Nine stages, no surprises.
Most anxiety about a website project is not about the design. It is not knowing what happens next, what is expected of you, or when. Here is the whole thing in order.
A typical project runs six to ten weeks. The build is rarely what takes the time — content is. Projects that finish fast are the ones where copy and images were ready before design started, and where feedback came back consolidated rather than as a trickle of individual notes.
The stages below overlap in practice. Content work runs alongside development, and testing starts before development finishes. They are listed in order because that is the order decisions get made, and each one constrains the next.
Three things, and they are the entire difference between a six-week project and a five-month one.
- An hour for discovery, and honest answers in it — included
- Content — copy and images — or an early decision to have us draft it — included
- Feedback within a few days, consolidated into one response per round — included
The nine stages
Durations are typical for a small business site. A larger build or an e-commerce catalogue extends the middle stages, not the ends.
- Stage 01About a week
Discovery
A conversation about the business rather than the website. What you sell, who buys it, what makes someone choose you over the alternative, and what happens now when a customer wants to get in touch. If there is an existing site, we look at what its analytics and Search Console already say.
Deliverables · Stage 01- A written summary of what we understood, so you can correct us early — included
- An audit of the existing site, if there is one — included
What we need. An hour of your time, and access to any existing analytics.
- Stage 02A few days
Strategy
Turning that into decisions. What the primary conversion is, which services need their own page, what a visitor must believe before they act, and which of those beliefs the site has to establish. This is also where we decide what the site will not do.
Deliverables · Stage 02- A one-page strategy: primary action, audience, and the objections to answer — included
- A scope document listing what is in and, explicitly, what is out — included
- Stage 03Around a week
Architecture
The page map. Every page gets one search intent and one visitor task, which is what makes it findable and useful at the same time. Internal linking is planned here too — which page links to which, and with what anchor text — rather than added at the end.
Deliverables · Stage 03- A sitemap with a stated purpose for every page — included
- A page-by-page content plan showing what copy each page needs — included
- A fixed quote and a schedule with named dates — included
What we need. A decision on scope so the quote can be fixed.
- Stage 04Two to three weeks
Design
Templates drawn mobile-first and reviewed with your real copy, never placeholder text. You see designs on a shared link in a browser rather than as flat images, so you are judging what the thing will actually be. Two structured review rounds, each consolidated into one set of changes.
Deliverables · Stage 04- Designs for every template, at mobile and desktop widths — included
- A documented design system: colour, type, spacing, components — included
- Specified states — hover, focus, error, empty, loading — included
What we need. Consolidated feedback within a few days of each round.
- Stage 05Two to four weeks
Development
The build. Semantic HTML, server-rendered pages, accessible components, and a reusable component system so the site stays consistent as it grows. Every change gets a preview URL, so you watch it come together instead of waiting for a reveal.
Deliverables · Stage 05- A working site on a private preview URL, updated continuously — included
- A repository in your own account from the first commit — included
- Stage 06Runs alongside development
Content and SEO implementation
Copy goes into the real templates. Every indexable page gets a unique title, a unique description, a canonical URL, and structured data that matches what the page displays. Redirects are mapped now if we are replacing an existing site — not on launch day.
Deliverables · Stage 06- Metadata and canonical URLs across every indexable page — included
- Structured data for the organisation, pages, services, and articles — included
- A redirect map, if this is a migration — included
What we need. Final copy, or a decision to have us work from a draft.
- Stage 07Around a week
Testing
Real devices, not just a resized browser window. Widths from 320px up, keyboard navigation end to end, screen-reader checks on forms and navigation, every form submitting and failing correctly, and Core Web Vitals measured rather than assumed.
Deliverables · Stage 07- A test report covering devices, accessibility, and performance — included
- A staging link for your own review, with a checklist to work through — included
What we need. Your sign-off, and anything you spot that we did not.
- Stage 08One day
Launch
DNS, hosting, and certificates configured in your accounts. Redirects go live with the site rather than after it. Then verification: indexation checked, sitemap submitted, analytics confirmed as recording, and the old URLs confirmed as resolving.
Deliverables · Stage 08- The live site, on infrastructure in your name — included
- Search Console and analytics connected and verified — included
- Every credential handed over — included
- Stage 09The first month
Post-launch
The month after launch is when real traffic finds what testing did not. We monitor indexation, Core Web Vitals from field data, and any redirect that turns out to be wrong — and fix what surfaces. You also get a handover document written for a person, not a developer.
Deliverables · Stage 09- A handover document covering structure and how to update the site — included
- Monitoring of indexation and performance for the first month — included
- Fixes for anything that emerges from real traffic — included
What happens after the first month
Nothing automatic, and no retainer to cancel. The site is yours, on your hosting, in your repository. If you never contact us again it keeps running.
When you do want changes — a new service page, a seasonal update, a case study added — get in touch and we will quote that piece of work. Because the site is built on a documented system rather than as one-off pages, additions are usually small.
The conditions cover ownership, hosting, and self-editing in more detail, and the pricing page explains how project cost is worked out in the first place.
Start at stage one.
Discovery is a conversation, not a pitch. Tell us about the business and what the site has to do, and you will get an honest read on scope and timeline.