Home › Service Areas › Merritt Island
Merritt Island, Florida · Brevard County
Web design in Merritt Island, FL, where there's no city hall to call.
I'm Dennis Aguilar, a web designer in Sebastian. I build websites and Google Business Profiles for Merritt Island businesses: websites from $800 with your Google profile included, or the profile on its own for $300. If your customers find you by searching on a phone and then call, your website and your Google listing have to answer them fast.
The free check looks at your Google listing, the box that shows your business on Google Maps: whether it says Merritt Island, whether your address or service area is set up the right way, and what's missing.
Dennis Aguilar · Based in Sebastian, Florida
A sketch of how Google Maps lists nearby businesses. Not real businesses, and no promise of position.
What makes Merritt Island different
No city government: Merritt Island's local rules come from Brevard County.
The Census Bureau counts Merritt Island as a census-designated place: a community with a name and a boundary, but no city government. There's no city hall and no city business receipt, so your business tax receipt and your zoning check go through Brevard County.
people lived in Merritt Island at the 2020 Census.
Census Bureau · 2020 Census count
homes and apartments stood there at the same count.
Census Bureau · 2020 housing units
square miles of land inside the Census boundary.
Census Bureau · 2020 land area
What 32952 and 32953 cover
At the 2020 Census, the 32953 ZIP area held 24,430 people and 32952 held 20,670. ZIP codes aren't the border of Merritt Island: 32953, for one, also takes in North Merritt Island. Whichever ZIP is on your mail, your website and Google profile should say Merritt Island.
North Merritt Island counts separately
The Census lists North Merritt Island as its own place: 8,566 people and 3,811 homes in 2020, also with no city government. If you work in both, say so on your site, so a customer up there knows you mean them too.
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, 2020 Census counts for Merritt Island CDP, North Merritt Island CDP and the 32952 and 32953 ZIP areas, and land area (QuickFacts, TIGERweb and the Census Geocoder). Brevard County Tax Collector, business tax receipt page.
Local SEO: where the name goes
Getting found on Google in Merritt Island: name the island, and the roads your customers drive.
Use one version of your address everywhere you list it, the one on your mail and your business records. Then put Merritt Island where it describes real work: on your Google profile, on your website, and in what your customers write about you.
Your profile's address and service area
A shop or office that customers visit shows its street address. If you only go to customers, Google says to remove the address from your profile and list the areas you serve instead. You can read how I manage Google Business Profiles, or work through my free profile checklist yourself.
A page about where you are
Name the places people here know: the Causeway (State Road 520), North Courtenay Parkway, or Merritt Square Mall. Add real photos of your business and the street it's on. "Merritt Island" pasted into a template doesn't show anyone you actually work here.
Reviews in the customer's words
When you ask for a review, ask the customer to describe the job and where it was, however they'd say it. A review that says "Merritt Island" tells the next customer something your own website can't.
Sources: Merritt Island Redevelopment Agency (Brevard County), About page and FY 2022-23 annual report, on the State Road 520 and North Courtenay Parkway corridors. Merritt Square Mall. Google Business Profile Help, on service-area businesses and removing an address.
Who this works for
Which Merritt Island businesses need a website, and which need only a Google profile.
At the 2020 Census, Merritt Island had 16,439 homes for 34,518 people. Its main commercial roads are the Causeway and Courtenay Parkway. Here is where I'd start for each kind of business.
Home-based and owner-run services
Bookkeepers, consultants, handymen and other trades that go to the customer. A short site with a page for each service, your phone number at the top, and a Google profile set up as a service-area business is usually enough.
Shops and offices on 520 and Courtenay
Both roads run through the Merritt Island Redevelopment Agency district, the county's redevelopment program for those corridors. If customers come to you, your site needs your hours, parking and how to find the door, and your Google profile needs the same.
Lagoon tours and rentals
A kayak, boat or wildlife tour needs a page for each trip, a clear way to book it, and recent photos. Make it easy to compare and book on a phone.
Where I'd tell you to spend less
If most of your work comes from people who already know you, a finished profile and a steady flow of reviews may be all you need. I'll tell you that in the free listing check.
The Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, set up by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1963, shares its land with Kennedy Space Center. If you supply or contract for the space industry, a plain site with capability pages and certifications does more than a flashy one.
Sources: Brevard County Tax Collector, application for home locations in unincorporated areas (its list of commonly approved home businesses). Merritt Island Redevelopment Agency, About page. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge pages.
Before you hire anyone
How to compare web designers for Merritt Island.
Some web designers are based on the island itself. I'm in Sebastian, and what I offer is published prices and the ownership terms below, in writing. Whoever you talk to, me included, ask these three.
Whose name is on the domain?
Yours, from the day it's bought. Ask for that in writing.
Can I see the price before the first call?
If prices are published, you can compare designers before you talk to anyone. Mine are in the table below.
What happens to the site if I stop paying?
Ask what happens to the site, the domain and the logins. With me, if you cancel, you keep the website, the domain and every login, and there's no fee to leave.
The website and the listing
Web design and local SEO, done together.
I build the website and set up the Google profile at the same time, so the two say the same thing about who you are and where you work.
The website
Made for a phone first, with a page or section for each thing customers come to you for. I also build sites in Spanish or in both languages; my diseño web en español page explains how. If you already have a site, my website redesign page starts with whether you need a new one at all. You can see sites I've built on my case studies page.
The Google profile
Set up or cleaned up to match the site: the same business name, phone number, hours and services. I choose your categories (the business types Google files you under) to match the work you do, and I research the categories your competitors use.
