Design process

From first call to live site, and beyond.

How I design, build and ship your website, and how we keep it working for you afterwards. You stay in control of your content the whole way.

Phase one · Design, build, ship

Five stages, one clear next step each time

You always know what I'm working on and what I need from you. Nothing moves to the next stage until you've signed off on the current one.

  1. Step 1

    Discover

    We talk through your business, your customers and what the site has to do. I look at what you have today and what your competitors are doing.

    I do

    Ask questions, review your current site and brand, and write a short plan of pages and goals.

    You do

    Share your logo, photos and any content you already have. Create a free GitHub account for your site's code, so you own it from day one.

    Who owns your tracking accounts is your choice. Either you create your Google Search Console, Google Analytics and Tag Manager accounts and add me as an editor, or I create them and make you the admin. Either way, you own the data.

    You get: A one-page project plan

  2. Step 2

    Design

    I turn the plan into real page designs in your brand: layout, type, colour and imagery, on desktop and phone.

    I do

    Design the key pages and walk you through them, with reasons for each choice.

    You do

    Give feedback in one consolidated round. Tell me what feels right and what doesn't.

    You get: Approved designs for every page

  3. Step 3

    Build

    The approved designs become a fast, accessible website. I decide with you which text, images and lists you'll be able to change yourself, and set those up as simple forms in the editor.

    I do

    Build the site in your GitHub repository, set up your editor login, and connect your Google Search Console, Google Analytics and Tag Manager accounts so results are tracked from day one.

    You do

    Send final copy and images. Install the editor on your repository (one click, only for that repo). Check the private preview as pages come together.

    You get: A private preview and your editor login

  4. Step 4

    Review

    We test everything together: every page, every form, phones, tablets and the browsers your customers use.

    I do

    Fix issues, then run an SEO check (broken links, titles, descriptions, headings) and a page speed test, and show you how to use the editor.

    You do

    Click through the preview, try changing something in the editor and give final approval.

    You get: A signed-off site and a short editor walkthrough

  5. Step 5

    Launch

    I point your domain at the new site and publish. I record the launch date in Insights, so later results are measured against it, and watch the site closely at first.

    I do

    Set up hosting and your domain in Cloudflare, under your ownership, then confirm everything works on the live address.

    You do

    Hold your domain and Cloudflare account in your own name, with me added to manage them. Then tell your customers. I'll help with wording if you'd like.

    You get: Your live website

Phase two · After launch

A site that keeps getting better

Launch is the start. Two tools I built let you change your own site yourself and let me show you, in plain English, whether it's working.

For you · Edit

Firmin CMS

Log in with your own username and password, change what you need in simple forms, check it in a live preview beside the form, then press Publish.

  • Edit text, photos, lists and blog posts. Drag items to reorder them.
  • The preview updates as you type, before anything goes live.
  • Publish saves your changes to your own GitHub repository and the site rebuilds. The editor shows "building" and then "live".
  • Every publish is a saved version in your repository's history, so a mistake can be undone.
  • You only see your own website. Required fields must be filled before you can publish.
  • For security, a session lasts one hour, then you log in again. If I need to reset your password, I give you a temporary one in person or by phone.

For me · Measure

Firmin Insights

See Firmin Insights in action →

My private reporting tool. I load your Search Console, Google Analytics and Wix reports, compare any two periods and turn the figures into a plain-English report for you. You don't need to log in to anything.

  • Compare this month with last month or last year, with the exact dates shown.
  • See the pages and search terms gaining or losing visitors, and enquiries by source.
  • Monthly reports if you want them: a plain-English summary of the month, as a PDF.
  • Want to know if a change worked? Tell me what you're changing on the site and I'll set up tracking for it. The change is logged and shown beside the figures.
  • Regular SEO and page speed checks, with fixes explained simply.
  • Your data stays on my computer. It's not sent anywhere unless I choose to use the optional AI summary, which only sees calculated totals, never your name or raw files.

Ongoing rhythm

How we manage it long term

You edit day to day

Routine content is yours. It's live as soon as you publish it.

I report on the numbers

If you'd like monthly reports, I send a plain-English one from Insights, and we pick a few changes worth making. Findings are described as patterns, never as proof of cause.

I handle the bigger work

New pages, new features, design refreshes and technical upkeep come to me.

You own your site

Your code and content live in your own GitHub account. You can remove the editor's access at any time and the site carries on.

Questions about any step?

Just ask. I'm happy to talk it through before we start.

Start a project