Web design studio / Cambridge, CB
Web design for Cambridge businesses, labs and spin-outs
Graticule is a Cambridge web design studio. We plan, design and build websites that explain what you do clearly, load quickly and bring in the enquiries you want, whether you are on a science park, in a college or on a high street in Cambridgeshire.
01 / Services
Web design and development services in Cambridge
Everything a local web agency should offer, from a first website to a full redesign, plus specialist work for the life science and technology companies that make Cambridge what it is.
Website design
Website design for Cambridge businesses, labs and spin-outs. Clear structure, careful typography and pages built around what your visitors need to find.
02Web development
Bespoke web development for Cambridge companies: static and headless builds, integrations, and sites that load quickly on any connection.
03WordPress websites
WordPress websites for Cambridge businesses, built with custom blocks so your team can edit pages safely without breaking the design.
04E-commerce
Online shops for Cambridge retailers, makers and producers on Shopify or WooCommerce, designed to make buying simple on a phone.
05Website redesign
Website redesign and migration for Cambridge organisations. We keep what works, fix what does not, and protect your search traffic during the move.
06SEO
Technical and local SEO for Cambridge businesses: site structure, page speed, structured data and content that answers what people search for.
07Accessibility and speed
Accessibility audits to WCAG 2.2 and page speed improvements for Cambridge organisations, including public sector and research bodies.
08Science and biotech sites
Websites for Cambridge biotech, medtech and deep-tech companies. Clear science communication for investors, partners, regulators and recruits.
09Website care and hosting
Website care plans for Cambridge businesses: updates, backups, monitoring, small changes and reliable hosting, on a simple monthly arrangement.
02 / Context
Why Cambridge websites need a different approach
Cambridge is not a typical market for a web design agency. The area known as Silicon Fen holds thousands of technology and life science companies, many of them started by people from the University of Cambridge. Cambridge Science Park, founded by Trinity College in 1970, was one of the first in the country. To the south, the Cambridge Biomedical Campus brings together Addenbrooke’s, Royal Papworth Hospital, the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology and AstraZeneca’s research centre. Further out are Granta Park, the Babraham Research Campus and the Wellcome Genome Campus at Hinxton.
Websites for these organisations often have to explain difficult science to investors, partners, regulators and recruits all at once. Meanwhile the city’s colleges, museums, hotels, independent shops and tourism businesses serve millions of visitors who mostly arrive on a phone. And a growing ring of towns and villages, from Cambourne to Ely, is full of firms that need to be found in local search.
A good Cambridge web designer needs to handle all of that. We start every project by understanding who will visit the site and what they need to do, then design and build around them.
03 / Method
How a project runs
A clear, repeatable process, set out at the start, so you know what happens when and what we need from you.
- DiscoveryWe talk to the people who will use and run the site, review any existing analytics and search data, and agree goals. For a redesign, we audit what is already working.
- Structure and content planA page map, the content each page needs and the action we want visitors to take. This is the part most web design projects rush, and the part that matters most.
- Wireframes and designLayouts for each page type, then a visual design built as a component system: consistent, accessible and easy to extend.
- BuildClean, fast code on a platform chosen for your needs: static, WordPress, Shopify or a headless CMS. Search engine foundations are built in from day one.
- Testing and launchChecks on real phones and browsers, accessibility testing, redirects from old addresses and a careful launch with monitoring afterwards.
- Care and improvementTraining for your team, then optional maintenance and regular reviews of what visitors do, so the site keeps improving.
04 / Principles
What we focus on
Clarity before decoration
A visitor should understand what you do within a few seconds of arriving. We test headlines and page structure before spending time on visual polish, because a beautiful website that confuses people does not bring in work.
Speed on real devices
We set performance targets and test on mid-range phones over ordinary connections. Fast websites keep visitors, help search visibility and cost less to host.
Accessibility as standard
Every site is built to meet WCAG 2.2 AA: proper contrast, keyboard navigation, labelled forms and meaningful alt text. For colleges, NHS-linked and public sector organisations this is a requirement; for everyone else it is simply good practice.
Honest search engine optimisation
Technical SEO, structured data and sensible page titles come with every build. We do not promise rankings we cannot guarantee, and we do not use tactics that could harm your site later.
Sites your team can run
You own your website. We choose tools your team can use, train them and leave clear documentation.
