Can Local Expertise Rival the Big Players? Arkansas Firm Shows How with eCommerce and WordPress Hosting

TL; DR: If you have a small business whose website could use a little love, I’m here to tell you it’s time to make a change. And if you’re in or near the Northern Arkansas area, you’re in luck: Local web design and development agency SavvyGents has more than 15 years of experience in creating beautiful and functional websites for Arkansas SMBs. We talked with the company’s President, Chris Davis, who shared what sets SavvyGents apart in the competitive landscape of getting your site noticed.

Although I think many of us are guilty of this, I’ll be the first in the room to admit that I’ve done something called self-referential judgment. That’s when you assess someone’s skills based on their personal application. For instance, you might judge a stylist by their hair, a personal trainer by their physique, or a mechanic by their car.

I found myself doing this when I looked into SavvyGents, a web design and hosting company in Northern Arkansas. Given that it specializes in boosting people’s online presence, I expected the SavvyGents website to reflect similar standards. And the good news is that it does.

SavvyGents’ site is well-designed: clean, consistent, and user-friendly. It provides plenty of information without overwhelming users with dense text or excessive jargon. I love some of the interactive elements, like the client showcase carousel. I even spotted some SEO techniques that hint at the expertise they apply to their clients’ projects.

The more I learned about SavvyGents, the more I became intrigued by their story. As with most startups, the agency found its footing along the way with some trial and error.

President Chris Davis explained its journey perfectly when he said, “It’s incredible to see how much we’ve evolved. When we first started, we were a small team focused on basic web design. Today, we’ve grown into a full-service digital agency offering everything from advanced SEO to AI-driven solutions.”

And now, its goal is to help other businesses make the same kind of impact on their communities.

If you’re new to web development, then all you really have to know is that it’s changed drastically since its early days at the turn of the millennium. Today, having a noticeable online presence requires more than just a basic website: It demands a thoughtful but intentional digital strategy.

And no, that’s not just fancy jargon. Digital strategies are vital to understanding what your targeted market is looking for (and knowing how to meet those needs via your services or products).

This involves everything from crafting the right ads to ensuring you have a functional website that drives sales.

That’s where SavvyGents comes in. It offers WordPress hosting, web design and development, and digital marketing packages tailored to businesses in Northern Arkansas, including Bella Vista, Springdale, Rogers, Fayetteville, and Bentonville.

(But don’t be fooled by this local team — they’ve also worked with many businesses outside of the Natural State’s borders.)

In the nearly 15 years since SavvyGents was founded, its team has gone through a lot of changes.

Chris mentioned that SavvyGents started as a small team focused on web design, and it’s evolved into a full-service digital agency that, like many of its big-name competitors, also harnesses the power of AI.

“I’m particularly proud of how we’ve embraced new technologies like AI and integrated them into our offerings,” he added. “It’s allowed us to deliver more personalized and effective services to our clients.”

One of SavvyGents’ newest services is a specialization in eCommerce sites. The eCommerce package includes WooCommerce or Shopify (the world’s most popular online shopping plugins), which makes tasks like tracking inventory and checkout processes effortless.

“Our expansion into eCommerce and hosting has also been a game changer, allowing us to serve our clients’ diverse needs better,” Chris said. “Plus, we have full control over the hosting environment.”

The reason SavvyGents expanded into the specific niche of eCommerce development is that it’s a whole different beast — it’s changed a lot in the last few years.

Chris noted mobile and personalized shopping experiences are taking center stage, and to keep up, SavvyGents has “focused on making our hosting services more flexible and resilient.”

One example is integrating AI insights. AI insights basically give you a clear-cut view of how a site is performing. It can analyze user behavior (is there a high bounce rate?), make optimization suggestions (what’s slowing down the process?), and offer predictive analytics (what are similar businesses doing that might work for yours?).

“By doing this, we’re making sure our clients’ eCommerce sites remain agile and stable,” Chris added.

While SavvyGents handles the technical aspects of your site, it still doesn’t hurt to know the tools they’re working with.

For starters, SavvyGents uses cPanel as its hosting environment, which is essentially a dashboard for websites. cPanel is one of the most popular control panel platforms in the world because of its easy interface and integration abilities.

