What to Expect When You Hire a Web Designer (From Start to Launch)
You know you need a website. You've decided DIY-ing it isn't the right move. So you start looking for a web designer and immediately hit a wall of uncertainty.
What will they ask for? How long will it take? What do you actually have to do? What if you don't have everything ready?
These are the questions I get from almost every new client before we start working together. This post is what I tell them. It's the full picture of what a professional web design process looks like - from the first email to the day your site goes live - so you can go in knowing what to expect.
The short answer: what does hiring a web designer look like?
A typical website project with a professional designer moves through seven phases: discovery, content, design, build, revisions, and launch. From first contact to a live site, most small business websites take four to eight weeks, depending on how quickly both sides can move and how complex the project is.
Here's what each phase involves and what you'll need to bring to it.
Phase 1: Discovery (Week 1)
Before any design work begins, a good designer needs to understand your business. This phase is about asking questions and listening carefully to the answers.
What happens: You'll have an introductory call (usually 30 - 45 minutes) where the designer asks about your business, your goals, your audience, and what you want visitors to do when they land on your site. You may also be asked to fill out a brief questionnaire or creative brief.
What they're trying to understand:
What does your business do, and who does it serve?
What's the primary goal of the website - bookings, inquiries, sales, credibility?
Are there sites you like the look of, or ones you definitely don't?
What's your timeline, and are there any hard deadlines?
What you need to bring: Honest answers. You don't need to have a clear vision of what you want the site to look like, that's the designer's job. But the more clearly you can describe what your business does and who it's for, the better the result will be.
Common delay: Clients who haven't thought carefully about their audience or primary goal. If you're not sure what your site's main job is, spend some time with that question before your first call.
Phase 2: Proposal and Contract (End of Week 1)
After discovery, the designer puts together a proposal: the scope of work, timeline, deliverables, and price. If you move forward, you'll sign a contract and pay a deposit (typically 50% of the project total).
What to look for in a proposal:
A clear list of what's included (number of pages, rounds of revisions, whether copywriting is included)
A timeline with milestones
What happens if scope changes
Payment terms
A note on contracts: A contract protects both of you. Any professional designer will use one, and you should be comfortable reading it before you sign. If something isn't clear, ask.
Phase 3: Content & SEO (Weeks 2–3)
Content, meaning the actual words on your website, is often the most underestimated part of a web project. It's also one of the most important, both for your visitors and for SEO.
Who writes the copy? That depends on what's included in your project. Some designers offer copywriting as part of their service. Others work with a separate copywriter, or ask clients to supply their own copy. Clarify this before you sign.
If you're writing your own copy, you'll typically need:
A homepage headline and brief introduction
An about section
Descriptions of your services or offerings
A contact page with your preferred contact methods
Any legal pages required (privacy policy, terms of service)
SEO basics your designer should handle:
Page titles and meta descriptions for each page
Proper heading structure (H1, H2, H3)
Image alt text
A sitemap
Connecting your site to Google Search Console
If SEO isn't mentioned in your proposal, ask about it explicitly. A beautiful site that can't be found is a wasted investment.
Phase 4: Design (Weeks 2–4, running in parallel)
This is where the visual work begins. The designer builds out the look and feel of your site: the layout, colors, typography, and overall style - usually starting with a homepage design or a set of mockups before building out additional pages.
What happens: The designer works independently during this phase, then presents a first draft for your review. On most projects, you'll see the homepage design first. Once that's approved, the rest of the pages follow.
What you need to bring:
Your logo files (ideally as an SVG or high-resolution PNG with a transparent background)
Brand colors and typography, if you have them
Any existing photography or images you want to use
A general sense of the style you're going for - "clean and modern," "warm and personal," "bold and editorial" are all useful starting points
Common delay: Missing assets. If you don't have a logo yet, or if your photos are low-resolution, this is the phase that slows down. It's worth sorting those things out before the project starts.
Phase 5: Build (Weeks 4–6)
Once the design direction is approved and your content is in hand, the designer moves into the actual build - taking the mockups and turning them into a real, working website on the platform you've chosen (in my case, Squarespace).
What happens: The designer recreates the approved design inside Squarespace, page by page. This involves setting up the site's structure, building out each section with the right blocks, applying your brand colors and fonts site-wide, adding your real content, configuring forms, setting up the navigation, and writing any custom CSS needed to match the design exactly.
