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County Galway

Web design in Galway, with the homework done.

Websites for Galway businesses. In October 2026 we checked the websites of the 20 businesses Google shows first in Galway, across five trades. This page shows what those sites have, what they miss, and what to fix first on your own.

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Galway's Spanish Arch beside a row of shopfronts, a small sailing boat in front and a laptop open on a new websiteGalway's Spanish Arch beside a row of shopfronts, a small sailing boat in front and a laptop open on a new website
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15 of the 20 businesses Google shows first in Galway have a website of their own, and none of the 15 reached 90 out of 100 for speed on a phone. Of the 10 we could read, four show a price and three name the area they cover.

The headline numbers for Galway, October 2026

  • 15 of 20 businesses Google shows first have a website of their own
  • 0 of 15 sites with a speed score reach 90 or more on a phone
  • 4 of 10 sites we could read show a price
  • 4 of 5 cafe, hairdresser and clinic sites we could read take bookings online
Where we looked

We checked the 20 businesses Google shows first in Galway.

Checked · Study by , founder · How we checked

I set the rules for this study: one town per county, the same five searches in each, the businesses Google shows first, and no business named.

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The 26 towns in our county study, one per county. This page is Galway city, in County Galway. Tap a county to open its page.

  1. We searched Google for five trades

    Plumbers, electricians, cafes, hairdressers and physio and physical therapy clinics, on 14 October 2026, on a phone, logged out, from Galway city centre.

  2. We took the first four from each Maps list

    After removing chains, wrong trades, duplicate listings and anything outside the county. That gives 20.

  3. We checked each of the 20

    Their websites, their Google profiles, their Google ads and whether ChatGPT names them. We name none of them here.

Searches a month from County Galway

Searches a month from County Galway

  • Cafes and coffeeabout 36,100
  • Hairdressersabout 3,950
  • Physio and physical therapy clinicsabout 1,700
  • Plumbersabout 1,090
  • Electriciansabout 590
The searches in each total

Cafes and coffee about 36,100 a month

  • "coffee near me" 18,100
  • "cafe near me" 6,600
  • "coffee shop near me" 5,400
  • "cafe" 4,400
  • "cafe galway" 1,600

Hairdressers about 3,950 a month

  • "hairdresser galway" 2,400
  • "hair salon near me" 590
  • "hairdresser near me" 480
  • "hairdresser" 480

Physio and physical therapy clinics about 1,700 a month

  • "physio galway" 720
  • "physio" 590
  • "physio near me" 390

Plumbers about 1,090 a month

  • "plumber galway" 480
  • "plumber near me" 320
  • "plumber" 260
  • "emergency plumber" 30

Electricians about 590 a month

  • "electrician" 210
  • "electrician galway" 210
  • "electrician near me" 170

Google's own monthly estimates for searches made from County Galway: a 12-month average, rounded by Google, with singular and plural counted once.

Who has a website

15 of the 20 in Galway have a website of their own.

Of the other five, one relies on Instagram alone and four have no website we could find.

Further down the same Maps lists, 53 of the 93 businesses have a website of their own, so a website is more common at the top of each list than below it.

The trades split in Galway. Cafes and hairdressers are where websites run thin, two of four each; the plumbers and the physio and physical therapy clinics have four of four, the electricians three.

15 of 20 puts Galway level with Kilkenny and Bray and above the 308 of 505 across the 26 study towns; only Cork, Sligo, Dublin and Tullamore are higher. With most of the top online, a Galway site competes on what it shows and how fast it shows it.

Every month, about 36,100 searches for cafes and coffee come from County Galway, with about 3,950 for hairdressers and about 1,090 for plumbers. Of the ten Galway sites we could read, three have no call button or form on the home page.

The shops are sorted by status, not by trade or by place on the map.