SavvyGents also uses Imunify360, which acts as a security guard for your web server. This security suite offers real-time malware protection, web application firewalls (WAF), intrusion detection and prevention, and even reputation management to protect your site’s IP address.

“We’re constantly adapting to new technologies and updates to keep our services cutting-edge,” Chris said. “For example, integrating AI tools allows us to optimize site performance automatically.”

With all that in mind, should you decide to work with SavvyGents, you have quite a few options to choose from:

• Web Design: Whether you need a striking hero image for your eCommerce site or a split-view layout for real estate, SavvyGents tailors designs to what works best for your market.
• Website Hosting: Enjoy fully managed cPanel web hosting, just like SavvyGents does. This includes maintenance, plugin updates, content management, and ongoing dev support.
• Web Development: Whether you need a custom online solution or prefer to have someone else manage the backend of your site, SavvyGents has you covered.
• eCommerce Integrations: Running a business in retail, automotive, manufacturing, or another field? SavvyGents builds eCommerce sites designed to appeal to the local market, with the flexibility to choose between WooCommerce or Shopify. If you don’t know, SavvyGents will recommend the best option.
• Search Engine Optimization: For small businesses, local SEO is crucial — it’s the most effective way to make your services known in your region (second only to word-of-mouth in a small town).
• Strategy and Branding: Like SEO, a strong plan is critical to building brand loyalty. SavvyGents partners with Sales Creative, a digital creative agency, to guide you through everything from selecting brand colors to targeting the right market.

As you can see, SavvyGents isn’t just about hosting your site — it’s about empowering your online presence.

Which is why I want to talk about the importance of digital marketing. I’m a regular supporter of small businesses in my small community: I love shopping at family-owned stores and dining at local restaurants. Even if their prices are a bit higher, I know that by supporting them, I’m helping to strengthen my local economy.

But one of the first things I notice about so many of these small businesses is that they don’t really have much of an internet presence. Most use their Facebook page as a website or regularly post to Instagram. But the problem is that creating content isn’t enough to let customers know who, what, or where you are.

Let’s say there’s a family-owned bakery down the street from my home. If I search for “bakeries near me” on Google, this bakery might not show up, even though it perfectly matches what I’m looking for. Why? Because they haven’t optimized their online presence with local SEO.

That’s where SavvyGents’ toolbox can come into play. The best way to let your community know you’re there is with proper digital marketing. And the best way to blow them away with a first impression is with a website that will get noticed.

One of its clients, The Wooden Spoon in Gentry, Arkansas, is an excellent example of what SavvyGents can do.

This beloved spot serves homestyle meals, pies, and desserts that I can tell right off the bat locals and non-locals alike rave about. But without local SEO, how would someone who didn’t grow up in the area even know The Wooden Spoon exists?

SavvyGents helped The Wooden Spoon create a visual and interactive design, a custom online ordering system, and even a reservation system. The result? A pretty incredible increase in in-person dining, reservations, and online orders.

Chris believes there are two main elements of good web design: simplicity and responsiveness. But those terms aren’t static — they evolve, just as customer behavior does.

So, Chris sees the future of digital marketing and hosting being heavily influenced by AI and machine learning (ML). Automation can create more personalized user experiences, for example, by displaying relevant content and recommendations depending on who’s visiting your site.

“We’re always exploring new ways to enhance our services, and right now, we’re particularly excited about some AI-powered tools we’re developing,” Chris said.

The AI tools Chris talked about are all about making your website more personalized and engaging for visitors.

For instance, smarter analytics can help you figure out what your customers are really looking for, while automated content tips can boost your Google rankings. This means you can easily track who’s visiting your site and how they found you or get suggestions for what to write on your landing pages or blogs.

SavvyGents is also expanding its security measures to include more robust threat detection systems.

Chris hasn’t specified any details yet, but it will likely involve monitoring traffic for suspicious activity and taking automated actions, such as blocking malicious traffic or requiring multifactor authentication.

In the meantime, if you’re in or around Arkansas, give SavvyGents the chance to bring your business to digital life. Answer a few questions and get a custom quote from them today.