What to Expect When Building a Website: A Step-by-Step Guide for Small Business Owners

Jordan Blake
Jan 23, 2024
3 min read

Updated: Apr 30

Whether you’re launching a new business or refreshing your current brand, your website is often the first impression potential customers will have. A professionally built website doesn’t just look great — it builds trust, drives traffic, and helps convert visitors into paying customers.

At Official Website Designers, we simplify the website-building process so you can focus on what you do best: running your business. Here’s what you can expect, step by step.

Step 1: Discovery & Planning

Before a single line of code is written, we start by understanding your business goals. What do you want your website to achieve? Are you selling products, generating leads, or showcasing a portfolio?

This phase includes:

A strategy session or questionnaire
Defining your audience
Reviewing competitors
Creating a content plan

During this stage, it’s also important to decide what kind of content your website will feature. Will you need blog posts, product descriptions, or customer testimonials? Knowing what content you’ll need early helps streamline the design process and avoids delays later. We also begin organizing your site’s structure — deciding what pages you need (like Home, About, Services, Contact) and how they should flow for the best user experience.

Step 2: Design & Branding

Once we understand your goals, we move into design. Your website’s look and feel must reflect your brand’s identity. Colors, fonts, spacing, and layout all contribute to user experience.

We’ll share mockups or design previews for your feedback before moving forward.

Strong branding makes your site memorable. That’s why we often review your logo, taglines, and imagery to ensure they align visually. We also make strategic design choices like call-to-action buttons (“Book Now,” “Get a Quote”) and consistent visual cues to guide visitors toward conversion. Design is more than just looks — it’s about making sure visitors trust you at first glance.

Step 3: Development & Features

Now it gets real. Our developers bring your site to life by coding and assembling your site on a fast, mobile-responsive platform. We ensure the site looks great on all devices and loads quickly.

This stage may include:

Contact forms
Blog integration
E-commerce setup
Live chat or booking features

We also test for accessibility — making sure your site works well for users with disabilities, like screen reader support or color contrast for readability. In addition, we ensure your backend (admin area) is easy to use so you can update your content without needing to touch code. This makes future updates fast and stress-free.

Step 4: SEO & Launch

Before going live, we run SEO checks to help your site show up on Google and Bing. This includes setting up title tags, meta descriptions, image alt text, and submitting your sitemap.

We’ll also:

Test for mobile-friendliness
Install analytics
Connect your site to Google Search Console (if possible)

Then… it’s launch time!

SEO doesn’t stop at launch — it begins there. After going live, we monitor performance and make adjustments to improve your visibility. A well-optimized site will attract more organic traffic over time, especially if paired with a blog or content strategy. We can also provide guidance on writing content that ranks well or manage your SEO directly if you prefer a hands-off experience.

Step 5: Ongoing Support & Growth

A great website isn’t a one-time job. We offer maintenance, SEO services, and future updates to keep your site secure and growing with your business.

Need to add a new service, photo gallery, or blog section later? We’ve got you covered.

Our clients often return to add features like email marketing integration, advanced booking systems, or online stores. As your business grows, your site can grow with it. We offer flexible support packages to handle updates, backups, and even content publishing — freeing up your time to focus on your business. And since your goals may evolve, we’re always ready to help refine the site’s messaging or functionality when the time is right.