Grand Rapids & Chicago small businesses
Your website, looked after. A real person answers.
45Squared hosts and manages websites for small businesses in Grand Rapids, Chicago and beyond. Updates, backups and security monitoring are handled for you, at fixed prices published on this page. When something breaks, you reach a person, not a ticket queue.
Website hosting and management from $35 a month. Repairs and new sites get a fixed-price quote before any work starts. You own your site. We have done this since 2015 and look after more than 30 sites today.
Or call or text 616-585-0206. A real person answers.
Get a free audit in about a minute
We’ll crawl your site for search visibility and WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility, then email you the findings in plain English. No call, no obligation.
Trusted with
Site down?
Website broken, hacked, or abandoned by your developer?
We take over websites other companies left behind: back in your control, fixed and looked after. A real person answers.
Three things, done properly
We kept the list short on purpose. These are the things we do every week, for businesses roughly your size.
Web development
We build sites you own. That covers design, build, and the dull work after launch: updates, backups and fixes.
- Custom WordPress builds
- WooCommerce and product catalogues
- Ongoing maintenance and support
SEO and accessibility audits
We tell you why search engines cannot find you. We also test your site against WCAG 2.1 AA. Failing it is a legal risk now, not just a design flaw.
- Technical SEO and site structure
- WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility review
- Plain-English remediation plan
Hosting and care
We host websites and look after them: updates applied and checked, daily backups, uptime monitoring, and a person who answers when something breaks.
- Managed WordPress hosting
- Core, plugin and theme updates
- Monthly maintenance plans
Selected work
Wilde Thyme Foods
E-commerce and photography
Online store and custom product photography for a family‑owned food brand selling direct to its customers.
Boulder Creek Golf Club
Web development
A site that showcases more than just the course — built so the team can keep it current themselves.
Stuck on a platform you’ve outgrown?
Page builders work until they don’t. Then the fee rises and the site stays the same.
We move you to WordPress with your content, rankings and redirects intact. A rebuild from a page builder starts at $1,500, takes about two weeks and includes 30 days of support after launch. Moving a site that is already WordPress has no migration fee with 12 months of hosting. You own what you end up with.
Managed hosting
Your site, looked after every month
Website hosting and management is $35 a month per site. That includes a global CDN, SSL, daily backups and uptime monitoring. We apply every core, plugin and theme update, then check the site still works.
If you’d rather host it yourself, we’ll hand it over cleanly. It’s your site.
Managed WordPress
$35 / month
Per site. No setup fee.
- Need a server of your own? Dedicated server hosting from $49 a month
- Global CDN and SSL included
- Core, plugin and theme updates applied and verified
- Daily backups you can actually restore from
- Uptime monitoring, and a human who answers
Who you are actually hiring
45Squared is run by Aaron VanSledright. He has been building websites since 2010 and founded 45Squared in 2015. There is no account manager layer. The person who scopes your project is the person who builds it.
Today 45Squared hosts and maintains more than 30 live WordPress sites, including e-commerce stores, a golf club and a sheet metal fabricator. The oldest client site we still run launched in 2016.
More about us: About 45Squared
What clients say
“I’ve worked closely with Aaron VanSledright and 45Squared for a good number of years, as a very satisfied customer. … I’ve never had a single regret. Working with Aaron was effortless, truly. We discussed what I was hoping to accomplish, along with my “why”. His suggestions were to develop a website – simplistic, yet completely adequate – an absolutely perfect solution for my needs. The website was implemented in a timely and professional manner, and pricing has remained exceptionally reasonable over the course of time. I could not be more pleased with Aaron and 45Squared and recommend them highly, without reservation. For any business interested in exploring website development and affordable long-term management, THIS is your company!”
“I was impressed with how much they listened and how they delivered our vision.”
How the free audit works
Three steps. It takes about a minute and costs nothing. You do not need an account or a card.
Enter your website address
Type your domain into the form. That is all we need to start.
We crawl the site
We check search visibility, WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility and page speed. This takes about a minute.
You get the report by email
Findings arrive in plain English, ordered by what we would fix first. No sales call.
What the audit checks
Every report covers the same ground, so you can compare one month to the next.
| Area | What we measure | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Search | Titles, meta descriptions, headings, structured data | Decides whether you show up at all |
| Accessibility | WCAG 2.1 AA: contrast, labels, landmarks, alt text | A legal risk, and it blocks real customers |
| Speed | Load time, page weight, render blocking | Slow pages lose buyers before they read |
| AI visibility | Whether assistants can read and cite your pages | More people now ask an assistant first |
What does it cost?
Prices are fixed and published here. You do not need a call to find out if you can afford us.
| Service | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Website audit | Free | Search visibility and WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility, emailed as a written report |
| Managed hosting | $35 / month | Global CDN, SSL, daily backups, monitoring and applied updates |
| Dedicated server hosting | From / month | Your site on a server of its own, with the same care included |
| Migration sprint | From $1,500 | Full move to WordPress with redirects mapped, plus 30 days of support after launch |
| New website | Quoted per project | Fixed scope and fixed price, agreed before any work starts |
Common questions
What does 45Squared do?
45Squared hosts, manages and builds websites for small businesses in Grand Rapids, Chicago and across the US. We keep your site updated, backed up and monitored, fix what breaks, and a real person answers when you need something. We also build new sites and audit existing ones for search visibility and accessibility.
How much does a website cost?
Website hosting and management is $35 a month per site; a server of your own is from $49 a month. Moving a site that is already WordPress has no migration fee with 12 months of hosting. A rebuild from another platform starts at $1,500. New websites are quoted per project, with the scope and price agreed before work starts. A website check is free.
What is a website audit?
A website audit is a report on how well your site performs for search engines and for people using assistive technology. Ours covers search visibility, WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility and page speed. We email it to you in plain English, whether or not you hire us.
Do I own my website?
Yes. You own the files, the content and the domain. If you want to move to another host or another agency, we hand everything over cleanly. Nothing we build locks you in.
Why does website accessibility matter?
Accessibility is increasingly a legal question rather than a design one. Sites that fail WCAG 2.1 AA can face complaints and lawsuits. Accessible sites are also easier for search engines to read, so the same fixes usually improve rankings.
Do you work with businesses outside the Midwest?
Yes. We are based in the Midwest and work with clients across the United States. Everything we do runs over email, calls and screen shares.
How long does a new website take?
About one week for a new small business site. A rebuild from another platform takes about two weeks. Moving a site that is already WordPress usually takes a day or two. We agree the scope and the price before we start, so the timeline does not move.
How long has 45Squared been in business?
45Squared LLC was founded in 2015. Aaron VanSledright, who runs it, has been building websites since 2010. We host more than 30 live sites today.
Let’s talk about your site
Web design, WordPress development, managed WordPress hosting, and SEO and accessibility audits. We are based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and work with small businesses in Grand Rapids, Chicago and across the US.