This Web Design and Hosting Company Gives UK SMBs an Affordable All-in-One Solution

TL; DR: Is your business website doing what you want it to do? Is it as beautiful, scalable, and affordable as you need it to be? If you’re running a UK business, Black Nova Designs has got your back. Managing Director Kyle Holmes spoke with us about how his team provides affordable, reliable design, IT, and hosting services, all with a personal touch.

You know how they say, “Don’t judge a book by its cover”? Honestly, I don’t always agree with that. While there are exceptions, of course, I still think judging something based on what you see on the outside holds a lot of truth.

When an author publishes a book and wants people to buy it, what’s the first thing they’ll notice? First, the cover. Second, the synopsis on the back — if they make it that far.

The truth is we’re always selling something. Getting on The New York Times Best Sellers list isn’t just about pouring your heart and soul into a story; it’s about doing the right marketing. And yes, that includes the cover.

The same can be said for website design. When I visit a new site, I subconsciously form an automatic opinion of the company based on how it looks. But I don’t do this because I’m an expert design reviewer.

In fact, it’s the opposite. It’s because I’m your average Joe. And that’s exactly the point: As the end user, I’m at the heart of the experience, just like everyone else.

There’s no reason anybody should be cutting corners in today’s day and age when it comes to good web design and user experience. You don’t need a big budget to do it either — there are plenty of affordable but passionate and skilled web designers out there who can catch your audience’s attention.

One of those is Black Nova Designs. Aside from the wicked cool name, Black Nova Designs is an all-in-one solution for small-to-medium-sized businesses (SMBs), offering web design, web hosting, domain registration, and even IT support.

We spoke with Kyle Holmes, the Managing Director of Black Nova Designs, about how the agency has obtained more than 1,500 customers in its short life — all while saving coral reefs and reducing its CO2 footprint.

Take one look at Black Nova Designs’ homepage, and I think you’ll see a strong brand.

It really illustrates how the Black Nova Design team approaches client projects. Creating something that stands out and boosts brand recognition is not just nice; it’s a necessity (and it’s likely why so many equine-based organizations trust Black Nova Design for their sites).

The numbers don’t lie, either: A well-executed user interface (UI) can increase conversion rates by up to 200%. At the risk of turning this into a TED Talk, I’ll happily admit I’m one of those people on whom it works. Because effort matters.

Let’s rewind a bit.

Black Nova Designs was founded in 2015 as an all-in-one IT solutions provider for homes and small businesses. From custom web design and hosting to SEO and IT support, it has worked with more than 1,200 clients in the past decade.

Kyle’s story of joining Black Nova Designs is interesting. He started his career training as an aircraft engineer for the military and after being medically discharged moved on to his passion: information technology.

It’s then that Kyle noticed a huge issue with hosting companies: “I got kind of sick and tired of dealing with all these companies because they just didn’t run how I wanted it to,” he said. “And since I had a technical background anyway, I ended up building my own.”

“Your services should already be optimized to perform at their best. You should be delivering top-tier performance every single time.”

Recently, Black Nova Designs transitioned to managing full-scale hosting operations — which means it handles all aspects of its infrastructure and setup internally. The only service it outsources now is its internet connection.

The result is dozens of happy businesses, seven restored coral reefs, and more than 6.7 tons of CO2 saved.

Kyle credits the agency’s success to its relationship with its clients.

With an emphasis on personal communication and round-the-clock availability, he describes Black Nova Designs’ goal as “combining family-owned business feel with corporate-level service.”

“I know a lot of those in this industry have gone faceless,” Kyle said. “I wouldn’t be where I am if I didn’t have these staff and clients behind me. They make the business grow — not me.”

My favorite part of learning about new companies and their services is diving into what they do and uncovering what sets them apart.

For Black Nova Designs, I think it’s the multiple solutions it offers:

• Website Design
• Web Hosting
  • Shared Hosting
  • VPS Hosting
  • Dedicated Hosting
• SEO Services
• WordPress Recovery
• WordPress Maintenance
• Domain Registration
• SSL Certificates
• IT & Wifi Support

Black Nova Designs’ main edge server system is in Swindon and Coventry, both less than 100 miles from London.

