Alatriste&Cortes home MMXXIV Vol. I, Web Studio

We put your business on the map, then keep it There.

Working demo at a live URL before you decide. No deck. No estimate.

Journal2026.03.21

A slow website is a line out the door

A slow site is an invisible line at your door. Past about three seconds on a phone, a big share of visitors are already gone. Aim to show the important part in about a second.

Picture a customer walking up to your shop and finding a line at the door before they can even look inside. Most leave. A slow website is the same thing, except the line is invisible and you never see who left.

On a phone, if your site takes more than about three seconds to show up, a large share of visitors are already gone, back to the search results and on to the next business. The usual culprits are not mysterious: enormous images that were never resized, a bloated template carrying a dozen plugins, and video that autoplays before anything else can load.

A good site shows the important part in about a second on a normal phone. That is the difference between a visitor who waits and a sale that walks.

Alatriste & Cortes

Three tiers. Published prices.

No hourly billing, no estimates with vague ranges. The number you see is the number you pay. Code ownership available anytime; buyout fee waived after 24 consecutive months on a managed plan.

01

Digital Storefront
$900 build, $125/mo

1–3 page custom website, Mobile-first design, Google Business cleanup, Local SEO basics + schema, Call, contact, directions path, SSL + managed hosting, Privacy Policy + ToS, Optional age gate when needed
02

Business Hub
$1,800 build, $200/mo

Everything in Tier 1, Up to 5 custom pages, Menu / services / specials page, Email / SMS capture setup, Google Reviews section / widget, Basic analytics setup, Monthly traffic snapshot, 2 revision rounds
03

Full Stack
$3,400 build, $350/mo

Everything in Tier 2, Owner admin panel, Loyalty or promo system, SMS / email campaign setup, Monthly analytics summary, Quarterly SEO review, Priority support for site issues, 2-business-day content updates

Run the numbers

Pick a path, a tier, time on plan, any add-ons. Total updates live.

Path

Tier

Months on plan

1122436

12 months

Add code buyout at this month (waived at 24+)

Total estimate $2,400

$900 build + $125 × 12 months

03 / The Audit

Where does your site rank right now?

Paste any small-business URL. We render it through Google's Lighthouse, score it, and check the eight things that decide whether a customer can find your site and trust it when they land. No sign-up, no email gate, no follow-up unless you ask.

What we check

01

Core Web Vitals

LCP, CLS, INP. The metrics Google actually ranks on.
02

SEO signals

Schema markup, meta tags, sitemap, Google Business Profile readiness.
03

Mobile first

Viewport, tap targets, font sizes, horizontal-scroll check at 375px.
04

Trust & quality

HTTPS, contact info, NAP consistency, accessibility, alt text on photos.

01 / The Offer

Demo first. Decide second.

Most studios send a deck and an estimate. We send a working demo at a live URL. You click around, ask the two of us anything, show your business partner on a Saturday. If it earns the build, we shake on it. If it doesn't, walk away.

Custom website 1 to 3 pages, mobile-first
Front-end development HTML, CSS, JavaScript
Local SEO Schema, Google Business, Performance
Maintenance & hosting Send a text, Replies under 48 hours
Brand & identity (light) Type, Palette, Direction

Own the code free and clear at 24 months. No retainer, no deck.

Send Michael a 15-minute call

05 / Journal

2026.05.12

What a customer decides in five seconds

A visitor judges your business in seconds, on three things: did it load, does it look real, can I find what I came for. Miss one and they leave before reading a word.

A new visitor judges your business before they read a single word. In the first few seconds they are answering three quiet questions. Did it load, or am I staring at a blank screen. Is this real, or a template some stranger never finished. Can I find the one thing I came for, your hours, your phone, your address, without hunting for it.

Get those three right and a stranger relaxes. They start reading, they trust the place, they call. Get them wrong and they leave, and you are left wondering why all that traffic never turns into customers. None of this is about looking fancy. It is about looking like a real business: open, reachable, worth a few minutes. That is a low bar, and most websites still trip over it.

