update Your Brand 04SEO
Get found by people already searching for what you sell. More traffic, more leads, month after month.
Rank Higher on Google 05PPC & Social Ads
Paid ads on Google, Meta, and LinkedIn that bring in real enquiries. You see exactly where every pound goes.
Get More Leads Now 06CRO
More sales from the traffic you already have. We find what stops people buying, then fix it.
Convert More Visitors 07Videography
Brand films, reels, and social content that stop the scroll and tell your story properly.
Tell Your Story on Film 08App Design
Mobile apps that work properly, look mint, and do what your users actually need.
Build Your App 09Photography
Commercial and product photography that makes your brand look as good as it actually is.
Book a ShootWhere we work
We’re based at the Sunderland BIC and work with businesses across Newcastle, Durham and the wider North East. Closer to home, people come to us for web design in Sunderland, digital marketing in Sunderland and an SEO agency in Sunderland they can meet in person. Across the region, we work as a digital marketing agency in the North East, as branding consultants in the North East and on logo design in the North East.
While they say "AI integration,"
we name the kit.
Most North East agencies still sell web design, PPC, and a vague nod to "automation." We tell you exactly which platforms we build on, exactly what each tier costs, and bundle the lot so you're not stitching three suppliers together.
Northern AI Suite.
Make.com.
Said out loud.
Every other agency in the audit said "AI integration" without naming a single tool. We've built the Northern AI Suite for CRM + booking + email + SMS, lean on Make.com for the workflows that stitch your tools together, and clean semantic HTML for everything client-facing. No mystery stack. No vendor lock-in dressed up as expertise.
Fixed tiers.
No "contact us"
black box.
None of the 67 NE agencies we audited show pricing on their site. We do. Northern AI Suite runs from £65/mo (Essential) up to £350/mo (Pro), with managed and fractional-CAO options on top. Websites and audits priced the same way — tiered, transparent, no surprise invoices.
Web + automation
+ marketing.
One agency.
Bot specialists do bots. Web shops do websites. Marketing agencies do marketing. You end up running three suppliers who blame each other when the lead form doesn't fire into the CRM. We do all three under one roof — so the website, the automations, and the campaigns actually talk to each other.
How we stack up
A quick read against the three types of competitor you're probably also looking at.
| Northern | Traditional NE Agency | Automation-Only Specialist | Freelancer | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Names Northern AI Suite + Make.com publicly | ✓ | — | Sometimes | — |
| Productised, fixed-price tiers | ✓ | — | — | Day-rate |
| Web design + build in-house | ✓ | ✓ | — | Solo |
| Automation + CRM + workflows | ✓ | Add-on | ✓ | — |
| Integrated marketing (SEO / PPC / social) | ✓ | ✓ | — | — |
| Vertical playbooks (hospitality, trades, finance) | ✓ | — | — | — |
| WCAG 2.1 AA + semantic HTML | ✓ | Partial | — | Varies |
| NE-local (Sunderland HQ, NBSL supplier) | ✓ | Sometimes | — | Varies |
From zero to growth
in 4 steps
No confusion. No jargon. Just a clear path to results.
Discover
FreeFree audit and strategy call
We look at your site, your numbers, and what you actually want to achieve. No sales pitch.
Week 1Define
Your growth roadmap
We map out the channels, the budget, and the timeline. Everything is in front of you.
Week 2–3Launch
Build and go live
We build it, test it, and get it live. You are in the loop the whole way.
Week 4+Scale
Measure, learn, grow
Monthly reports you can actually read. Quarterly strategy reviews. We keep pushing until the numbers move.
Ongoing
What's costing you growth?
Let's find out. For free.
Give Dave your website address. He'll look at your site and marketing, find what's not working, and email you exactly where to focus. No waffle. Just a canny plan you can act on.
Request Your Free Audit
Takes 30 seconds. No jargon, just results.
What our clients say
Don't take our word for it. Here's what real clients think.
I have really enjoyed working with Dave at Northern Design and Digital Marketing. Dave was quick to understand me and my wish to move away from WordPress and heavy-duty software and systems. I can now manage my own website quickly and easily on HTML5. He has interpreted my wishes - and brand values - to a T. I love my new website and brand.
Working with NORTHERN on the HERMIT UNIVERSE website has been a superb experience. Translating such a complex, visually rich and philosophically driven creative project into an immersive digital layout was no straightforward undertaking. NORTHERN approached it with embracing the concept, steady and extremely efficient work flow, patience and a genuine understanding of the vision. The result is a distinctive website that is receiving excellent, supportive feedback and captures the identity of Hermit Universe. We would very much recommend NORTHERN to anyone looking for a thoughtful, creative and collaborative approach to web design.
Dave has worked with two of my clients so far on projects I've written copy for. One was web design and development and one was a brand ID refresh and web. Design and development have been great in both cases. Simple, effective design, and incredibly fast without losing any quality. Dave cares about the outcome, is fair to clients, and listens to suggestions. All of these things are very reassuring.
Got Questions? We’ve Got Answers.
Transparency is one of our core values. Here’s everything you need to know.
We’re a full-service creative and digital marketing agency. That means SEO, PPC & Google Ads, CRO (conversion rate optimisation), web & UI design, branding & identity, videography, photography, and AI automation. Dave’s background spans all of these. He designed global hotel brands at citizenM in the Netherlands and drove +284% PPC traffic at Law Debenture in London. We look at what you actually need, not just what we can sell you.
Every service page shows a price range, and you get a fixed quote before we start. We’ve worked with businesses of all sizes, from local cafés to FTSE 250 investment trusts. What we do promise: radical transparency. You see every penny spent, every decision made. No hidden fees, no surprises, and monthly services roll with 30 days’ notice. Book a free audit and we’ll give you an honest assessment of what’s realistic for your budget.
Wey aye. We’re proudly based in Sunderland at the Business & Innovation Centre, but we’ve worked across the UK and internationally. Dave spent two years at citizenM Hotels in the Netherlands managing design for their global portfolio, and worked in London for Law Debenture and Safecall. Great work has no postcode. We work with whoever has the ambition to grow.
It depends on the channel. Paid campaigns (Google Ads, social ads) can deliver results within weeks. At STACK Leisure we achieved CTRs of 8.75% and CPCs as low as £0.03. SEO typically takes 3–6 months to build momentum, but we’ve delivered +145% organic traffic growth within that timeframe. Website redesigns show impact fast. At Gentoo Homes, engagement time jumped 85% in four months. We set honest timelines from day one.
From day one, you own everything: your domain, your data, your accounts, your assets. No lock-in, no hidden control, no surprises. Dave started in design, moved into UI, then digital marketing. That means he can look at all aspects of your funnel and advise what you actually need, not just sell you a service. It’s human to human, not B2B. You get a bit of banter, honest advice, and work that’s coloured in properly.
Not at all. We’ve built brands for local businesses and managed campaigns for FTSE 250 companies. What matters is clear goals and the willingness to invest in growth. Sometimes the answer isn’t a big campaign. It’s better photography, a simpler website, or sorting your Google Business Profile. Book a free audit and we’ll tell you exactly where to start.
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