What this phase actually includes:
Setting up the site's pages and navigation structure
Building each page section using Squarespace's editor
Applying your color palette and typography globally
Adding all your real content (text, images, links)
Configuring contact forms and connecting them to your email
Setting up integrations (Google Analytics, Mailchimp, booking tools, etc.)
Mobile optimization - making sure everything looks right on phones and tablets
Writing custom CSS for anything Squarespace's default styling can't handle
What you need to bring: Nothing new at this stage, ideally. This is the phase where the designer puts their head down and works. If you've delivered your content and assets on time, you can mostly step back and let the build happen.
Common delay: Content arriving late or in pieces. Building a site without the real text and images means doing parts of the work twice, once with placeholder content, then again when the real content comes in.
About timeline: A clean, single-page site might take 2–3 days to build. A multi-page site with custom styling, forms, and integrations typically takes 1–2 weeks of focused work.
Phase 6: Revisions (Week 6–7)
Once the initial content and design are in place, you'll review the full site and provide feedback. Most projects include one to two rounds of revisions.
What "revisions" means: Changes to layout, copy, colors, images, or functionality based on your feedback. What it doesn't mean: starting over with a completely different direction. Major direction changes mid-project usually fall outside the original scope and may affect your timeline and cost.
How to give good feedback:
Be specific. "The hero section feels too busy" is more useful than "I'm not sure about the top."
Focus on whether it's achieving the goal, not just whether you like it aesthetically.
Consolidate your feedback into one round rather than sending notes piecemeal.
Common delay: Vague or fragmented feedback, or feedback that comes in very slowly. If you need two weeks to review, the project takes two extra weeks.
Phase 7: Launch (Week 7–8)
Once revisions are approved and final payment is made, it's time to go live.
What launch involves:
Connecting your custom domain (if you have one)
Final checks on mobile and desktop
Testing all links, forms, and buttons
Submitting the sitemap to Google
A walkthrough so you know how to make basic updates yourself
After launch: Most designers offer a short post-launch support window (typically one to two weeks) to catch anything that comes up once the site is live. Check whether this is included in your contract. Beyond that window, some designers (myself included) offer ongoing monthly maintenance for clients who'd rather hand off updates, backups, and small fixes entirely.
How long does the whole process take?
Here's an honest timeline breakdown:
Phase Typical Duration
Discovery + Proposal 3–5 days
Content 1–2 weeks
Design 1–2 weeks (can run parallel to content)
Build 1–2 weeks
Revisions 1–2 weeks
Launch 2–4 days
Total 4–8 weeks
The biggest variable is client responsiveness. Projects move at the speed of the slowest reply. If you want a faster launch, the most effective thing you can do is be available and responsive throughout.
What does a web designer actually cost?
Pricing varies widely depending on experience, location, and scope. As a rough guide:
Freelance designer (mid-level): $2,000–$6,000 for a small business website
Agency: $5,000–$20,000+
DIY platforms (Squarespace, Wix): $200–$500/year, but your time has a cost too
What affects the price most: number of pages, whether copywriting is included, whether custom functionality is needed, and the designer's experience level.
A lower price isn't always better. The question to ask is: what will this website be worth to my business over the next three years?
Questions to ask before you hire
Before you sign anything, these are worth asking every designer you're considering:
Can I see examples of sites you've built for businesses like mine?
What's included in the price - design only, or copywriting and SEO too?
How many rounds of revisions are included?
What do you need from me, and by when?
What happens if the project runs over scope?
Will I be able to update the site myself after launch? Do you offer ongoing maintenance or support after launch?
A good designer will answer these without hesitation. Vague answers to any of them are worth paying attention to.
The bottom line
Hiring a web designer is a significant investment and it pays off when you go in prepared. The clients who get the best results are the ones who are clear about their goals, responsive during the process, and trust their designer to make creative decisions.
If you're thinking about a new site or a redesign and want to talk through what the process would look like for your business, I'm happy to have that conversation.
Sam R. Dexter is a freelance web designer specializing in Squarespace websites for small businesses. She handles design, development, copywriting, and SEO so clients get a complete, launch-ready site — not just a pretty template.
