How We Build Your Website
There’s a lot that goes into building a website — more than most people expect. This overview walks you through our process, phase by phase.
To keep your project on time and on budget, we build your website in phases. At the end of each phase, we’ll share a set of deliverables for your approval before moving to the next one. This keeps the project on track and catches any potential issues or changes early, before they turn into delays or cost overruns.
Here are the eight phases we move through as we build your website:
Discovery/Strategy
In the Discovery/Strategy Phase, we define your website’s goals, target audience, and must-have features. We look at your existing marketing, current site traffic, and competition, and make sure your business information is accurate and clearly structured so people can find and trust you, whether they’re searching Google, asking an AI assistant, or checking Google Maps.
Site Map
During the Site Map Phase, we create your website’s architecture: a clear, logical page structure so both visitors and search engines can easily find what they need. This process often reveals content you hadn’t planned for yet, which we flag early so your site gives people the full picture before they decide to interact with you.
Content Creation
In the Content Creation Phase, we help you write or assemble your content, using your sitemap as a guide. We take care to make sure it speaks clearly to your audience and that it’s structured so people can actually find it, whether they’re searching Google or asking an AI assistant. Once your content is complete, we move into the Design Phase.
Design
In the Web Design Phase, we design your website’s look and interactive features to create a great user experience for your visitors. As part of the process, we provide layouts for all unique page views, on both desktop and mobile, along with any landing pages or inquiry forms you need. During this phase, we also prepare your hosting environment and begin local SEO work.
Development
In the Development Phase, we turn your design into a working website on a staging site. We add interactive features, your content, and your branding. We use clean, semantic HTML and structured data (schema markup) so search engines and AI tools can understand your content clearly. We take care of technical SEO, make sure images and media load quickly, and set up your XML sitemap. We also create your privacy and cookie policy pages and a custom 404 page.
Testing
During the Testing Phase, we get your staging site ready for launch. We collect feedback from real users to find any errors, bugs, or usability problems. We check your site with a 52-point list to make sure all components, plugins, and integrations work as they should. We also use Google Lighthouse to review your site’s mobile performance, SEO, accessibility, and coding standards.
Launch
During the Launch Phase, we make your staging site live. After a quick celebration, we then notify search engines, configure your security plugin, activate caching, and connect your analytics tools to enable performance monitoring.
Training
In the Training Phase, we offer in-person or virtual sessions to help you and your team learn how to use and update your new website on a development copy of your site. We’ll also show you how to use Google Analytics and Google Search Console, so you can track how people find and use your site. After training, you’ll get an Owner’s Guide with important details about your website and a Training Manual with clear, step-by-step instructions and screenshots.