Cloud & DevOps
Git
Why a mistake on your site is a five-second fix, not a phone call you dread.
Git is the system that records every change made to your website's code, with a full history you can rewind. For you, that means work is never lost, a bad update can be undone in seconds, and a clear paper trail makes future changes faster and cheaper. We use it on every build so your site is never one wrong edit away from trouble.
Where it shines
- A bad change can be reversed in seconds, so a problem on your site stays small
- Nothing is ever overwritten or lost; every past version of your site is recoverable
- New work is built and tested away from your live site, which keeps running untouched
- A clear record of what changed and why means whoever works on it next isn't guessing
- Hand your site to another developer later and they inherit the full history, not a black box
- Proven everywhere: the same system runs behind almost all professional software
Trade-offs to weigh
- It takes real skill to use safely, which is exactly why it belongs in expert hands, not yours
- It manages code, not page content, so editing your own text needs a separate CMS
- It's the wrong place for heavy files like video or raw design artwork
The short version, in plain English
Every professional website is built from code, and that code gets changed constantly: new pages, fixes, tweaks, improvements. The question is what happens when one of those changes goes wrong. Without a system to manage it, a bad edit can mean a broken site and a frantic hunt for whatever copy someone saved last. With one, it’s a quick step backwards and on with your day.
Git is that system. It records every change made to your site’s code, who made it, when, and why, and keeps every past version intact. Think of it less as developer plumbing and more as an undo button with a perfect memory, sitting under everything we build for you.
What it actually buys you
A bad change is a small problem, not a crisis. If an update causes trouble, we put the last working version back in seconds. Your site isn’t down for an afternoon while we rebuild, because there’s always a known-good state to return to.
Nothing is ever lost. Files don’t get overwritten and work doesn’t vanish. Every version of your site exists and can be recovered, which is more than a normal backup gives you, that only keeps the most recent copy.
New work never touches what’s live. When we build something new, a redesign, a feature, a seasonal landing page, we build it off to one side, completely separate from the version your customers are using. You see it before anyone else does. The live site only changes when it’s genuinely ready.
It costs you less over time. Because each change comes with a note on what it was and why, the story of how your site was built is right there. Whoever works on it next isn’t charging you to guess. And if you ever move on from us, that full history goes with the site, you’re not locked in or left with a black box.
Where it sits in how we work
Git is the layer everything else stands on. The Astro code behind your site is versioned in Git; Prettier keeps that code tidy so changes stay easy to read; the build setup defined in Docker is tracked alongside it. From there, GitHub stores it all and lets us review work before it goes near your live site, and a single approved change tells Cloudflare to build and publish it. You never see any of this. You just get a site that’s safe to change and quick to fix.
The honest limits
Git is the right tool for code, and we use it on every build without exception, but it isn’t a cure-all. It manages the engineering, not your day-to-day content, so when you want to edit your own page text or post a blog, we hand you a simple content system instead, not a developer workflow. It’s also the wrong home for heavy files like video or raw design artwork, which belong in proper storage. And it genuinely takes skill to use without doing damage, which is precisely why it lives with us and never lands on you. For everything that’s actually code, though, it isn’t optional, it’s the reason changing your site is never a gamble.
If you’d like to see what a properly built, safe-to-change site looks like in practice, we offer a free website and marketing audit, no obligation, just a clear read on where you stand.
Worked example
The redesign that didn't risk a single sale
Say you run a busy site and want a bolder homepage, but you can't afford for it to wobble while we experiment, every hour it's broken is enquiries lost. We build the new version off to one side, fully separated from the page your customers are actually using. You see it, you react, we refine. If it doesn't land, we bin it and you never knew the difference. When it's right, it goes live as one clean switch, with a record of exactly what changed. And if anything misbehaved after, we'd put yesterday's working version back in seconds. The live site was never the test bed. That's the whole point. (Illustrative, every build is scoped to your goals.)
Better together
How Git fits with the rest of our stack
Git: your questions answered
What does Git actually mean for me as the client?
It means changes to your site are low-risk and reversible. Git keeps a complete history of your website's code, so if an update ever causes a problem we can undo it almost instantly instead of scrambling to rebuild. You won't ever lose work, and you'll never be stuck with a broken site waiting hours for a fix. It's a quiet safety net under everything we ship for you.
What happens if a change breaks my site?
We return it to the last working version, usually in seconds. Because Git stores every previous state of your site, a bad update isn't a disaster, it's a step we can simply walk back. Compare that to a setup with no version control, where fixing a broken site can mean rebuilding from whatever copy someone happened to keep. With Git, there's always a known-good version to fall back to.
Does this mean my website is backed up?
Better than a backup. A normal backup gives you yesterday's copy. Git keeps every version of your site's code, hosted in more than one place, so we can restore not just the latest copy but any point in its history. If a problem only shows up weeks later, we can still trace back to exactly when it crept in and reverse it.
I'm not technical, do I need to learn or touch any of this?
No. Git is part of how we work, not something handed to you. You'll never open it or run a command. When you want to edit page text or publish a blog post yourself, we give you a simple content system for that. Git runs in the background so the engineering stays safe and tidy without ever landing on your plate.
Does using Git make future changes cheaper?
Usually, yes. Because every change is recorded with a note on what it was and why, anyone picking up your site later, us or another developer, can see how it was built instead of reverse-engineering it. Less time spent untangling means less time billed. It also means you're never locked in: your site's full history travels with it.
Can more than one person work on my site without things clashing?
Yes. Git lets several people work in parallel and merges their changes together sensibly, flagging the rare spots where two edits touch the same thing so they're sorted out on purpose rather than one silently wiping out the other. Nobody's work gets lost in the shuffle, which matters when a project moves quickly.
Want Git working for your business?
Tell us what you're trying to achieve, we'll show you, honestly, whether it's the right tool and how we'd apply it.
What are you looking for?