“How far we go depends on how much clientele we can bring in since we’re quite niche. We tend to build servers based on what the customer needs,” Kyle explained. “Some customers come to us saying, ‘I want to do this and that, but everyone else only offers standard packages,’ so they like that we can customize solutions.”

Kyle said Black Nova Designs’ customized hosting plans are what brings a lot of customers in. Its shared hosting packages, in particular, are the most popular:

• Economy Hosting (£5.79 /month): Unlimited bandwidth and email accounts, 1GB disk space, up to three MySQL databases, five domains, and free AutoSSL certificates
• Business Starter (£10.99 /month): Unlimited bandwidth, email accounts, MySQL databases, and domains with 15GB disk space and free AutoSSL certificates
• Business Unleashed (£15.99 /month): Unlimited bandwidth, email accounts, MySQL databases, domain hosting, free SSL certificates, and 25GB disk space

“A lot of people say there’s no money in shared hosting, but if you do it right, there absolutely is,” Kyle added (with a dash of jest).

But if you’re not interested in shared hosting, check out Black Nova Designs’ other hosting plans for VPS and dedicated servers.

Black Nova Designs specializes in WordPress hosting and web design.

If you know anything about WordPress, you know it’s one of the most popular platforms, as it powers nearly half of all websites in the world.

I’ve written a lot about WordPress-centric companies, and one thing I can tell you is that the community is only growing bigger and faster.

With that in mind, it’s only natural for the WordPress competition to be…a little fierce. So Black Nova Designs stays up with market trends by staying close to WordPress developments.

Kyle explains that, as web designers, it feels natural for the team to take this approach.

“Being involved in web design also keeps us informed about emerging technologies,” he added. “We work in 14 different coding languages, which helps us stay ahead of what people need. And when you’re hosting those new technologies, you need to understand the technical side to build the right infrastructure.”

Actually, that’s a great segue into a point Kyle also makes about something we’ve all faced with the explosion of new technologies: decision paralysis.

This is especially true for anyone searching for the right web hosting provider. Every day, people wrestle with the same question: What’s the difference between Company A and Company B?

The tricky part is that there’s rarely a simple answer.

“It can feel overwhelming because there’s so much out there: You’ve got WordPress, managed WordPress packages, optimized WordPress hosting, and just plain web hosting,” Kyle stressed. “But what really sets that apart from standard web hosting or WordPress-optimized hosting? Your services should already be optimized to perform at their best. You should be delivering top-tier performance every single time.”

That’s the kind of standard to which Black Nova Designs holds itself.

But the focus on consistent quality isn’t just about technology; it’s also about the human touch.

As someone who’s written about dozens of hosting providers, I’ve noticed that many people tend to go straight for the big names.

This is something Kyle noted too: Black Nova Designs often hears from people who say they want to work with local businesses, only to discover that their hosting isn’t local at all.

“I wouldn’t be where I am if I didn’t have these staff and clients behind me. They make the business grow — not me.”

“That’s why I make a point of letting people know: We are local. We’re truly local. If someone is curious, they can call me up, and I’ll personally give them a tour of the data center,” Kyle added. “That’s the kind of connection I want people to feel — to us, to their hosting, to the whole process.”

If you ask me, building authentic relationships is key. Not just in hosting, but across the tech landscape as a whole.

And speaking of that evolving landscape, Black Nova Designs has a few things up its sleeve.

“We’re adding more servers, installing new storage systems, and rolling out Lightspeed containers to add to our hosting services,” Kyle said. “We’re also working with cPanel on upcoming features and beta testing, aiming to be one of the first in the UK to deploy them if all goes well.”

In the meantime, if you’re a UK-based business looking to support local, sustainable initiatives with solutions tailored just for you, I’m not sure why you wouldn’t consider Black Nova Designs.