Web Design in Cathlamet, Washington

Why a Cathlamet website can’t be generic

The county government of Wahkiakum County sits in Cathlamet; county business brings people into town every weekday. County business keeps a ring of professional firms around the courthouse, and clients pick among them carefully. Show the address, where to park and the hours on every page; a visitor from out of town needs that before anything else.

Website design Cathlamet: start with the customer

12.0% of Cathlamet adults are veterans (7.8% in Washington). If you give service members or veterans any special terms, say so on the website, not only at the counter.

12.5% of residents age 3 and over are enrolled in college or graduate school. Students turn over every year, so every fall brings customers who are starting from zero.

A web designer’s view of Cathlamet’s businesses

ZIP code 98612, which covers Cathlamet and the area around it, had 72 business establishments with employees in 2023. A few examples from the same count:

• Full-service restaurants (4): a menu page you can update by email, your hours and a map, plus a contact form for events and large groups.
• Remodeling contractors (3): before-and-after photos, the areas you serve and how estimates work.

Wahkiakum County as a whole had 98 employer establishments in 2023 and another 354 nonemployer businesses, the one-person shops and independent contractors that often have no website at all. The county’s largest sectors by number of employer establishments are construction (18.4%), accommodation and food services (15.3%) and retail trade (12.2%). Most of these businesses are small, and the website does the job a front desk would do in a bigger company.

Reaching customers beyond the Cathlamet town limits

Nearby incorporated places: Clatskanie, OR (11 miles, pop. 1,779), Longview (20 miles, pop. 38,362), Astoria, OR (21 miles, pop. 9,838) and Rainier, OR (23 miles, pop. 1,924). Lewis and Clark National Historical Park is a short trip away: within 24 miles. 7 municipalities lie within 25 miles, each with its own customers. Astoria Regional Airport (AST) is 24 miles west of Cathlamet in a straight line. Hillsboro, OR, a city of 111,126, is 52 miles southeast. Customers in Astoria and Clatskanie will ask the same thing: do you work here? A service area page answers before they have to.

Climate normals for 1991-2020 from Clatskanie, 11 miles away, put the August average high at 76°F and the February average low at 33°F. About 55 inches of rain and melted snow fall in a normal year, most of it in December. Freezing nights (32°F or below) come about 70 times a year. With this much rain, roofers, gutter installers, waterproofing and drainage contractors are in steady demand, often after a storm. Put your seasonal services on their own page, so customers find them when they need them.

Across Wahkiakum County, the median household income is $62,653 and the median age is 54.5. Broadband reaches 85.1% of homes, and 6.5% of households are online only through a phone plan. 83.2% of households own their home.

Cathlamet by the numbers

The estimates rise every year: 571 in 2021, 581 in 2022, 595 in 2023, 602 in 2024, 610 in 2025. Washington as a whole changed +3.8% in the same period. Growth like this brings new households that look for local services online before they ask a neighbor.

Paperwork and rules for Washington businesses online

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

• Washington’s state retail sales tax rate is 6.5%, with a local rate added depending on the city or county. Washington State Department of Revenue
• Check with both Wahkiakum County and the Town of Cathlamet about local business tax receipts before opening. Official source
• Washington’s My Health My Data Act reaches any legal entity, of any size, that does business in Washington or targets Washington consumers and decides how consumer health data is collected, processed, shared or sold. A website that gathers anything about a visitor’s health – a symptom form, an appointment request for a clinic, a wellness quiz – needs a separate consumer health data privacy policy, consent before collecting, and authorization before selling. Small businesses (fewer than 100,000 consumers, or under 50% of revenue from health data and fewer than 25,000 consumers) had to comply from June 30, 2024. Chapter 19.373 RCW (Chapter 191, Laws of 2023)

General information, not legal advice: confirm the details with the agency that handles each item.

From sign-up to a live website

Aria has built websites since 2008 and is based in Curitiba, Brazil. There are no visits or meetings in Cathlamet: material and questions travel by email, and you approve the website on a temporary link.

1. You sign up in about 5 minutes and email us your logo, photos and anything you want on the site.
2. Within 5 business days you get a temporary link with the whole website, built with your logo, colors and photos.
3. Once you approve it, the first monthly fee is issued and the website goes live on your domain.

Changes after launch go by email and are included, and so do quick questions.