What to Expect When Working Together
This guide explains how we’ll work together, the steps in the project, and what I’ll need from you along the way. Following this process ensures your site is delivered efficiently.
Step 1: Deposit & Contract
• Before we begin, a signed contract and a 25% deposit are required.
• This secures your spot in my schedule and protects both parties.
• Payment can be made via check, cash, PayPal, or Venmo.
• I cannot start any work until both the signed contract and the deposit are received.
Step 2: General Style
• You’ll receive a PDF with example website styles to review.
• This is to decide the overall look and feel of your site (colors, typography, layout style).
• At this stage, it’s high-level; we’ll refine exact styles later.
Step 3: Copy & Content
• You’ll fill out a Copy Guide for each page, which prompts you for the text needed.
• If you have photos, send them over; otherwise, we can select stock photos that fit the style.
• If professional photography is desired, it’s your responsibility to hire a photographer or supply the images.
Step 4: Detailed Style Decisions
• Together, we’ll finalize the look and feel of the site: colors, fonts, button styles, and imagery.
• This ensures the design reflects your brand before development begins.
Step 5: Wireframing
Wireframing is a process in which we lay out the general layout for each page of the website. This is done to determine the flow of the site and which sections you want to be on the page. It’s a great way to get a general idea of what the site will look like without designing or building the entire site only to change it later on.
• If you’d like, we’ll wireframe each page to plan layout and content placement.
• For clients preferring a hands-off approach, I’ll create a rough wireframe for myself and schedule a quick call to walk you through my vision.
• This step prevents unnecessary revisions later.
Step 6: Account Setup
• I’ll guide you in creating or accessing all required accounts: hosting, domains, emails, and plugins.
• To make this step easier, I will create a free Gmail account and set up my email and your email as the recovery email. I’ll provide you with the details to use this email on all accounts you set up. Once the project is complete, you are free to change the account email to your email.
Note: I do this to avoid you having to provide me with your card details to set up the accounts. If you prefer, and don’t mind sharing your card details, I am happy to do all account setup work. It all depends on what you’re comfortable with.
Step 7: Site Build
• I’ll build your website based on the approved wireframes, copy, and style guidelines.
• You will not review the site during the build to avoid mid-process changes.
Step 8: First Demo
• I’ll present a demo showing the general direction of the site.
• Feedback at this stage does not count as a revision; it’s for alignment and adjustments only.
Step 9: Second Demo
• A more polished version will be shared for review.
• Still not counted as a revision; this is for your final alignment before formal revisions begin.
Step 10: Final Site & Revisions
• The final version of the site is delivered for major revisions.
• Any requested changes at this point count as one of your three allotted revisions.
• Please group all change requests together to make the process efficient.
Step 11: Final Invoice & Handoff
• Once you are satisfied (or your revisions are used up and no additional paid revisions are requested), the final invoice is sent.
• Upon payment, I’ll provide all logins, credentials, and instructions so you fully own your website.
• If you’ve opted for ongoing support or maintenance, we can start that relationship at this stage