The verdict in three sentences
Guernsey is a very small market: you can count the web agencies and freelancers on the island on your fingers, and few have built a site for a civil or structural engineering firm, so most firms end up comparing one local freelancer, an agency in Jersey or on the mainland, and a remote studio on Guernsey time. For a firm working on island infrastructure, coastal defences and residential projects, a remote Starter at £2,300 or Growth at £3,900, plus a local photographer paid directly, usually gives the best balance of cost, speed and ownership. A local provider is the better choice when you need someone to sit with you repeatedly and write the content for you, and when that person has the capacity and engineering experience.
How small is the market, and what does it change?
On an island of this size, three practical effects follow. Your preferred freelancer may be one person with a waiting list, so check capacity and cover for holidays or illness before you sign. Off-island agencies will bill travel by air or sea for every visit. And your buyers are close and well connected: public works and utilities owners, private homeowners planning extensions or renovations, developers of small residential schemes and contractors who need a design partner for sea walls or slipways. A sloppy site gets noticed.
Before talking to anyone, run this short checklist. Count your yes answers in each column.
| Question | If yes, leans to |
|---|---|
| Do the partners insist on signing off copy in person? | Local |
| Is there no one internally who can gather content and photos? | Local |
| Do you want print, signage and website from one supplier? | Local |
| Is a tender or prequalification deadline less than 8 weeks away? | Remote |
| Do you have at least 15 usable project photos or can a photographer shoot them in a day? | Remote |
| Do you want a fixed price agreed before work starts? | Remote |
| Is your preferred local provider booked for more than a month? | Remote |
Three or more answers on the local side with fewer on the remote side point to a local provider; otherwise the remote route is likely enough.
What does a Guernsey civil and structural website need?
- Project references with large images, published once the client agrees. Coastal works photograph best at low tide; plan the shoot with the photographer, not the web provider.
- Separate pages for each buyer type: infrastructure and coastal defence for public and utility owners, structural design for homeowners and architects, small residential schemes for developers. Homeowners need plain language and a simple enquiry form; public owners need capability documents.
- Careers. Recruiting engineers to the island is hard and relocation depends on the island's employment and housing rules; link to official information rather than summarising it.
- Tender and prequalification documents as downloadable PDFs, kept current, with procurement rules described generally.
- Health and safety and sustainability pages in plain words, with no claims you cannot evidence.
- Team pages with roles. Professional titles such as Chartered Engineer come from the engineering institutions; show only what each person holds.
- Fast pages for engineers checking a detail on site on a tablet.
Kolonell tiers include a project manager reachable on Guernsey hours, native English or French copywriting, delivery in 3 to 4 weeks and three months of support; Premium at £6,900 is the multilingual tier, languages set in the quote. Read the details on the international offer page.
What do the options cost over three years?
The build ranges are a 2026 ballpark from typical agency quotes and public rate pages; the figures in the table are mid-range examples. A local photographer at £900 is a third-party cost in every option. Maintenance after launch is a market assumption of £90 a month, not a Kolonell price (Kolonell maintenance after the three included months is on quote).
| Option | Year 1 | Years 2 and 3 | 3-year total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guernsey freelancer (range £3,000 to £7,000; example £5,000) | £5,000 + £900 + £1,080 = £6,980 | £2,160 | £9,140 |
| Jersey or mainland agency (range £8,000 to £25,000; example £15,000, 2 trips £1,400) | £15,000 + £1,400 + £900 + £1,080 = £18,380 | £2,160 | £20,540 |
| Kolonell Starter | £2,300 + £900 + £810 (9 months) = £4,010 | £2,160 | £6,170 |
| Kolonell Growth | £3,900 + £900 + £810 (9 months) = £5,610 | £2,160 | £7,770 |
The local freelancer is a credible option here: if they have engineering experience and the capacity, the difference with Growth is only £1,370 over three years. The bigger cost is often your own time, as the case below shows.
Whatever you choose, ask both sides the same questions: is the domain (including a .gg domain) registered in the firm's name, do you receive the code and design files, who holds the photo rights, and what is the response time after launch. Data protection in the Bailiwick falls under the Data Protection (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law 2017, supervised by the Office of the Data Protection Authority; your privacy notice, cookie consent and careers form should reflect it. Aim for WCAG 2.2 AA with an accessibility statement. This is not legal advice.
Mini case study
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Rachel (illustrative example) is a partner in a 12-person civil and structural engineering firm in St Peter Port. A local freelancer quotes £5,000 but expects the firm to supply all text. A remote studio quotes Growth at £3,900 with a native copywriter who interviews the engineers.
Rachel estimates her internal time at £90 an hour:
- Freelancer route: about 30 hours of writing by Rachel, £2,700, plus £5,000 = £7,700.
- Remote route: about 8 hours of interviews and reviews, £720, plus £3,900 = £4,620.
The gap is £3,080 before photography, which is the same £900 in both cases. Rachel still keeps the freelancer's number for small updates on island, quoted separately.
FAQ
Are there any engineering-savvy web agencies in Guernsey?
Very few. Expect to find 1 or 2 local candidates at most, so add a Jersey, mainland or remote option to compare on the same 15 to 20 page brief.
How much does a local photographer cost in St Peter Port?
A 2026 ballpark is £500 to £900 a day. You book and pay them directly and keep the rights.
Can a remote studio write for homeowners and public owners at the same time?
Yes, with separate pages. Budget 2 interview sessions of about 60 minutes with your lead engineers.
How long does it take?
3 to 4 weeks once content is ready. Off-island agencies usually plan 8 to 14 weeks.
What if we later need a client portal for drawings?
That is a custom application, priced on quote. Launch the main site first, then request a free quote for the portal.
Let's scope your project. Send your buyer types, your best references and your deadline, and we will confirm a tier from £2,300 to £6,900 with a 3 to 4 week plan. See the international offer or request a free quote: detailed reply within 48 hours.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.