“What am I actually getting for this price?”
A price alone does not explain scope, boundaries, requirements, or what happens when a project moves beyond the standard case.
Case Study 00 / WebsiteGarage itself
We don't just show the result.
WebsiteGarage is our storefront, sales system, working process and test lab in one. So we do something agency portfolios surprisingly rarely do: we open the garage and show what is actually underneath.
DE canonical source0 invented KPIs1 real architecture
01 / The actual problem
Not the website.
Selling a web service online means navigating the uncomfortable space between “price on request” and a standardized product that pretends every project is the same.
“Everything included” is not a scope of work.
Custom work needs clear rules. Otherwise transparency becomes a slogan and every project turns into a negotiation after the fact.
How do you sell custom web work transparently, without turning it into a rigid mass-market product?That became the core question behind WebsiteGarage.
02 / Service Blueprint
One service. One source of truth.
Visitors should understand an offer quickly. Internally, the same offer has to be precise enough to keep pricing, boundaries, briefing, purchase flow and translations consistent.
websitegarage_service_blueprint
interactive explorer / v1
03 / Not everything worked
What went wrong.
A system does not improve because you defend the first idea. So we show the places where WebsiteGarage itself was overbuilt, too visually noisy, or simply wrong.
What broke
Individual components looked good, but together they felt like five design systems at once. The lime accent lost its purpose because it appeared everywhere.
→
What we changed
Fewer exceptions, clearer hierarchy, reusable components. Lime is a signal again - not wallpaper.
What broke
Maximum flexibility looked like maximum transparency, but created a configurator that made the customer do the work.
→
What we changed
First orientation, then the package, then the relevant options. Complexity is revealed progressively.
What broke
Some variants differed far more in actual effort than in price. That is neither sound pricing nor fair in the long run.
→
What we changed
Packages were restructured. Two meaningful options beat three artificial ones - every time.
What broke
Product → cart → checkout does not explain what fits an individual project or when a review is needed first.
→
What we changed
The Offer Builder became a guidance layer between interest and purchase - not a substitute for judgement.
04 / Deliberate NOs
What we deliberately did not build.
Product development is not only about features. Sometimes the most valuable technical or business decision is a clear no.
No hosting lock-in
Hosting would create recurring revenue. Even so, the domain, hosting and access credentials stay with the client. A website should belong to the business, not the provider.
No €39 maintenance package
A plan that only works economically when nobody has to look at anything does not fit our model. Automation: yes. Human review stays.
No premium limits for marketing theatre
“8 pages, 12 sections, 2 forms” is not a quality signal. Limits should control effort and risk - not artificially prevent sensible information architecture.
No custom-code fetish
If a stable existing solution solves the problem cleanly, we use it. Our own code needs a reason: control, integration, workflow, or genuinely special logic.
Speaking of “custom”
View Source is allowed.
For us, “custom” does not mean “we invented our own CMS”. WordPress and WooCommerce are deliberate foundations. Our own design, service and offer logic sits on top.
When we use standard technology, we say so. When something is ours, we can show where.
<!-- Kein „100% custom“-Sticker über random Theme. -->
<foundation platform="WordPress" commerce="WooCommerce">
<websitegarage theme="own" services="own">
<service-blueprint source="DE" version="1" />
<offer-builder human-check="true" />
</websitegarage>
</foundation>
<foundation platform="WordPress" commerce="WooCommerce">
<websitegarage theme="own" services="own">
<service-blueprint source="DE" version="1" />
<offer-builder human-check="true" />
</websitegarage>
</foundation>
05 / Under the hood
Technology is the means. Not the story.
We still show the architecture - not to show off, but to make it visible which layer solves which problem.
WordPressCONTENT FOUNDATION
WebsiteGarage ThemeDESIGN + FRONTEND
WebsiteGarage ServicesSERVICE LOGIC
WooCommerceTRANSACTION LAYER
Multilingual LayerDE → EN / PL
Service BlueprintSOURCE OF STRUCTURE
→
What the visitor gets
Less technology. More clarity.
The architecture may be complex internally. Externally it should do the opposite: create understandable services, clear boundaries, relevant options and a clean path to a decision.
visitor → guidance → decision → project
06 / Evolution
No grand revelation. Lots of corrections.
WebsiteGarage did not emerge from a perfect “brand workshop”. The important steps came from problems that became visible while building it.
01
Service idea
Sell services online.
02
Packages
Make scope visible.
03
Offer Builder
More than a cart.
04
Blueprint
One structure as the source.
05
Languages
DE canonical, EN/PL layered on top.
06
Design reset
Less chaos, more system.
07
PATCH
Guidance instead of a popup bot.
07 / No fake proof
What we cannot claim yet.
WebsiteGarage is new. So there are no invented conversion charts, fictional testimonials or “+187% leads” just because the number looks impressive.
Evidence policy
Real data comes later. Fake data does not come first.
We measure technical performance, user behaviour, drop-off points, offer clarity, process times and errors. We show commercial metrics only when the data is actually robust.
+???% CONVERSIONLooks impressive. It would just be made up.
08 / Currently on the lift
WebsiteGarage is not finished.
Not in the sense of an unfinished website. In the sense of a working product: observe, test, remove, rebuild - when there is a reason.
Still fixing things();
“Garage” is not a decorative metaphor. Things go on the lift when they do not work cleanly enough.
status: evolvingNavigation & offer guidanceLess searching, faster understanding.
in progressOffer BuilderFrom interest to the right scope.
iteratingPATCHInteractive guidance instead of a generic chat popup.
buildingDesign SystemMore consistency, less visual noise.
refiningPerformanceFast where speed is actually felt.
measuring
Don't take our word for it.
You are already using the result.
This website is WebsiteGarage. Open a service. Compare packages. Check what is included and what is not. Look under the hood.