A web design process for clients runs in six stages: enquiry and fit call, proposal and contract, onboarding (content, assets, logins), structure and design, build and review, then launch and handover. On a five-to-ten page site that is four to eight weeks, and the client is actively involved in three of the six: onboarding, design review and launch checks. Most of what goes wrong in a project goes wrong because the client did not know which stage needed them, or how long their part would take. This post lays the process out from the client’s chair: what happens at each stage, what you are asked to do, how long it takes, and how to tell whether a designer’s process is real or improvised.
The web design process for clients, stage by stage
| Stage | What the designer does | What you do | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Enquiry and fit call | Reads your enquiry, checks scope and budget fit, books a call, asks about goals, pages and timing | Fill in the enquiry form honestly (budget included); bring examples | A few days |
| 2. Proposal and contract | Writes scope, pages, timeline, price, revision rounds, what is excluded; sends contract and deposit invoice | Read the scope line by line; sign; pay the deposit | Two to five days |
| 3. Onboarding | Sends welcome pack, questionnaire, content template and asset upload link | Answer the questionnaire; gather logo, photos, copy, logins; book a photographer if needed | One to two weeks, mostly your time |
| 4. Structure and design | Agrees the page list and structure; designs the home page and one inner page in the platform or as mockups | Review within the agreed window; give consolidated feedback once | One to two weeks |
| 5. Build and review | Builds remaining pages, forms, mobile layout, SEO fields, integrations; full-site review | Test everything on your own phone; one round of consolidated changes | One to two weeks |
| 6. Launch and handover | Domain, redirects, Search Console, analytics; handover video and documentation; support period | Confirm the live site; keep the logins; learn the two or three edits you will make | Two to five days |
Paige Brunton’s process is a well-known version of the same sequence from the designer’s side, and its lesson is the one every designer eventually learns: the designer has to run the process, because when the client runs it the project drifts. Content Snare’s ten-step version adds the agency view of the same stages, with content collection as the bottleneck in both. From the client’s side the same lesson reads: a designer with no process is a risk, not a bargain.
Which stage of the web design process for clients decides the timeline?
Onboarding is where projects stall. The designer cannot design a services page without knowing the services, cannot place photos that do not exist, and cannot write copy from nothing. The client onboarding process lists everything you will be asked for; the short version is logo files, real photos, page copy or the raw material for it, the page list, logins for domain and hosting, and one person who can say yes. Do those before the contract is signed and a six-week project becomes four; leave them until week three and it becomes ten.
What does a design review actually involve?
- You get a link to a mockup or, increasingly, to the real site on a preview address. Live builds skip a whole translation step and let you click around.
- You look at it on a phone as well as a laptop, because that is how most of your visitors will see it.
- You reply inside the agreed window, usually two to three working days. Feedback trickling in over a week costs a revision round and moves the launch date.
- You judge it against the goal, not your taste: does it say what the business does, is the button obvious, does it read on a phone. Why design matters is the checklist for that judgement.
- You expect two rounds. A first round of structural and visual changes and a second of polish. Unlimited revisions in a proposal means the designer has priced the project to end when you get tired.
What should you receive at handover?
| Item | Why |
|---|---|
| The site in your own account, with you as owner | Ownership; see the questions to ask a designer before hiring |
| Domain and hosting logins in your name | Portability |
| A recorded walkthrough of the edits you will make | Ends the emails about how to change a photo |
| A list of what was set up: SEO titles, redirects, analytics, Search Console | Proof and a reference for the next person |
| The source files: logo variants, design files if any, images at full size | Future work |
| A support window (two to four weeks) and what it covers | Bugs and questions after launch |
How long does the web design process take?
| Site | Typical timeline | What stretches it |
|---|---|---|
| Five-page brochure site, content ready | Two to four weeks | Late photos, slow approvals |
| Five-to-ten page site with copywriting | Six to eight weeks | Copy rounds, a decision-maker who is away |
| Portfolio site with a blog migration | Six to ten weeks | Post formatting, redirects |
| Small shop | Eight to twelve weeks | Product data, payment setup, shipping rules |
| Two-week fast track | Two weeks | Only with everything ready and daily replies; see the fast turnaround post |
The fast turnaround post explains what a two-week build demands, and how long a Squarespace site takes gives the platform-specific version. In every case the calendar is driven by stage 3 and by response times, not by the designer’s hours in the editor.
How do you tell a real process from an improvised one?
- Ask for the stages and dates before signing. A real process produces a timeline with your deadlines on it in minutes.
- Ask what they need from you and by when. The answer should be a list, not “just send whatever you have”.
- Ask how feedback works: rounds, windows, format.
- Ask what happens if content is late. The honest answer is that the project pauses and the launch date moves.
- Ask what you own at the end. Everything, in your name, or walk away.
Those are five of the questions to ask a website designer, and the Showit design process post shows the six stages applied to one platform in detail. The process on my own own client projects follows the table above with the design done in the platform rather than as mockups, which removes a review cycle and lets clients test on their phone from the first week.
Frequently asked questions
It runs from first enquiry to handover in six stages, with the client doing real work in three of them: supplying content and access during onboarding, reviewing the design inside an agreed window, and checking the live site at launch. The rest is the designer’s to run.
Two to four weeks for a small site with content ready, six to eight weeks for a typical business site including copywriting, eight to twelve for a small shop. Onboarding speed and client response times drive the calendar.
Logo and brand files, real photos, page copy or the raw material, a page list, logins for the domain, hosting and existing accounts, and one decision-maker who can approve within a day or two.
Two rounds is standard: one for structural and visual changes, one for polish. Consolidated feedback in one list per round keeps the project on time.
The site in your own account as owner, domain and hosting logins in your name, a recorded walkthrough, a list of what was set up (SEO, redirects, analytics), source files, and a defined support window.
Almost always because content, photos or approvals arrive late, or because there was no agreed process for feedback. Preparing content before the contract and answering within the review window are the two fixes.