Alatriste & Cortes

2026.04.18

The customer who never knew you existed

If you aren't on the screen when someone nearby searches for what you sell, you were never in the running. Getting there is mostly free, and most businesses skip it.

Right now someone a few blocks away is on their phone, searching for exactly what you sell, ready to buy today. They will pick one of the businesses that come up, walk in, and spend their money there. If your shop is not on that screen, you were never in the running. You will never know it happened.

Getting onto that screen is mostly unglamorous work, and most of it is free. Claim your Google Business Profile and actually finish it: real hours, real photos, a handful of honest reviews. Make sure your website says, in plain words a search engine can read, what you do and the town you do it in. And make it fast, because Google pushes slow sites down. None of it is clever. It is the homework most businesses never finish, which is exactly why doing it puts you ahead.

Alatriste & Cortes

2026.03.21

A slow website is a line out the door

A slow site is an invisible line at your door. Past about three seconds on a phone, a big share of visitors are already gone. Aim to show the important part in about a second.

A good site shows the important part in about a second on a normal phone. That is the difference between a visitor who waits and a sale that walks.

Alatriste & Cortes

Notes from the workshop.

Short, plain-English notes for business owners. What actually helps you get found and get chosen, minus the jargon.

06 / Two Builders

Two builders. That's it.

We're cousins. We grew up together. Same family, same block, same humble start. We built A&C to feed our families and to do work we can put our names on.

Design & Engineering

Stephen Alatriste

USAF veteran
Intelligence analyst
Father of 3

Former intelligence analyst. United States Air Force, 1N4X1. Signals intelligence and digital network analysis. A career spent on classified problems where the details mattered and almost-right wasn't good enough.

At A&C he runs design and engineering. He hand-codes every site and reads every line before launch. Technical SEO is part of the same job.

Strategy & Client Lead

Michael Cortes

NYC native
Manhattan doorman
Father of 1

Works the door at a residential building in Manhattan. The job is people, all day. Contractors, vendors, packages, residents, guests at every hour. He learned to listen to what folks actually need before he says a word back.

At A&C he leads strategy and client work. Your point of contact from the first call through launch and any change order after. Before any code gets written, he figures out what your site needs to say.

08 / Glossary

Plain English for web words.

A reference for the vocabulary that shows up in any web project. If you heard one of these terms from us or anyone else and want to know what it actually means, it's here. Nothing in fine print, nothing in jargon.