After the build
After launch, the site needs hosting and the domain needs renewing. If you want me to handle hosting, the Care plan is $150 a month for hosting and upkeep; or you pay a hosting company yourself. Local Visibility, $300 a month, includes everything in Care and adds review requests, replies to reviews and ongoing local SEO.
What stays yours
If you ever leave, you keep the site, the domain and every login.
I put these terms in writing.
Ask me about these terms: (772) 999-1354- Your domain is registered in your name, not mine.
- You get every login, from day one.
- Monthly plans are month to month, with no contract.
- There's no fee to leave, and I charge nothing to release the site or transfer the domain.
Published prices
Web design prices for Merritt Island: the same as in Sebastian or Melbourne.
My standard prices are on my services page, so you don't need a sales call to find a number.
| Option | Price | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Google Business Profile setup | $300, one time | Your profile set up properly, with no monthly plan attached and no website required. |
| Starter website | $800, one time | 3 pages, built for the phone first, so a customer can see what you do and call. The writing isn't included. |
| Professional website | $1,500, one time | 7 pages, with a page for each service. The writing isn't included. |
| Premium website | $3,000, one time | 10 pages, with the writing included, for a business competing in a crowded market. |
| Brand Builder | $4,500, one time | Market research, a name and a logo, then the Premium build with every word written for you. Most businesses don't need it. |
| Monthly plans | $150 to $1,000 a month | Care $150: hosting and upkeep. Local Visibility $300: everything in Care, plus review requests, replies and ongoing local SEO. Growth $600: everything in Local Visibility, plus new service and town pages each month. Authority $1,000: four researched articles a month. Month to month, no contract. |
The one-time price is the build, and every build includes your Google profile set up and connected. Premium includes the writing for the site. Starter and Professional include the Google profile setup but not the writing, so ask what those words cost before you buy.
The one-time build doesn't include ongoing hosting or the domain renewal. Your domain is registered in your name, and it still needs renewing. If you want me to handle hosting, the Care plan is $150 a month for hosting and upkeep, and it's the only hosting price I publish. If you'd rather pay a hosting platform and a domain registrar directly, those bills come from those companies, not from me. Each plan's full list is on my services page.
Merritt Island questions
Questions Merritt Island business owners ask.
Do I need a city business license in Merritt Island?
There's no city to get one from. Merritt Island isn't incorporated, so your business tax receipt (Florida's name for a local business license) comes from the Brevard County Tax Collector. Before you apply, the Tax Collector asks businesses in unincorporated areas to check with Brevard County Zoning, (321) 633-2070.
The county's base receipt is $37 a year, and some business types pay extra fees. The county's fee schedule also lists $25 for the zoning approval tied to a receipt. Receipts go on sale July 1, expire September 30, and are late from October 1. Fees can change, so check the Tax Collector's receipt page when you apply.
Can I run my business from my house on Merritt Island?
Possibly, but check before you apply. Florida law (section 559.955) limits how local governments can regulate home-based businesses. The Tax Collector's form for home businesses still says to call County Zoning first, so call (321) 633-2070 before you apply.
My mail says 32952 or 32953. What should my website say?
Merritt Island, either way. ZIP codes aren't the border of Merritt Island, and 32953 also takes in North Merritt Island. If you also work in North Merritt Island, name both places on your site and in your Google profile's service areas.
Can you get my business to show up when people search in Merritt Island?
I can make it clear to Google that you work in Merritt Island: the island named in your profile's description and services, on a page of your website, and in reviews where customers say where they were. No one can promise you a spot on the map, and I won't.
How much does a website cost in Merritt Island?
The same as in Sebastian or Melbourne: $800 for 3 pages, $1,500 for 7 or $3,000 for 10, one time. A Google profile setup on its own is $300. The one-time build doesn't include ongoing hosting or the domain renewal; the notes under the price table explain both.
What happens to my site if I stop paying you?
You keep the website, the domain and every login. If you cancel the Care plan, you'll pay a hosting company directly instead of paying me.
Do I need a website, or is a Google profile enough?
It depends. Sometimes the site is fine, or there's no site yet, and the Google listing is the whole problem. That's $300 once instead of $800 and up. Send me your business name and I'll tell you which one makes sense.
You're in Sebastian. Why not hire someone on the island?
You might, and some designers are based here. What I offer is published prices, written terms that leave you owning the site, the domain and every login, and a free ten-minute listing check before you pay anything. If meeting in person matters to you, tell me when you call.
Can my website be in English and Spanish?
Yes. Spanish is my first language, and I build sites in Spanish, in English or in both, written properly in each language rather than machine-translated. My diseño web en español page says more, in Spanish.
Sources: Brevard County Tax Collector, business tax receipt page, receipt information page, FAQ and home-location application. Brevard County Planning and Development, zoning fee schedule. Florida Statutes, sections 205.053 and 559.955. U.S. Census Bureau, 2020 Census counts.
Elsewhere in Brevard: web design in Cocoa, web design in Rockledge, web design in Viera, web design in Satellite Beach, and web design across Brevard County.
Free listing check
Let me check how your Google listing shows up in Merritt Island first.
Call, text or message me your business name. The check takes me about ten minutes. I'll tell you if your profile names Merritt Island, whether your address or service area is set up the right way, what's missing, and whether I think a website is worth paying for yet. You get the answer whether you hire me or not.
I answer Monday to Friday, 8am to 8pm, and Sunday, 9am to 6pm. I'm closed on Saturday.
