Five stages, and what each one owes you
Every agency has a process diagram. The useful columns are the two most of them leave out: what you actually receive at the end of a stage, and what we need from you to start the next one.
What happens, in order
Durations are typical for a small business site. A store or an application is longer, and we say so at scope rather than discovering it in week six.
Scope
About a week
We work out what the thing has to do and who for. Not a wishlist — a short document naming the outcome, the constraints, and what is explicitly out of scope.
You receive
- A written scope with the outcome defined
- A fixed price, or a range with what moves it
- A date
We need from you
- Access to whoever makes the decision
- Your existing site, analytics and anything already written
- An honest answer about the deadline behind the deadline
Structure
One to two weeks
Before anything is designed, we agree what pages exist, what each one is for, and what a visitor is supposed to do on it. This is where projects are won or lost, and it is the stage people want to skip.
You receive
- A page map with the purpose of each page
- The content each page needs, listed
- Wireframes for anything unusual
We need from you
- One round of feedback, consolidated
- Content decisions — what you will supply and what we write
Design
Two to three weeks
Real design on real content, at desktop and mobile. Not a template with your logo dropped in, and not a beautiful mockup that only works with the words we invented for it.
You receive
- Designed pages at two breakpoints
- The component set the rest of the site is built from
- Everything reviewed against contrast and target-size rules
We need from you
- Logo files, brand colours and typefaces if you have them
- Photography, or a decision to commission it
- A consolidated round of feedback
Build
Two to four weeks
Built on the design system, tested across the range of screen sizes people actually use, and checked for keyboard and screen-reader access as it goes rather than at the end.
You receive
- A staging site you can use
- Forms wired to somewhere real
- Metadata, structured data, sitemap and redirects
We need from you
- Final content
- Any third-party accounts we need to connect
- Time to actually look at staging
Launch and after
A day, then ongoing
DNS moves when you approve it, with the old site kept as the rollback. Then we watch the error log rather than the homepage, because that is where launch problems appear.
You receive
- The site live, with redirects from old URLs
- Search Console and analytics connected
- A handover you can act on
We need from you
- A decision on who maintains it afterwards
Four things we do that cost us money
Anyone can list values. These are the ones with a price attached.
- We say no to work
- If a template would serve you better than a custom build, we will tell you and lose the project.
- We quote changes before doing them
- Slower conversations, no surprise invoices.
- We build accessibility in
- It takes longer than adding it at the end, and adding it at the end does not work.
- We hand over properly
- You get what you need to leave. That is what makes staying a choice.
Where this process gets used
The same five stages run a website design project, a custom build, and an AI agent setup. Hosting migrations have their own, shorter runbook.
Before you buy
The things people actually ask us, answered plainly.
Why is there a scope stage before you quote?
Because a price given before anyone knows what the thing does is a guess, and guesses get corrected in one direction. A short paid scope produces a fixed price you can rely on, and if you take that document elsewhere afterwards it is still yours.
What makes a project run late?
Content, almost every time. Design and build have a schedule; waiting for the copy for six pages does not. The second most common is feedback arriving in pieces from different people over two weeks rather than consolidated once.
Can you work with our existing designer or developer?
Yes, and it works best when the boundary is written down at scope: who owns which files, who deploys, and who is accountable when something breaks at 6pm. Ambiguity there is the problem, not the collaboration.
What happens if we change our minds halfway?
You tell us, and we tell you what it costs in time and money before we do it. Changes are normal. Changes absorbed silently and then discovered at the end as a delay are not.
A plan that still makes sense in year two
Free migration, free SSL and daily backups on every plan, with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Prefer the phone? (305) 671-1272 · Existing customer? Client login