Web Design in The Dalles, Oregon

Small business website advice, The Dalles edition

The Dalles sits on the Columbia River, with 0.2 square miles of water inside its limits. Waterfront places keep busy a specific set of businesses: marinas, boat repair, fishing charters, dock builders, waterfront dining. Photos of real jobs on the water and a plain service list say more than generic scenery.

The Dalles is on Interstate 84. Travelers look things up a few exits ahead, want an answer in seconds and will not call to ask what you have. A page with the services, the hours and a map is what a traveler needs. That does not take a big website. It takes an honest one, with the details right.

The Dalles: the numbers behind the market

Homeowners make up 63.2% of The Dalles’ 6,525 households. Households in The Dalles have a median income of $62,614, around 25% less than the Oregon median of $83,011, so clear prices help.

Population trend in The Dalles

Census estimates put The Dalles at 15,977 in 2020 and 15,745 in 2025, a stable city. The estimates peaked in 2021, at 16,016. That compares with +0.9% for Oregon as a whole. Without much growth, the customers are mostly the same people every year; the website is how they remember you.

Website design The Dalles: start with the customer

Trips to work are short here: 65.1% take under 15 minutes. Short trips keep spending close to home, and customers pick the nearest business they can trust.

37.8% of the people living in The Dalles were born in another state, the largest group from the West. People who moved here have no old habits about where to shop, so they search.

In The Dalles, 17.7% of people speak Spanish at home, and 81.6% speak only English. Short sentences and obvious service names work for every visitor, whatever language they grew up with.

Seasons in The Dalles, and what they do to your website

By the 1991-2020 normals of the The Dalles Municipal Airport weather station (1.6 miles from The Dalles), July highs average 88°F and January lows average 31°F. Rain adds up to about 14 inches a year, falling on about 42 days with a tenth of an inch or more. Freezing nights (32°F or below) come about 72 times a year. A dry climate favors irrigation, xeriscaping and pool service, and water rules are a common question. A website that changes with the season help: new hours, a seasonal service, a storm notice, requested by email at no extra charge.

The roads, towns and places around The Dalles

The Dalles’ nearest neighbors are Dufur (10 miles), Mosier (13 miles) and Bingen, WA (17 miles). City of the Dalles, seat of Wasco County, lies 1.4 miles to the west. The nearest large city is Gresham, 63 miles to the west. 10 municipalities lie within 25 miles, each with its own customers. With 2,355 residents per square mile on 6.7 square miles of land and 0.2 square miles of water, The Dalles is moderately dense by Oregon standards. List the towns you actually serve, such as Mosier and White Salmon, on your website; customers outside The Dalles want to know before they call.

Which The Dalles businesses need a small business website

ZIP code 97058, which covers The Dalles and the area around it, had 624 business establishments with employees in 2023. Some of the local businesses in that count:

• Food trucks, 5 in the count. What works online: the menu, where to find you this week and a form for private events.
• Custom home builders, 10 in the count. What works online: floor plans and photos of homes you have built, the lots or areas you build in and a way to start a conversation.
• New car dealers, 6 in the count. What works online: brand pages, service department hours and contact forms for sales and service.
• Furniture stores, 5 in the count. What works online: product photos by room, store hours and, if you want, an online store with the same monthly fee.
• Real estate offices, 16 in the count. What works online: the agents, the neighborhoods you know best and a contact form for buyers and sellers.

County-wide, Wasco County counts 735 businesses with employees and 1,600 self-employed or nonemployer businesses (2023). Compared with the U.S. as a whole, Wasco County leans toward hotels, inns and other lodging (16 establishments, 2.6 times the national share). For them, travelers compare rooms, rates and location, and the website should show rooms with real photos, amenities, location and how to reserve by email or through your booking channel. The jobs The Dalles residents hold are mostly in education, health care and social assistance (24.1%) and retail trade (12.8%). For any of them, a clear website is the difference between being compared and being skipped.

Running a website from The Dalles: the Oregon rules

A website doesn’t need a special license, but the business behind it follows the same Oregon rules as any other.

• The name on your website and your sign has to be either your legal name or a registered assumed business name (ABN). ORS Chapter 648 (Assumed Business Names); OAR 160.010
• Oregon has no general sales or use/transaction tax, so there is nothing to collect on ordinary online sales. The only close relatives are the vehicle use tax and vehicle privilege tax on new vehicles. Oregon Department of Revenue
• Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, businesses open to the public must make their goods and services accessible to people with disabilities, and the Justice Department’s guidance says that includes their websites. ADA.gov guidance

Rules change and details vary by business; this is general information, not legal advice.

Affordable web design: what you get and how it works

Aria has built websites since 2008 and is based in Curitiba, Brazil. Everything is done online, so businesses in The Dalles get exactly the same plan as anyone else.

1. Start with the online sign-up, which takes about 5 minutes.
2. Within 5 business days you get a temporary link with the whole website, built with your logo, colors and photos.
3. Approve it: the first monthly fee is issued and your domain starts showing the new site.

Later on, you send changes by email (a new price, a new photo, a new service) and the team makes them, with no extra charge.