Most web design projects that run late are not held up by design or code. They are held up waiting for content, feedback or a decision from the client. Knowing what you will be asked for, and when, is the easiest way to keep your project on schedule.
This guide walks through each stage of a typical project from the client’s side: what you provide, what you decide and what you approve. For how our own team works, see our process.
Before kickoff: gather the basics
You can save a week or more by having these ready before the first meeting:
- Logins for your current website, domain registrar and hosting, or the name of whoever manages them.
- Your logo files, brand colors and fonts, if you have them.
- Two or three websites you like, and one or two you do not, with a sentence on why.
- A list of your services and the cities you serve.
- Who on your side will give feedback and who has final say.
Stage 1: Discovery (about 1 week)
Discovery is where the project gets its direction. Expect a meeting or two about your customers, your competitors and what the website needs to achieve, such as more calls, more quote requests or fewer questions answered by phone.
What you do: answer questions about your business honestly, including what makes customers choose you and what they complain about. Agree on the main goal and how you will measure it.
What you approve: the sitemap, which lists every page the site will have.
Stage 2: Content (overlaps with design)
Content is the stage that most often delays launch. Someone has to write the words on each page and gather the photos.
What you do: provide or approve the text for each page, and supply real photos of your team, location and work. If you are using a copywriter, your job is to review their drafts for accuracy. Nobody knows your services, prices and policies as well as you do.
Tip: start on content during discovery, not after design. Designers work better with real text than with placeholder text, and you avoid a scramble at the end.
Stage 3: Design (1 to 2 weeks)
The designer usually presents the homepage and one inner page first. Once those are approved, the remaining pages follow the same style.
What you do: review the designs on both a computer and a phone. Give specific feedback, such as “the phone number should be more prominent” rather than “make it pop,” and collect feedback from everyone on your side into one list.
What you approve: the final designs. Big changes after this point are possible but cost time, because development is built on them.
Stage 4: Development (1 to 3 weeks)
The approved designs become a working site on a private staging address. This is mostly the developer’s work, but you are not off the hook.
What you do: answer practical questions as they come up. Where should form submissions go? Which calendar or CRM should the site connect to? Do you need online payments? Quick answers here keep development moving.
Stage 5: Review and testing (about 1 week)
Before launch, you get the full site on the staging address to review.
What you do: click every link, submit every form and check that the emails arrive where they should. Read every page for mistakes in prices, hours, phone numbers and service details. Try it on your own phone. List everything in one document, so nothing is missed.
What you approve: the site is ready to launch.
Stage 6: Launch and the first month
On launch day, the site moves to your domain. If it replaces an old site, redirects should send old page addresses to the new ones, so you keep your search rankings and nobody lands on an error page.
What you do: tell your team the site is live, update your Google Business Profile and social links if needed, and keep an eye on incoming leads for the first few weeks. Report anything odd straight away, such as a form that stops sending or a page that looks wrong on a particular phone.
How long does it take overall?
Most small business websites take roughly 3 to 6 weeks from kickoff to launch when content and feedback arrive on time. Larger sites, online stores and custom features take longer. The biggest factor you control is how quickly you provide content and feedback.
Ready to start?
OCImagine designs and builds websites for Orange County businesses, from custom websites to online stores. Before your project starts, make sure the plan covers the 10 conversion essentials for service business websites, so the new site brings in leads from day one.
