The very first step is to spend some time talking about your business and discussing your website needs. You don’t need to have everything finalized. This time is used for reviewing the basics, making notes about requirements, and exploring any thoughts you might already have.

From here, I can begin sketching and organizing a basic website structure to build upon later. Throughout the consultation there a few basic questions we will be considering: what is your business and what will a website do for your success? Do you need an informational or an e-commerce website? Who are your customers? What will give your customers the best online experience? What ideas do you have about how your website should look?

During this process, many people tend to be shy about their business; they begin considering that either I know best or that they don’t know much at all. But I can’t know anything unless you tell me! This is your business, and, if I know your passions and dreams, I can work that into the designs.

Next, you will need provide website content. A Dropbox folder will be made available for you to share documents with written content for website pages (“About Us” page write up; company tagline; product names, descriptions, and prices; etc.) as well as images that you wish to display on your website. When you have provided all the content that you would like, we will review it together—to avoid potential confusion later—and move forward with the next steps.

If you are having your website rebuilt, you may have most of your content already prepared (and, if this is the case, I’ll stow away screen shots of your old website for future reference), but please consider any modifications you’d like to make. Now is the time to consider rephrasing, adding, etc. If you are building a brand new website, this step (content creation) can feel overwhelming. Take a deep breath. I would be happy to talk you through it and consult however I can. But remember, you are the expert, this is your business, and no one knows it like you do—don’t stress it, just write what you know.

Note: For eCommerce websites, it is important to create separate folders for products to ensure that images are properly matched to the product. The more organization (separate folders) the better!

Based on the information gathered during our consultation, I will then direct you to buy the appropriate hosting service—if you don’t already have a domain name (website address) this will be a good time to purchase that too. I prefer using GoDaddy.com for domains and hosting.

This is also a good time to review basic templates that can serve as the skeletal foundation for your website.

Because I use WordPress and Woocommerce (a WordPress e-commerce app), there are many templates available. Some are free and others are not. Whichever you choose is fine by me (if needed, I am happy to provide recommendations based on our consultation), but I will need to be provided with the .zip file that contains the template. Do not unzip the file; simply add the .zip file to the Dropbox folder, and I will unpack it.

My intention is to recommend the hosting that you need, that meets your needs, while also trying to provide you with the lowest yearly business costs. Many services up-charge for either unnecessary items or for items that I can manually install myself. I don’t want you to fall for the gimmicks and spend too much money year after year!

A nice perk about using GoDaddy is the “Delegate Access” feature that allows me to easily manage your hosting products (and work efficiently) without gaining access to your private information. This allows me to assist you in many ways without compromising your basic security. It also keeps you in charge of your website. If we part ways in the future, your online presence is not dependent on anyone else; far too often I have come across business owners locked out of their accounts either because of disputes or a simple inability to get in contact with the web designer. It’s your business, and I want to make sure you remain empowered.

Now that everything is prepared for me, I will direct you to a secure payment platform. During the consultation, we will establish a price for your build based on your needs and requirements (how many pages, how many products you need listed, etc.), and there should not be any surprises.

If, during your consultation, you informed me that you are wanting to create an eCommerce website with 100+ products (as opposed to a more standard 15-25), I will provide you with a quote accordingly. Once payment is processed, I will begin working.

Something to consider is that I do not charge by the hour; while there are many who do, this is not my business model—and I don’t think it should be yours either. Let me explain. Those who charge by the hour are incentivized to spend longer on your build in order to meet their financial bottom line. My intention is to provide efficiency! The longer you have to wait for your website, the longer your business is delayed; and, I imagine, delays do not benefit you.

Please note that payment is nonrefundable; you are paying for my time and service—neither of which can be returned to me recycled. My hope is that, before any money has been spent (web design payment or purchasing hosting), we have spent ample time during consultation reviewing expectations and establishing understanding to the point of eliminating doubt.

My goal, at this point, is to provide you with an incredible website as quickly as possible. I believe strongly in two things: quality and efficiency. The artist in me wants to create something beautiful; the business owner in me wants to get things going!

From my point of view, quality is demanded AND there is no benefit to you in unnecessarily delaying your business plans and hindering an important source of your income. While building, I will contact you if I have any further clarifying questions or content recommendations. But, I hope, for both our sakes, to have a quick turnaround.

There are many different approaches one can take when building a website. Custom coded websites are immense undertakings that are extremely expensive and typically take many updates (and years) to work out bugs and glitches. Some website builder platforms are overly simple and restrict customization and usability; these websites are most commonly the first to look outdated, and they rarely meet the needs of a business.

The majority of the internet is built on a well known platform called WordPress. WordPress is a powerful tool with many plugins available making it a platform that can grow with your business; it also gives experienced web designers server access for advanced modifications. Basic functions of the platform are also relatively easy to use; this means that, while you may not be comfortable building your own website ( or don’t want to spend the time learning the in depth specifics of the platform) you can, with relative ease, make minor updates yourself. This, of course, is in addition to your ability to view a dashboard of useful data analytics. The other major benefit to using WordPress, is that your customers and viewers are already familiar with the structure of the platform—the easier they navigate your website the better!

During the design process, I am also building with a user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) perspective. This means that the mindset of the customer/view is prioritized to create a positive online experience and help to instill trust in your business.

Once the build is complete (or at least mostly completed) I will walk you through logging into the platform and provide a brief tour. This empowers you to make quick updates in the future and have full access to your business tools. In the future, I am happy to help you with website maintenance (not included in website building pricing) including server updates and content modification, but I also want to empower you to explore your business solutions with confidence.


During this step, I will also guide you through setup completion. At no time will I ever ask you for security information such as PayPal logins; instead, I will walk you through completing those security cautious steps and maintain necessary privacy.

Finally, we will review your website together and make minor adjustments based on your feedback. Once reviewed, the website is complete!