MJ.Studios
Local time 9:41am • 12 March, 2025

Notes from the studio.

What we learn shipping websites, apps, and brands for clients worldwide, written down so you can use it. Costs, timelines, rankings, and the mistakes worth skipping.

Designer working at a laptop and pen tablet beside fanned color swatches, markers and logo sketches Design & Branding •12 min read

What a Brand Identity Includes, and Why a Logo Alone Falls Short

Buying just a logo leaves everyone guessing about color, type, photos and tone. Here is what a full brand identity includes, the files you should get, and how to make sure you own them. Read article Blue and cream OPEN sign hanging in a shop's glass door above the word SHOP SEO & Performance •12 min read

Local SEO in 2026: How to Get Into Google's Map Pack

The map pack is where local customers decide who to call. Here is how Google ranks it, what a finished Business Profile looks like, and a 30-day plan to earn your place. Read article Hand pinning printed page layouts to a wall and linking them into a site map with drawn lines Web Development •12 min read

Website Redesign SEO: How to Relaunch Without Losing Rankings

Redesigns rarely lose traffic because of the new look. They lose it to missing redirects and staging settings that ship to the live site. Here is how to prevent both. Read article Analytics dashboard with traffic graphs on a laptop screen SEO & Performance •9 min read

SEO vs AEO vs GEO: How to Get Found When AI Does the Searching

Google answers, ChatGPT recommends, and your customers may never see page one. Here is what SEO, AEO, and GEO actually mean in 2026, and what to fix first. Read article Performance dashboard charting page load time against bounce rate SEO & Performance •7 min read

Why Website Speed Sells: The Revenue Math of a Fast Site

A slow site quietly refunds your marketing budget one abandoned visitor at a time. Here is the revenue math behind page speed, and the fixes that pay for themselves. Read article Brand color swatches and style guide pages spread across a designer desk Design & Branding •7 min read

7 Signs Your Business Has Outgrown Its Brand

Your work got better. Your prices went up. Your brand stayed in 2019. Here are the seven signs it is now costing you money, and what to do about each one. Read article App screen wireframes sketched on paper beside a phone and pencil App Development •8 min read

How to Scope an App MVP That Ships in Months, Not Years

Most first apps die in scoping, not in code. Here is how to cut a first version down to the one job that matters and get it into the stores in months. Read article MacBook on a clean desk showing a code editor with a custom theme build Web Development •8 min read

Custom WordPress vs Page Builders: What Your Site Deserves

Elementor and Divi are fine tools that solve a real problem. So is a hand-built theme. The right answer depends on what your site has to earn, not on ideology. Read article Hands typing on a laptop keyboard while drafting a website brief Web Development •8 min read

How Much Does a Website Cost in 2026? Real Numbers, No Games

Most pricing pages hide the number until you book a call. Here are the actual 2026 price bands, what pushes a quote up or down, and where cheap sites quietly get expensive. Read article

Beyond reading

Every article here comes from client work. If you'd rather have the results than the reading list, tell us what you're building.

MJ.