01 Admin Panel A control panel built into your site that lets you update content without touching code: edit a menu, change photos, add a promotion. Included in Tier 3.
02 Age Gate A verification screen that appears before a visitor can enter your site, requiring them to confirm they're of legal age. Required for certain business types (bars, dispensaries, tobacco retailers, and similar). Optional on any tier.
03 Analytics Data on who visits your site, where they came from, and what they do while they're there. Tier 2 includes a monthly traffic snapshot. Tier 3 includes a monthly analytics summary and quarterly SEO review.
04 Buyout A one-time payment to take the code out of our hosting and own it outright. Available from day one at a rate that decreases over time. Free after 24 consecutive months on a managed plan, account paid in full. Most clients who buy out hand the code to another developer or new agency; that's the typical path. Every buyout includes a 30-minute handoff call and a written guide so whoever picks up next can do so cleanly. To maintain the site yourself without a developer, you'd need either basic HTML skills or the owner admin panel included with Tier 3.
05 CMS (Content Management System) A control panel that lets non-technical owners update text, photos, and pages without touching code. The underlying system that powers the site's editable content.
06 Code Framework The underlying technical system your site is built on. Our builds use custom code, not a drag-and-drop website builder. That means no dependency on a third-party platform subscription to keep your site alive.
07 Domain Your web address: the part after “www.” You own it. We set it up and manage the settings, but it belongs to you regardless of what happens with the managed plan.
08 Email/SMS Capture A form or sign-up mechanism on your site that collects customer contact information you own. Not a third-party platform list. Your data, your CRM. Included in Tier 2 and 3.
09 Google Business Profile Your listing on Google Maps and Google Search: the card showing your hours, photos, directions, and reviews when someone searches for you. One of the most important assets for any business. We set it up or clean up what's already there.
10 Hosting The server space your site lives on so the internet can find it. We handle this on every tier.
11 Integration Connecting your website to a third-party service (a booking system, point-of-sale, payment processor, or CRM). Scope and cost vary by system. Discuss in the first conversation if you need one.
12 Local SEO The work that makes you findable when someone nearby searches for what you do. Includes setting up your Google Business Profile, adding schema markup, and keeping your business data accurate. Customers are 2.7× more likely to trust a business with a complete Google profile. [Source: Google, 2024]
13 Managed Website A website where the vendor handles hosting, security, updates, and maintenance on your behalf. You focus on your business; we handle the infrastructure.
14 POS Integration Connecting your website to a point-of-sale system (Square, Clover, Toast, Lightspeed, or similar) so menu items, prices, hours, or inventory stay in sync between your register and your site. Saves you from updating the same thing in two places. Scope and cost depend on which POS you use; we quote separately during the first call.
15 Privacy Policy + Terms of Service Legal pages required for any website that collects visitor data. The Privacy Policy explains what data you collect and how you use it. The Terms of Service sets the rules for using your site. We draft and include both in every build.
16 Responsive A site that adjusts automatically to any screen size (phone, tablet, or desktop). All our builds are mobile-first responsive.
17 Schema Code embedded in your site that tells Google specifically what your business is: address, hours, phone number, service area, and category. It helps you show up in map results and “near me” searches. 76% of “near me” searchers visit a related business within a day. [Source: Google]
18 SLA (Service-Level Agreement) The formal commitment for how fast we respond to and resolve issues. Our standard is replies within 48 hours on all tiers. Tier 3 includes a 2-business-day content update SLA.
19 SSL The security certificate that encrypts data between your site and your visitors. It's the padlock in the browser address bar. Required for Google trust signals and basic security. Included on every build.
20 24-Month Handoff After 24 consecutive months on a managed plan (paid in full), the code buyout fee is waived. The code transfers to you at no additional cost. Buyout is available at any point before that at a rate that decreases the longer you stay on the managed plan.

Heard a word we missed? Ask Michael.

09 / FAQ

Questions, answered.

The things people ask before they reach out. If yours isn't here, ask Michael.

How much does a small business website cost?: Our builds are a one-time payment of $900 to $3,400, depending on the tier, plus $125 to $350 a month for hosting and updates. You can also own the code outright from day one, starting at $2,200. You see the number before any call, and every project gets a written scope before work starts.
What if I already have a website?: We rebuild as often as we build from scratch. Tell us what you have and what isn't working. We'll start from wherever you are.
What do you need from me to get started?: Your logo, photos you want on the site, and the words for each page: what you do, where you are, how to reach you. The more of that you have ready, the faster the build moves. If you're starting from scratch on any of it, we can work through it in the first conversation.
Can I see a demo of my site before I commit?: Yes. We'll build a live working version of your site before any deposit changes hands. Browse it on your phone, click through the pages, see exactly what you'd be getting. Mention it when you reach out and we'll set it up.
Do you work with businesses anywhere?: Yes. All builds are delivered remotely and ongoing support runs through email. We're based in the US and work with businesses across the country.
What if my project doesn't fit a tier?: Reach out the same way. If what you need goes beyond the tiers, we put together a custom scope based on the conversation. Everything still comes with a written scope before any work starts.
What changes can I request under the managed plan?: Anything that updates existing content: editing a menu, swapping photos, changing contact details, adjusting hours or pricing. Tier 2 handles these on request. Tier 3 includes a 2-business-day turnaround. Building new functionality from scratch is a new scope conversation regardless of tier.
What happens if I buy out the code?: You get the source files: HTML, CSS, JavaScript, images, and any config we've set up. Most clients who buy out hand the code to a different developer or a new agency; that's the most common path. Every buyout includes a 30-minute handoff call and a written guide so the next person picks up cleanly. If you want to maintain the site yourself without a developer, you'd either need basic HTML editing skills or the owner admin panel that's included with Tier 3. Tier 1 and Tier 2 buyouts give you the files to take with you, not a self-serve editing tool.