The 20 businesses Google shows first

  • Own website 15 of 20
  • Facebook or Instagram only 1 of 20
  • No website found 4 of 20
The rest of the same Maps lists, 93 businesses
  • Own website 53
  • Facebook or Instagram only 8
  • No website found 26
  • Not working, or could not tell 6
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What the websites do

None of the 15 Galway sites scored 90 or more for speed on a phone.

In October 2026, Google's PageSpeed test, run as a phone, gave the 15 sites with a speed score in Galway city a median of 56 out of 100. Four of them scored under 50.

Speed on a phone

05090100

56 median score out of 100

  • Under 50 4
  • 50 to 89 11
  • 90 or more 0

Why speed matters

In October 2026, the biggest image or block of text on the 15 sites with a speed score in Galway city took a median of 11.2 seconds to appear on a phone. Google's own mark for a good page is 2.5 seconds or less.

Google counts 90 or more as a good score, and none of the 15 got there. A Galway site that does would outscore every one of them.

Run Google's Lighthouse test on your own site
Page checks and platforms, in numbers

What the 10 sites we could read do

  • 8 of 10 read say what they do and where, in the page title or main heading
  • 7 of 10 read put a tap-to-call link or a form on the home page
  • 4 of 10 read show a price
  • 3 of 10 read name the area they cover
  • 10 of 10 read load securely (https)
  • 4 of 5 cafe, hairdresser and clinic sites we could read take bookings online

What the 15 websites are built on

  • WordPress 6
  • Squarespace 2
  • Shopify 1
  • Could not tell 6
What "read" and "scored" mean

"Read" means the 10 sites we could read page by page. Five more sites' hosts showed our checks a bot check or refused our requests. They count as live websites of the businesses' own, because the Google profile links them and Google's own speed test loads them. We could not read them, so they are left out of the page checks. "Scored" means the sites with a speed score: Google's speed test reached all 15, three runs each, median taken.

The rest of the study

How the same 20 show up on Google.

Google Maps, the ordinary results, the ads and ChatGPT's answers have their own page, with a step for each.

Read SEO in Galway
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Slow on a phone, or hard to find on Google?

Send the address and you'll get a straight read on its speed and on how it shows up on Google.

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Steps you can take

Four fixes for a Galway website, each tied to a gap we measured.

  1. Put your prices, your area and a call button on the home page

    7 of 10 sites we could read do not name the area they cover

    Eight of the 10 Galway sites we could read say what they do and where in the page title, so that part is covered. Add the areas you serve and a guide price on the home page.

  2. Make it quick on a phone

    4 of 15 sites with a speed score scored under 50 on a phone

    The biggest image or text on the Galway sites took a median of 11.2 seconds to appear on a phone. Lighter images and fewer add-ons first, then a monthly check.

  3. Get a website of your own

    5 of 20 businesses Google shows first have no website of their own

    Four of the 20 at the top in Galway have no website we could find and one relies on Facebook or Instagram alone. A page of your own is where your prices and your area stay put.

  4. Get the setup underneath right

    12 of 93 businesses further down the Maps lists have not claimed their Google profile

    19 of the 20 at the top in Galway list their hours on Google. Claim your profile, add your hours, link your website and make sure it loads securely.

Where we can help

Our work

See the work we've done.

Every site here is real client work, live and public. Have a look around before you talk to us.

See all our work
Questions

What owners ask about a website.

Do businesses in Galway have websites?

More than in 19 of the other 25 towns we checked. In October 2026, 15 of the 20 businesses Google showed first in Galway city had a website of their own, across plumbers, electricians, cafes, hairdressers and physio and physical therapy clinics. Across all 26 towns in our county study it was 308 of 505.

Do I need a website if I have a Facebook page?

Yes, if you want customers to see what you charge and where you work. In October 2026, 15 of the 20 businesses Google shows first in Galway have a website of their own, and one relies on Facebook or Instagram alone. A social page is a fair start. Your own website is where you set out, your way:

  • your prices
  • the area you cover
  • a way to call or book.
What should a small business website have?

