Web development for Ellicott City, Maryland businesses that makes every marketing dollar work harder. I work with Main Street restaurants and shops, professional services, and other local operators. You work with me directly. No junior handoff. No outsourced account team.
Ellicott City has a distinct historic downtown market plus suburban Howard County demand around it.
Restaurants, professional services, and home services benefit from Ellicott City pages that are not just renamed Baltimore content.
Slow, fragile sites tax every SEO and ads dollar you spend. Forms break. Pages crawl. In Ellicott City, that hits Main Street restaurants and shops, professional services, and home services companies hardest. The business that owns the search gets the call. Everyone else gets silence.
SEO or Google Ads from $650 a month. Both for $1,300. A 6-month contract includes a website redesign tailored to search.
Buyers here type searches like "web developer Ellicott City" and "web development company Ellicott City". Those exact phrases are where the work starts. Not a national template with Ellicott City pasted in.
I build fast, secure sites that support SEO and Google Ads instead of fighting them.
I serve Ellicott City, Maryland and Columbia, Catonsville, and Howard County. The plan gets built around Ellicott City demand, not copied from another market. You work with me directly.
I typically keep about 10 clients at a time. That is how Ellicott City, Maryland businesses get senior attention instead of a recycled playbook. Strong fit for Main Street restaurants and shops, professional services, and small teams under 25. No MLMs.
Serving Columbia, Catonsville, and Howard County. If you also need coverage in a nearby town, use the links below. Each page targets its own city + service searches on purpose.
A short call or the form on this page. I look at how Ellicott City buyers actually search for you.
$650 a month each. $1,300 for both. A 6-month contract includes a website redesign built around search.
I write the strategy, ship the work, and keep optimizing. No account manager shuffle.

Gary Thorn owns Up The Brand. Twenty years in agencies, startups, and federal work. Now based in Bel Air, serving Ellicott City and Greater Baltimore. If you hire this shop, you get the person who writes the strategy, builds the site, and runs the ads.
About 10 clients at a time. Harford County Chamber of Commerce member. No handoff. No outsourced account team.
Same person Ellicott City businesses would work with. Direct access. No junior handoff.
“We are very satisfied. Gary is always available and extremely transparent with what he does. We had a unique situation where we had to have a third party integrated with our site. Gary went above and beyond.”
“My experience has been unmatched with Up The Brand. I needed a landing page designed for my business, somewhere my customers could find my business and our services. After speaking with Gary I had a better understanding of what my site would look like and how it could increase sales.”
“I had the pleasure of working alongside Gary and the marketing industry needs more people like him. He's someone you can count on to have your company's best interests at heart and deliver quality work every time. Whether your company is starting from scratch or is more established, Gary knows what it takes to generate and convert traffic into customers for local businesses. Truly, a great professional and person.”
Most Ellicott City small business builds are covered by the free redesign that comes with a 6-month marketing contract at $650 a month. Standalone builds start at $1,500.
Yes. Up The Brand is based in Bel Air, and Ellicott City is squarely in the service area along with Columbia, Catonsville, and Howard County. This is a local operation, not a national call center with a map graphic.
Static is the default. WordPress, Drupal, Wix, and Squarespace are available on request.
Yes. Integrations are part of the build when they help you capture and manage leads.
I build stores and I am good at them. Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, and Magento. Online stores are bigger than the free redesign, so each one is custom scoped with a straight quote.
SEO or Google Ads for $650 a month. Both for $1,300. A 6-month contract includes a website redesign. You work with me directly.
I read every message. No ticket queue.
Message sent.
It lands in my inbox. You will hear back from me, not an assistant.
Internal links between services in the same town help users and search engines map the local offer.
Same service, different city pages. Each one targets its own local searches.
Ellicott City overview · All service areas · National Web Development page · About Gary