The RunCabin Blog
No-nonsense answers for local business owners - what things should cost, what you actually need, and where the fine print bites. Written by the team that builds done-for-you small-business websites.
Getting chosen · July 25, 2026
The homeowner comparing three sites at 9pm is quietly asking each one "am I even in their ballpark?" - and the site that answers gets the call. Why you do not need a full price menu but should give some number, how a range filters out the price-shoppers instead of scaring off good jobs, and how to show a price without boxing yourself into one you cannot hold.
For working contractors · July 24, 2026
Keep the Yelp page - but it is not neutral ground. Yelp puts your competitors' ads on your own profile (removing them is a feature you pay for), an automated filter decides which of your reviews even show, and you own none of it. Why a website on your own domain is the one place online no platform gets to advertise on, and how the two work together.
Getting started · July 23, 2026
The thing that stalls a website for weeks is rarely the design - it's the blank page. A section-by-section guide to the actual words for a local-service site (headline, services, about, why-choose-you, reviews, and the call to action), written the way you'd say them out loud, plus the fake business phrases to delete on sight.
For new owners · July 22, 2026
The real question behind "do I need a website yet?" is "can I afford one before I know the business will work?" For most brand-new owners, the risk was never the website - it's the setup fees and 12-month contracts bolted onto it. How to get online cheaply and reversibly, why "wait and see" quietly costs you the early jobs, and where a free Google profile fits.
Getting started · July 20, 2026
Every "how to build a website" guide hands you a six-item shopping list - domain, hosting, email, content, photos, logo - and it reads like a second job. The honest version of that list, which parts you can skip or hand off, and the four things you already have in your head that are the real starting line.
Getting started · July 19, 2026
Ads are rented attention that stops the day you stop paying. A website is ground you own - and where every ad click is supposed to land anyway. The order that wastes the least money on a tight budget, why sending paid clicks to a Facebook page quietly burns them, and where a free Google profile fits.
For working contractors · July 18, 2026
Platform leads are rented, shared with several competitors, and gone the month you stop paying - and the customer still Googles you before they call. Why a site you own is what converts those leads, and what makes the per-lead meter optional instead of the only way the phone rings.
Company news · July 17, 2026
We moved every site we host to Hetzner's Falkenstein datacenter park in Germany - 100% renewable electricity from certified hydropower, at no extra cost to you. What "green datacenter" means in concrete terms, why we did it, and the eco-claims we deliberately will not make.
Getting chosen · July 17, 2026
The competitor with sixty five-star reviews is not a better painter than you - they just have a habit you do not. The one habit that beats every trick, a text-message script you can steal, the direct link that makes leaving a review a ten-second task, the mistakes that get reviews filtered, and how to answer a bad one.
For new owners · July 16, 2026
Next to established competitors, a brand-new one-person shop can look small online - and the customer's real question is "why would I choose you?" How to look professional and trustworthy without pretending to be bigger: the honest signals (own domain, matching email, real photos, reviews, consistent details) that make a homeowner pick the safe choice.
Getting started · July 15, 2026
The decision is not technical and it is not really about price - it is about who updates the site every week after launch. An honest comparison for local trades: DIY builders, a freelancer or agency, a managed company, and the done-for-you route you edit by asking. Who each one is really for, and how to decide.
Getting started · July 14, 2026
Anywhere from a minute to a couple of months - and it has almost nothing to do with the technology. Honest timelines for DIY, a freelancer, a managed company, and done-for-you AI, the four things that actually slow a site down, and how to launch the same day.
For new owners · July 13, 2026
Word of mouth already runs through the internet - the referred customer looks you up before they call. What they find (a simple site, nothing, or your competitor) decides whether that referral turns into a booked job, and why a good referral quietly leaks away without one.
For new owners · July 12, 2026
Keep the page - but do not let it be your only home online. What a Facebook page does well, where it quietly costs you jobs (strangers on Google cannot find you, and you do not control who sees your posts), and why a website on your own domain is the one asset you actually own.
Getting started · July 11, 2026
A plain-English checklist of what actually belongs on a local-service site - the headline, services, real photos, reviews, and a quote form that lands in your inbox - plus the stuff you can safely skip. Written for tradespeople, not marketers.
Getting started · July 10, 2026
File the LLC on Tuesday, and by Friday your phone will not stop. Why the calls start the day you register, the four lines that should make you hang up, and what actually helps a new local business get found - free, boring, and in your control.
For new owners · July 9, 2026
How to get name@yourbusiness.com: why email rides on a domain, what the a-la-carte route really costs (including the year-two renewal jump), the free workarounds and their honest limits, and how to make it one line item instead of four.
Fix-it guide · July 8, 2026
You have a website and the phone is still quiet - in peak season. A plain-language fix-it checklist for painters, landscapers, and local trades: the five mechanical problems that silence a site, the free fixes first, then how to tell whether an old site is worth patching or replacing.
Getting found · July 7, 2026
The five moves that actually decide who appears when someone nearby searches for your trade - the map pack, a complete Google Business Profile, a real website with your city on it, consistent business info, and reviews. No secret trick, no paying for the top spot.
Before you sign · July 6, 2026
With a lot of website companies, yes - and often your domain too. What you actually keep when you cancel, by provider type, and how to leave any provider without losing your site, your web address, or your business email.
For the poets · July 3, 2026
We built Technical Rhymer - phoneme search, slant-rhyme controls, and 2020s slang for poets and songwriters - in Claude Code, then published it by asking Claude to use the RunCabin connector. Badaboom: live site. Ends on a couplet, for the poets.
For the AI-curious · June 16, 2026
Asked Claude or ChatGPT to build a website? Here is the practical how-to for getting it online at a real, live HTTPS URL in one step - free to start, no DNS, no account.
For new owners · June 12, 2026
Your Google profile gets you noticed - your website gets you chosen. What each one does, and why Google shutting off its free websites in 2024 changed the answer.
Buying guide · June 12, 2026
Real numbers for DIY builders, home-services website companies, and CRM bundles - plus the setup fees, contracts, and "cancel and lose your site" clauses in the fine print.
For working contractors · June 12, 2026
Shared leads, ghost leads, denied refunds - what pros report in their own words, and the owned-channel setup that makes the meter optional.
For new owners · June 12, 2026
The five-move playbook for brand-new plumbers, electricians, painters, and contractors - all free or cheap, all compounding, no bought leads required.
How it works · June 12, 2026
"AI website" can mean a one-time draft, a ticket queue, or a site you change by asking. The differences - and the next step: sites your AI assistant can manage directly.
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