The internet is full of promises to build a website in a day. Partly that’s true: a simple screen from a template really can be put together quickly. But a website has an invisible part. These are decisions visitors don’t notice directly but feel immediately when everything works as it should.

Why is the button here? How will a person understand how one service differs from another? What will they see on a phone? Where will the request from the form go? Is the homepage competing with the service page? A single beautiful picture can’t answer these questions, and we answer them as the work goes on.

First we get to grips with the task

Before working on the look, we find out why the website is needed. It may bring in enquiries, explain a complex service, show a portfolio, help choose a product or unite several areas of a business. The structure, content and the way visitors interact with the website depend on this.

If you skip this step, the design is built on guesswork. Later it turns out that an important service doesn’t fit the structure, there’s no information for a section, and the presentation doesn’t suit the audience. Redoing everything after the design stage is usually harder than agreeing in advance.

Then the structure

Structure is more than a list of sections. We decide what questions visitors need answered, what information they need, in what order to present it and how they’ll move to the next step. For a multi-page website, this also includes navigation and the logic connecting sections.

Placeholders will have to be replaced sooner or later

The length of blocks, the composition, the accents and the choice of images all depend on the text. If you build a layout around random phrases and then insert the real text, the layout often has to be reworked. The same goes for photos, the logo, service descriptions and other materials.

It isn’t necessary to prepare absolutely everything before work starts. But we note in advance which materials are already available, what needs to be gathered, and what still has to be written or decided. The clearer this list, the fewer surprises. The article “Who should prepare the texts and photos for a website?” explains who prepares which materials.

How to prepare source materials without a ready brief

Design is more than choosing something pretty

Once the task and structure are clear, we move on to the visual work: typography, colour, images, composition, button states, accents and the overall mood. Making it striking isn’t enough; it also has to stay readable, consistent and connected to the brand’s image.

An unusual visual idea takes a long time to fine-tune. If there are too many details, they start competing with each other. If you strip everything away for the sake of minimalism, the website loses its individuality. We look for the balance between these extremes in the work; it doesn’t appear by itself.

Testing is part of the work too

We check the website on different screen sizes: links, buttons, forms, line breaks, navigation. Something that looks convincing on a large monitor may turn out to be awkward on a phone. In a multi-page project we also make sure the sections are consistent with each other and visitors don’t get lost moving between them.

What helps keep the timeline on track

The timeline depends on scope, complexity, how ready the materials are and how quickly feedback and approvals come through. Our usual timelines are up to 5 working days for a landing page and up to 10 working days for a multi-page website; custom projects are estimated individually. We confirm the timeline, scope and price before work begins.

Fast doesn’t have to mean superficial. It’s just that things go fastest where you don’t have to redo decisions made at random.

What matters in the end

A website’s value isn’t measured by the days spent building it. What matters is that it serves its purpose, is clear to visitors and feels cohesive from the hero section to the final link. A well-organised process avoids unnecessary rework and helps maintain quality. The stages of our work are listed on the “Pricing & process” page.

If you want to understand how much work your project needs, write to us about the task. After the conversation we’ll discuss the format, stages and timeline in concrete terms, and you can read how the scope affects the price in the article “How much does a website cost, and what does the price depend on?”.

— SOMO STUDIO