Still stuck? Talk to Michael.

02 / The Work

Studio site. Case 01

acmeridian.co

The first A&C site, live at acmeridian.co. Hand-coded HTML, every tool does real work, every page loads in under a second on a phone. The bay you are standing in is the v2 rebuild (case 06).

Stack: HTML. CSS. JS
Pages: 7 custom pages
Lighthouse, Desktop: 98+/100/100/100
Author: Stephen + Mike

§ I. Tools that actually work

§ 01. The Audit
A real Lighthouse runner.

Paste any URL. We run it through Google's PageSpeed Insights API, then parse the raw HTML for schema and contact-info gaps. Free, no sign-up.
§ 02. The Plate
The audit, as a downloadable PNG.

Every audit run saves as a 1200×1500 letterpress-style PNG. URL, four scores, seven checks, the grade. One shareable image.
§ 03. The Calculator
A working price estimate.

Pick a tier, choose managed-plan or day-one ownership, drag the buyout slider, see the math zero out. No commitment, no salesperson.
§ 04. The Glossary
Web jargon, in plain English.

Twenty terms a web company will throw at you (Buyout, CMS, Schema, SSL, Local SEO, etc.) translated into words an actual business owner uses.

§ II. Performance, with notes

Measured on a simulated Moto G Power on a 4G connection. Worst page is 0.7s LCP. JS budget across all pages stays under 30 KB.

Studio infrastructure. Case 02

The system that runs this site.

Most studios run their public site on a third-party CMS. We didn't. So we built our own: magic-link authentication, thirteen editable surfaces, full audit log of every change, a control plane the two of us actually use every day.

Plate 02. The post-login dashboard. Each tile is one editable surface.

Stack: Pages Fns. D1. R2
Auth: Magic link
Surfaces: Thirteen
Status: In daily use

§ I. What it actually does

Every editable string on the public site hydrates at page-load from the admin. Tagline, journal post, FAQs, partner bios, tier prices, approach steps, glossary, services, ticker. All editable in seconds, no deploy, no rebuild, no waiting on a developer.

§ II. Scoped editors, not generic

§ 01. Pricing editor
Three tiers, validated.

Each tier is a card with name, tagline, build price, monthly price, and reorderable feature bullets. Shape-validated on save.
§ 02. Journal editor
Markdown + live preview.

Side-by-side preview. Drag an image into the body, it uploads to R2 and replaces itself with a markdown reference. Auto-publish on schedule.
§ 03. Users + roles
Studio access is its own surface.

Adding a new admin user is itself an admin action. Roles (admin, editor, viewer) take effect on next sign-in.
§ 04. Audit log
Every change is logged.

Read-only, append-only. Who, when, diff of what changed. The table most agencies don't bother to build.

AI-integrated SaaS. YouTube + Twitch. Case 03

Stillerror.

A debugger for YouTube and Twitch channels. Stack traces of what went wrong on the last upload, breakpoints before the next one, pull requests for better titles, weekly patch notes. Every section reads like an editor pane. Every error reads like a real error.

The product plate: stack-trace metaphor running through the marketing site and app alike.

Surfaces: Site + product
Stack: Vite + Next 16
AI router: 4 providers. 3 models
Status: Cohort beta. 2026

§ I. A debugger for a channel

YouTube Studio gives creators charts. Stillerror gives creators a trace: which hook fell short, by how much, and what to ship instead. The diagnosis layer that should have shipped with Studio.

§ II. A landing page committed to one metaphor

The site reads like the product. Hook-impression ratios, length curves, frame-by-frame retention. Laid out as code and stack traces. The metaphor holds across every surface.

How we work. Case 04

myTCG

An Android scanner for trading-card collectors. Point your phone at a card; the app names it, prices it, files it. Six games at launch, 229,000 cards in the local catalog.

