A web project doesn't start with code. It starts with a question you've been carrying around for a while: why does my site bring in so little, or how do I finally get my offer online properly? Between that question and a site that is live, there are a few clear steps. If you know them upfront, you know what is expected of you and when. That alone often saves weeks.
In this article I walk through the five steps every project goes through with me: Explain, Outline, Build, Fine-tune and Grow. For each step you'll read how long it takes, what I do and what you as a client provide. After that I look at where projects tend to slow down in practice, and what you can do to avoid it.
The short answer to "how long does it take?" is: roughly two to ten weeks from first conversation to launch, depending on the scope. A landing page sits at the short end, a platform with accounts and integrations at the long end. The long answer is below.
The process at a glance
If you like it compact, here's the overview first. The lead times are guidelines. You get the exact planning after the first conversation, together with a fixed price.
| Step | What happens | Lead time | What you provide |
|---|---|---|---|
| Explain | Free conversation about your goal and situation | 30 minutes | Your question, your audience, your budget |
| Outline | Structure, phases, budget and planning | 2 to 5 days | Response to the proposal, approval |
| Build | Short rounds, every round is online | 1 to 8 weeks | Copy, images, feedback per round |
| Fine-tune | Feedback, copy, speed, SEO | 1 week | Final remarks, sign-off |
| Grow | Measure, adjust, maintain | Ongoing | What changes in your business |
The table shows something that is often overlooked: in almost every step there is something in your column too. A web project is a collaboration. I can plan my part, your part helps decide how fast it goes.
Explain: the first conversation
Everything starts with a free thirty-minute conversation. No sales pitch, plenty of questions. What do you sell, to whom, and what does the site concretely need to do? Should it bring in leads, process orders, schedule appointments, or mainly build trust with people who heard your name somewhere?
What you provide is simple: your story. If you have an existing site, send the link in advance. If you have examples of sites you like, or don't, bring them along. And be honest about your budget. It isn't a trap, it helps to see right away what is feasible and what is better left for later.
If you want a feel for the costs beforehand, you can put together a package and extras yourself in the quote tool. You immediately get an indicative quote as a PDF, which is a good starting point for the conversation.
Outline: from idea to plan
After the conversation I work out the project. Which pages are there, which features, in what order? What absolutely needs to be in the first version, and what can wait for a second phase? A budget and a lead time are attached to that. This step takes two to five days, and it gives you a fixed price with a planning. No hourly invoice that keeps climbing afterwards.
Your role here is to read and respond. Does the structure match how your customers think? Is something missing? Is there something in it you don't need? The sharper your response, the fewer surprises later. If you're still unsure what you actually need, or which direction your business should take online, that is exactly what strategy and advice is for: make the right choices first, build after.
With your approval of the plan, the project officially starts. More on that below, under payment.
Build: in short rounds, always visible
Building doesn't happen behind a closed door. I work in short rounds, and after each round the result is online at a test address. So you're not looking at a static design you have to imagine, but at a working site that grows. Depending on the scope, this step takes one to eight weeks.
Technically I build with lightweight custom code: PHP, MySQL, my own CSS and JavaScript. No heavy off-the-shelf theme where you never use half of what it ships with. That keeps the site fast and makes later changes easier. If you need multiple languages, that is part of the structure from the start, not a layer added on top afterwards.
What you provide in this phase is the most important part of your contribution:
- Copy for your pages, or the input I write it from if copywriting is part of the project.
- Images: photos of your work, your team or your products, and your logo in a usable format.
- Feedback after every round, ideally bundled and within a few days.
- Access where needed, such as your domain name or a payment provider for a webshop.
Fine-tune: the final week
Once everything is built, there's a week of polishing. Processing final feedback, proofreading copy, measuring and improving speed, and getting the SEO basics right: titles, descriptions, structure. This is also the moment to check everything on different devices, from your phone to a large screen.
You mainly do one thing here: look thoroughly and sign off. Click through every page, fill in every form once, place a test order if you have a webshop. What you find now is quickly fixed. What you only find after launch is too, but then your customer sees it first.
After your sign-off, the site goes live.
Grow: after launch
A site is never really finished. After launch we look at what works: which pages get visited, where people drop off, which requests come in. Based on that, we adjust. On top of that there's regular maintenance: updates, backups, security. Hosting is free for the first year with every package.
Your contribution here is passing on signals. Does your offer change, are you opening a new location, do you keep getting the same question from customers? Those are exactly the things that belong on your site. If you keep that rhythm, you get more out of your site than someone who has everything rebuilt every few years.
Where projects slow down, and how to prevent it
My side of the planning is fixed. The delay is almost always in what needs to come from the client. Not out of unwillingness, but because you're also simply running a business. Three things keep coming back.
Copy
Copy is the biggest source of delay. You know perfectly well what you do, but putting it on paper for a stranger is something else. The fix: start on it during the Outline step, not during Build. As soon as the structure is set, you know which pages are coming and what needs to go on them. Write rough, perfection comes later. If it doesn't work out, deliberately choose copywriting as part of the project. That is often faster and cheaper than waiting for weeks.
Images
A site full of stock photos feels like everyone else's. Real images of your work make the difference, but they do need to exist. Collect what you have in one folder, even if it isn't perfect. If you have nothing usable, schedule a photo shoot in time. Photography is available through a partner, but that requires an appointment, and it has to fit the planning.
Feedback
Feedback that comes in scattered, via email, messages and a phone call in between, slows down every round. Bundle your remarks per round in a single message. Appoint one person who decides, especially if several people are looking along. And respond within a few days: a round that sits still for a week pushes the whole planning back.
Payment: 40 percent on approval, 60 on delivery
Payment follows the same logic as the process. You pay 40 percent when you approve the plan, and the remaining 60 percent on delivery. That way you don't carry the full risk upfront, and we both know we're in it.
Because you get a fixed price after the intake, you know where you stand from the start. If something comes up along the way that wasn't in the plan, we discuss it first. Only after your approval does it get built and invoiced.
Ready to start?
The first conversation is free and takes thirty minutes. You tell me where your business stands and where you want to go, I tell you honestly what the process would look like for you. Book it via the contact page, and we'll turn it into a concrete plan together.