Five things to look for; how the ten Galway sites we could read measure up:

  • What you do and where, in the page title or main heading: 8 of the 10 Galway sites we could read in October 2026.
  • A tap-to-call link or a form on the home page: 7 of the 10.
  • A guide price where you can give one: 4 of the 10.
  • The area you cover: 3 of the 10.
  • Speed on a phone: of the 15 sites with a speed score, none reached 90 out of 100.

On our Galway searches, Google's "People also ask" box asked "What is the average call out charge for a plumber?" Put your answer on your own site.

How much does a website cost?

It depends on the number of pages and what the site has to do. Our website packages and their prices are on the website development page, and bigger builds are quoted.

Website packages and prices How much does a website cost in Ireland?

What does a website do that a Google listing doesn't?

It gives you a place of your own in the ordinary results under the map, and a page you control from top to bottom. Across our five Galway searches in October 2026, 23 of the 50 places in the first ten ordinary results went to local businesses' own websites. Directories and listings took 11 of those 50, most often Tripadvisor with three. Without a website of its own, a business shows up there only on someone else's page, such as a directory or a social page.

Do you only work with businesses in Galway city?

No. We work with businesses across Ireland. The study looked at Galway city because our method takes the biggest town in each county, and in County Galway that is the city.

Michael Collins, founder of Wagyu Digital
MethodHow we checked
  • Checked October 2026. The searches ran on 14 October 2026 at about 3pm Irish time; ChatGPT was asked on 14 October 2026.
  • The 20 businesses are the first four local businesses in the Google Maps list for each of five trade searches. The searches ran on a phone, logged out, from Galway city centre. Chains, wrong trades, duplicate listings and businesses outside the county were removed first. "The rest of the list" is everyone else in the same cleaned lists: 93 businesses.
  • A website counts only if it is the business's own. A Facebook or Instagram page alone does not.
  • A website linked from the Google profile counts as live even when its host shows our checks a bot check or refuses our requests. We cannot read those sites, so they are left out of every page check: "of 10 read" means the 10 sites we could read. Google's PageSpeed test can still reach them, so the speed figures ("of 15 scored") cover every site it scored.
  • Speed is Google's PageSpeed test, run as a phone, three runs per site, median taken. The load time is the same test's Largest Contentful Paint: when the biggest image or block of text appears.
  • Google ads come from Google's Ads Transparency Center, looked up by the business's own web address, plus one look at each search. So the ads figure counts only businesses with a web address of their own, including sites that no longer work. Facebook ads were not checked.
  • ChatGPT was asked "Who is a good [trade] in [town]?" three times for each trade, from Ireland, with web search on. A business counts as named if any of the answers names it.
  • "The first ten results for their own search" means the first ten ordinary results, under the map and the ads, for the business's trade-and-town search, such as "plumber galway".
  • Distances run from the Galway city centre point to each business's map pin.
  • Figures "across the 26 towns" add up the 505 businesses Google showed first in all 26 study towns, one town per county. Every town was searched the same way on the same day, 14 October 2026.
  • Anything else we could not check is left out of that count, and the count says so.
  • A median is the middle value. With an even number of businesses it is the average of the two middle values.
  • Searches a month are Google's own estimates (Google Ads search volume, read on 16 October 2026) for searches made by people in County Galway: a 12-month average, rounded by Google. Each trade's total adds up the same set of searches in every county: the trade on its own, the trade with "near me", and the trade with "galway" after it. Four more searches count too: "emergency plumber", "coffee near me", "coffee shop near me" and "hair salon near me".
  • Singular and plural are one search in Google's data, so neither is counted twice. A search Google gives no figure for is left out, not counted as zero. One person can search more than once, and not every search for a trade comes from someone hiring, so these figures count searches, not people.
  • No business from the study is named on these pages.

Sources: Google's guide to Largest Contentful Paint (good is 2.5 seconds or less); About PageSpeed Insights (90 or above is good); Google Ads Transparency Center.