Who built it: Both of us. Every line.
What it covers: Six TCGs. 229k cards
How it scans: On-device.
Where it stands: Beta. 2026

§ I. The scanner refuses to guess

If the app can't read the card with confidence, it says so. No fabricated matches. The pipeline runs OCR, catalog lookup, then MobileCLIP image-similarity against the candidate set, and only commits at cosine 0.85 or above.

§ II. Valuation, with sources

eBay-comp valuations (90-day window) shown as a low/median/ high band rather than a single number. Every estimate links back to the comps it's pulled from. No black-box pricing.

Creator brand hub. Case 05

Skellywags Club

Full creator brand hub for a Twitch streamer and YouTuber. Merch storefront, three-tier membership, Discord integration, live YouTube feed, and a stream schedule. All running off a single light admin.

Surfaces: Hub + store
Memberships: Three tiers
Integrations: Discord. YouTube
Admin: One light panel

§ I. One brand, one place

Creators usually sprawl across Linktree, Shopify, Patreon, Discord, and a Bento. Skellywags pulls them into one site that holds the brand's voice from masthead to checkout flow.

Studio rebuild. Case 06

The Bay

The site you are standing in. A WebGL industrial bay you walk into, click-driven station panels, no scroll. Built on Astro 4 + Three.js + vanilla TypeScript. Mobile LCP 1.5s with a 3D scene running. The v2 rebuild of case 01.

Stack: Astro 4. Three.js
Scene: One canvas. raycaster
Mobile: LCP 1.5s
Routes: 15 deep links

§ I. No framework, by choice

Astro builds the shell as static HTML. The only heavy script on the page is the Three.js scene, dynamic-imported after the hero paints. There is no React tree to hydrate, no client router to fight, no virtual DOM mediating the canvas. Astro for structure, vanilla TypeScript for behavior, Three.js for the only surface that needs WebGL. The bundle ends at one canvas-driven module instead of a framework pretending it owns the document.

§ II. The bay as navigation

Scroll became a tax. Eight stations live as 3D click-targets you read by walking into the room and pointing. Each station has a real URL so search engines and bookmarks treat them as pages. Browser back closes the open station instead of leaving the bay. The overlay/history stack lets the back button, the close button, the scrim click, and the Esc key all funnel through one exit path. The room is the menu.

§ III. Phones get the full scene

Mobile used to fall back to a CSS gradient. Now phones get the WebGL bay too, with one constraint: the scene defer-mounts behind the hero copy so LCP stays at 1.5s on a mid-range Android. RAM under 3GB still falls back. Single-finger drag pans the camera within ±10° yaw and ±6° pitch, kept separate from the raycaster so taps stay precise. The same swipe window the desktop cursor drives.

Open-source product. Case 07

fonthead.dev

The font tool we built for our own typefaces, opened to everyone. Upload an alphabet sheet or write one by hand; fonthead traces it into a real installable font without the sheet ever leaving your browser. Publish it and it joins a wall anyone can search, favorite, and download.

Stack: Astro 5 SSR
Engine: In-browser
Output: OTF. TTF. WOFF2
License: MIT

§ I. Three ways in

§ 01. The Maker
Alphabet sheet to font.

Upload a sheet. The tracer slices it into glyphs, builds real kerning, and assembles the font. Color fonts included.
§ 02. Handwriting
Your hand, installable.

Print the blank sheet, write it out, photograph it. The guides drop away and only your pen ink traces.
§ 03. The Wall
Type a word, every face on the wall.

Publish public or private. Browse, search, favorite, and upvote what everyone makes. Every font page previews in your own words.

§ II. Why it exists

The engine started as the internal tool that built A&C's own brand faces. Once it held up, we gave it a front door and an MIT license. The same quality gate ships with it: every font is checksum-repaired and validated before it can publish.

What we've built.

Seven sites the two of us wrote and shipped. A bay you walk into. An AI debugger for creators. A scanner that ships with 229,000 cards in its catalog. Both names on every line.