What happens when you build a website: the four stages
Every website project moves through discovery, design, build and launch. Here is what happens at each stage, what we need from you, and what usually slows things down.
"How long will it take?" is one of the first questions we hear. The honest answer is that it depends on the project: a focused brochure site and an online store with payments and shipping are very different jobs. What does not change is the shape of the work. Every website we build moves through the same four stages, and knowing them helps you plan.
1. Discovery
Before anyone opens a design tool, we need to understand the business. Discovery covers your goals, your customers, your competitors and what success looks like after launch. Together we agree on a sitemap (the list of pages and how they connect) and a content plan for who writes what, and by when.
What we need from you: time for a workshop, access to any existing brand assets, and a clear decision-maker.
2. Design
We design the key pages in high fidelity, using real or near-final copy wherever possible. You see how the homepage, a service page, an article and the contact page look on both desktop and mobile, with a structured round of feedback and refinement built in.
Designing with real content is one of the biggest time-savers in the whole project. Grey placeholder boxes hide problems that surface later, when they are more expensive to fix.
3. Build and content
This is usually the longest stage. We develop the site, set up the content management system, enter content, connect integrations such as forms, payments or analytics, and configure the technical SEO: metadata, structured data, sitemaps and redirects from any old URLs.
Along the way you get access to a private staging version so you can click around and spot anything that does not feel right.
4. Testing and launch
We test on real phones, tablets, laptops and desktops, check forms and integrations end to end, measure speed, take a full backup and then launch. After launch we stay on hand for fixes, tweaks and training your team on the CMS.
What usually slows projects down
- Content arriving late. The most common cause of delays. Start writing early, or ask us to write it.
- Too many decision-makers. Feedback from five people with different opinions takes longer to resolve than feedback from one.
- Scope creep. New features halfway through are fine, but they change the plan. We will always tell you how.
So, how long?
Once we understand your scope, features and content, we agree a schedule with you in writing and keep you updated at every stage. A plan built around your actual project is worth far more than a generic number.