Displaying items by tag: website process

Building yourself a nice table for your garden is one thing... wood, screws, and a bit of sweat. Most people could do a pretty good job. How about building yourself a website - you might think that’s a lot easier? Take a look below to find out some of the biggest mistakes of DIY websites that we’ve come across.

Everyone at work has their own way of getting stuff done. Often, we might use the same tools to achieve the results we want, but we don’t always have the same processes. As designers, we often get asked what’s involved in developing a website, some graphics or a logo - and why it costs what it does. Over time and using good practice, the process has evolved and been streamlined so all the necessary information is gathered efficiently.

There is a four-stage process that applies to website, graphic and logo design:

Variations of the process apply depending on the design project, but in this post we are going to concentrate on the website design process. Each stage comprises a number of tasks. There’s more work here than most people might expect, but doing the groundwork will ensure the end result is the best it can be!

The four stages

The design brief helps us to scope the project with our client and assess whether it’s something we can work on together. The project proposal includes a breakdown of what’s included in the design and development, along with the quotation. 

You may or may not know your market well, and this information will be in the design brief, but we’ll perform our own design research and planning into your sector and competitors. We’ll look at their content to ensure it’s right for your SEO and visitors. 

This is where all the interesting and innovative new ideas for the design happen, before the actual work of creating and shaping the design and build of the website. This takes time to get right as many factors influence the look, feel, functionality and development of a website. 

Only after the draft stages, testing, final checking and when the client is happy, we launch the new website! 

Going through the project process stage by stage will help us launch the best website possible for our clients. 

Check out our process overviews for website, graphic and logo design.

All the detailed stuff that needs to be done

Many tasks need to be completed throughout each of the four stages, which take time to finish. All of which contributes to the quotation cost. 

To give you a more detailed breakdown of the tasks that need to be completed, we allocate a number of hours to each stage of the process. These tasks include: 

• Client meetings/discussion, design brief, proposal, quotation
• Set up of server space ready for build 
• Set up of a holding page if required
• Administration of the domain and pointing/mapping to our server
• Email set up if required 
• Content review before implementation
• Research and analysis of similar and competitor websites
• Installation of Content Management System and plugins
• 1st design draft stage, including amendments
• 2nd design draft stage, including amendments
• 3rd design draft stage, including amendments
• Final design draft stage
• Launching of the website, including complete transfer of all site files and database from development server to live server
• Website checklist, including meta description and keywords, SEO URLs, speed optimisation, Cookie policy, favicon/Apple icons, set up of Google Analytics and submission of website to Google Webmaster tools for indexing
• CMS training which is bespoke to each website built

An efficient process means we’re able to collect and research our client’s relevant knowledge and information, before planning and completing work in the most effective way. Going from the Design Brief to Launch requires time and energy, but the process also allows us to provide an accurate and fairly costed quote.

If you’d like to discuss a website design project with us, drop us a line on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call us on 01353 882111. You can also find out more information on our website design service here.