When you hire a professional to build your website, you might be eagerly imagining the moment you see a beautiful, functional homepage with your logo front and center. You anticipate the fonts, the imagery, and the layout– all of which are important and exciting! But did you know that there’s a lot more work that goes into designing a website than just the visuals?
In fact, in our decades of experience, we’ve found that the most successful projects rely on a massive amount of “invisible” work. We compare the web design process to an iceberg. The polished website you see above the water is only possible because of the complex, strategic foundation we’ve built below the surface. If we skip that foundation, the entire structure might eventually collapse!
Building the Digital Foundation
Before we ever touch a design tool, we must handle the stuff below the surface. It might be helpful to think of this kind of like the “plumbing” of your website. You don’t see it, but it’s very important! The web design process involves a series of technical hurdles that ensure your site will function the way it should on the internet.
Every site requires that we spend some time working with DNS settings, configuring hosting environments, and securing server permissions. We install the WordPress core, implement a preferred, vetted theme, and establish the back-end architecture of the site. We set up user logins, security protocols, and many other tools and touchpoints.
While these actions on their own don’t result in a pretty web page to show the client, they represent the inner workings of the site itself. Without this work, you don’t have a website, you have a broken link or a 404 error. We take these steps early to ensure that when we launch, your site will be stable, fast, and secure.
Excavating Site Content
One of the biggest misconceptions in our industry is that designers simply “make it look good”. In reality, design exists to serve content. If a client arrives with a blank slate, our job shifts (temporarily) from “designer” to “archaeologist”.
When a project lacks a clear roadmap or written copy, it’s time for us to dive into research. We mine your social media accounts for your voice, your values, and your history. In our research, we study your competitors to see where they fail and where you can win. This raw data gets synthesized into a cohesive brand story that your customers can easily understand.
This effort– research, brainstorming, content mining, and writing– is a billable and essential part of the design process. We’re doing the heavy lifting of defining who you are before we decide how it should all look.
The Strategy Framework
Design without strategy falls flat, and a business website is a place that can’t afford to fall flat. Part of the “invisible” work we do involves creating the strategic framework for your success. This includes writing detailed discovery prompts to help you articulate your goals. We write questions that help you think about your customer’s pain points and your unique solutions.
When we send over a list of prompts or a site map, it’s not “homework”. We’re providing a strategic service that defines the entire trajectory of our work together. Setting up pages, creating a hierarchy of information, and planning the user’s journey requires mental labor and professional foresight. Your website is an experience for your customers, and without strategy and planning, they might not make the purchase or schedule the call.
Why the “Invisible” Hours Matter
If we rushed straight into the visual design without this back-end strategic work, we would deliver a shallow product. A site built without technical stability will crash. A site build without content strategy will fail to convert visitors into customers.
We understand that it can be tempting to ask, “Where is the work?” after the first few hours of a contract. However, a professional web design process prioritizes the foundation over the facade, at least at first. We value transparency, but we also value the integrity of our craft. Those early hours in your project are spent doing the work that ensures your investment pays off in the long run. We’re not just logging into your site; we’re working to build your digital presence from the ground up.
Trust the Process
The most successful client-designer relationships thrive on a foundation of mutual trust. You hire us for our expertise, which includes knowing exactly which technical and strategic steps to take and in what order. When you see a “blank” site within the beginning stages of your project, remember the iceberg. Beneath the surface, we are hard at work ensuring that your site is fast, your message is clear, and your brand is ready to command the attention it deserves.
Ready for a Strategic Build?
We don’t believe in shortcuts. If you’re looking for a partner who respects the web design process and builds your site with strategic and technical integrity, we’re ready to start. Reach out today and let’s build something that works, inside and out!
Photography by Stellar Photography