.ae and .qa domains: who can register them (2026)
The plain rules for .ae, .co.ae, .qa and .com.qa domains in 2026, including Qatar's new policy that took effect in October 2026.
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Notes from
the studio.
Short essays on web design, brand strategy and small-business marketing. No listicles, no AI-ghostwritten filler, just what we've actually learned from building.
.ae and .qa
10 questions
Choosing a web design company in Dubai: 10 questions to ask first
Dubai has hundreds of web design agencies. Ten questions that separate a good one from an expensive mistake, whoever you hire.
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Qatar sites and shops
How much does a website cost in Qatar? (2026)
What a business website or online shop costs for a Qatar business in 2026, what drives the price, and the payment and domain rules to know first.
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UAE, from AED 2,500
How much does a website cost in the UAE? (2026)
What decides the price of a business website in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, what our dirham prices are, and what to check in any quote.
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Gulf payments
Payment gateways for an online shop in Qatar and the UAE (2026)
Which payment providers work for a Qatar or UAE online shop, which ones publish WooCommerce or Shopify plugins, and the two big surprises for Qatar.
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Forms and cookies
Contact forms and cookies: privacy basics for UAE, Qatar and Saudi websites
Which data protection laws apply to a small business website in the UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, and the practical steps for forms, cookies and WhatsApp.
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WhatsApp first
WhatsApp on your website: how Gulf businesses turn chats into orders
Where to put WhatsApp on a Gulf business website, what the first message should say, and how to stop chats getting lost.
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Headless CMS
What is a headless CMS? A plain-English guide for small businesses (2026)
Headless CMS in 5 minutes, what it is, why agencies keep pitching it, and when it's actually the right call for a small business.
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WP. Astro
WordPress vs Astro for small-business websites (2026)
The pragmatic comparison, when to pick WordPress, when to pick Astro, and why this isn't actually the question most businesses should be asking.
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5 reasons, 5 fixes
Why your website isn't getting enquiries (and how to fix it)
You have a website. Maybe even traffic. But the phone isn't ringing. Here are the five most common reasons small-business sites fail to convert, and the fixes.
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Brand + site, one launch day
Should you rebrand and rebuild your website at the same time?
When bundling a brand identity with a website rebuild saves money, when running them separately is smarter, and how to sequence the work so you don't pay for the same decision twice.
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4 pages.
Opened.
A 4-page brand guidelines template that actually gets used
Most guidelines PDFs are 40 pages and no-one opens them. Here's what to cut so your team stays on-brand and your marketing keeps converting.
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$500/mo.
Tracked.
Meta ads for small businesses without burning cash
How we structure a $500 per month ad budget for local service businesses so every dollar is traceable to a qualified enquiry.
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Who to
hire.
Agency, freelancer, or studio: who should you hire for your website?
A frank comparison with numbers, and the jobs each of the three is best at when you need a site that wins clients and ranks well on Google.
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Headless
CMS.
Headless CMS in plain English: what marketers actually need to know
Sanity vs Contentful vs WordPress vs Keystatic, without the jargon, and when "headless" is the wrong answer for your business.
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Fixed.
Price.
How we price design work (and why we don't bill hourly)
Fixed-scope, fixed-price, fixed-timeline, and why clients prefer it three-to-one for websites, brand identity and long-term marketing work.
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95/95/95
Getting to Lighthouse 95 without caching your way there
The four performance levers that actually matter for small-business sites, why Google rewards them, and how faster pages quietly bring you more clients.
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