About
An engineer who builds websites.
I am MJ Howie. I have been building websites since 2012, the same year I finished my civil engineering degree at UBC. The business has been my full time work since 2021. There is a longer bio and background page if you want the credentials.
Engineering taught me to scope a job, put the plan in writing, and build the thing so it holds up. That is how I run web projects. You get a fixed price and a scope in writing before you pay a deposit.
I am a one-person studio on purpose. You talk to me on the first call, and you talk to me when something breaks three years later. No account managers, no ticket queues, no handoffs.
In 2026 this site won Best Business Website at the Web Excellence Awards. I mention it because it is the one judgement on my work that did not come from me.
I live in Armstrong with my four kids. Most of my clients are within an hour of here: Vernon, Enderby, Salmon Arm, and the farms and towns in between. I know the market because I live in it.
Outside client work, I run a few content sites of my own, which is where I test what works before I recommend it to you. I also build and maintain websites for four local nonprofits at no charge, which you can read about on the community page.
years building websites
Professional engineer, UBC 2012
person, start to finish
Best Business Website 2026, Web Excellence Awards, for this site.
How I work
Engineering habits, applied to websites.
In engineering you do not start pouring concrete and see how it goes. You scope the job, price it, write it down, and get it signed. Then you build the thing you said you would build.
Web work rarely runs that way, which is why so many business owners have a story about a site that took a year and never finished. So I run projects the way I was trained. If the scope grows, you get a change order and a number before any of it gets built.
The other habit is measurement. Rankings are nice. Calls and form fills pay the bills. Tracking gets installed on every build and I show you how to read it, so you can see which pages bring in work and which ones just sit there.
I also test on my own sites first. I run a few content brands of my own, and the sites I own and manage carried 1.3 million pageviews in 2025. When I recommend something to a client, it is usually because I already broke it, fixed it, and watched what happened on a site where the only person paying for the mistake was me.
Four kids means I work in tight windows, weekdays from 10 to 3. It makes me ruthless about scope and quick on email. Clients tell me the responsiveness is the part they did not expect from a one-person shop.
Most of my clients come from a referral, a Google search, or the Chamber. Almost all of them stay on a hosting and maintenance plan after launch, which is the honest measure of whether the work held up.
Questions
About working with me.
- Do you have staff?
- No, and that is on purpose. You talk to me on the first call, and you talk to me when something breaks three years later. Nobody is learning your business twice.
- What are your hours?
- Weekdays, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Pacific. Email gets a reply within two business days on Hosting & Maintenance, same day on Hosting & Maintenance Plus and Hosting & Maintenance Pro. Urgent things get a text.
- Can we meet in person?
- Yes, by appointment. My office is in the Armstrong Spallumcheen Chamber of Commerce space at the Odd Fellows Hall on Wood Avenue. Book a time first so you are not standing at a locked door.
- Who writes the words on my site?
- It depends on the build. On a Foundation site you supply the words and I edit them. On Growth I write the core pages. On Flagship I write every page and direct the photography. Either way you approve the copy before it ships.
- How do you show me the design?
- On a private link, and then I leave you alone with it. There is no live reveal call where a few people watch your face while you work out whether you are allowed to say you hate the header. You look on your own time and tell me what is wrong with it.
- Are you an SEO or a web designer?
- Both, which is less common than it should be. A site built by somebody who does not do SEO usually needs an SEO to come fix it. Doing both means the structure is right the first time.
Ready to talk?
A 20 minute call. No pitch. What you need and what it costs.
Or text 778-692-5555 or email hello@acornwebsites.com. I reply within two business days.