05 / Work
The kind of work we do
Example projects describing typical briefs from the Cambridge economy. Clients are not named, and outcomes are described as aims rather than claimed figures.
Example projectUniversity spin-out, therapeutics
A young therapeutics company had a single-page holding site from its incorporation. Ahead of fundraising it needed to explain its platform to investors and attract experienced hires, without overstating early data.
Example projectContract research organisation on a science park
A service provider had a large site that had grown over many years. Service pages overlapped, technical PDFs were scattered and enquiries came through a generic email address.
Example projectFamily-run guesthouse near the city centre
A small guesthouse relied on booking platforms that take a commission, and its own website was slow on phones and hard to update.
06 / Sectors
Who we design websites for
- Life sciences
- Biotech, medtech and diagnostics companies, contract research organisations and lab suppliers on the Biomedical Campus, the science parks and the research campuses south of the city.
- Deep tech and software
- Semiconductor, AI, quantum and software companies across Silicon Fen, from incubator spin-outs to scale-ups preparing for growth.
- University and colleges
- Departments, research groups, college conference offices and university-linked charities, where accessibility rules and many editors are part of the brief.
- Tourism and hospitality
- Hotels, guesthouses, restaurants, tour operators and attractions serving visitors to the colleges, museums and the river.
- Retail and independents
- Shops and makers in the city centre, on Mill Road and in the market towns, selling in store and online.
- Professional and local services
- Accountants, solicitors, architects, clinics and trades serving Cambridge and Cambridgeshire.
07 / Areas
Web design across Cambridgeshire
We are based in Cambridge and work with businesses throughout the city, from the centre and CB1 around the station to Cambridge North, Eddington and the Biomedical Campus. We also work across the county and just over the border into Essex and Suffolk.
08 / Choosing
How to choose a web design agency in Cambridge
There are many web design agencies based in Cambridge and plenty of freelance designers too. Choosing the best web design partner is less about finding the flashiest portfolio and more about fit. Some useful questions to ask any agency before you hire them:
- Who will actually do the work? Find out whether the people you meet are the people who design and build your site.
- How do they plan content and structure? A strong process here is a better predictor of a good result than visual style.
- What platform will they use, and why? They should explain the trade-offs and running costs in plain English.
- How do they handle SEO and redirects? Especially important if you are replacing an existing site that already brings in traffic.
- Who owns the finished site? You should own the domain, code and content outright.
- What happens after launch? Ask about support, maintenance and the cost of small changes.
We are glad to answer all of these in a first conversation, with no obligation.
09 / Questions
Frequently asked questions
- How much does web design in Cambridge cost?
- It depends mainly on the number of page types, how much content needs writing and what the site must do. A compact site for a small firm costs far less than a multi-audience site for a research organisation. We give a written range after a short conversation, and our guide to website costs explains what moves the price.
- How long does a new website take?
- Most small business sites take four to eight weeks from kick-off to launch. Larger sites, migrations and e-commerce builds take longer. Content is usually the deciding factor, so we help plan it early.
- Do you only work with science and tech companies?
- No. Life sciences and deep tech are a large part of the Cambridge economy and we know those briefs well, but we also design websites for independent shops, hospitality, professional firms, charities and trades across Cambridgeshire.
- Will we be able to edit the site ourselves?
- Yes. We set up an editing system suited to your team and train whoever will keep the site up to date.
- Do you meet in person?
- Yes, we are happy to meet in Cambridge, on a science park or campus, or at your premises nearby. Plenty of projects also run well over video calls.
- Who owns the website when it is finished?
- You do. The domain, code, design files and content belong to you, and we hand over access and documentation at launch.
10 / Journal
From the journal
Practical writing on web design, content and search for Cambridge organisations.
What a Cambridge spin-out website needs before a funding round
Investors will look you up before the first meeting. Here is what your site should show them, and what it should leave out.
2026-08-27Writing about science for a non-specialist web audience
Accuracy and clarity are not opposites. A few habits make technical web copy much easier to read.
2026-07-30How much does a website cost for a Cambridge business?
There is no single price, but the things that make a website more or less expensive are predictable.
Next step
Planning a new website?
Tell us what the site needs to do and who it is for. We will reply with questions, a rough approach and an honest view of cost and timing.
Start a conversation