Our Process in Six Stages, From First Email to Launch

The stages at a glance

Adding up the planning figures gives seven to eleven weeks from first email to launch, of which five to nine weeks come after the scope is signed. In practice the stages overlap a little, because content writing can start during the build.

1. Discovery

Discovery is about understanding how your agency works before thinking about how the website looks. We ask about your branches, your services, your CRM, how valuation requests and viewings are handled today, and what frustrates your team or your clients about the current site. If you have used the project planner, its brief answers most of these questions.

We also look at your current website, your listings on the portals and, for a redesign, your search console and analytics data if you are happy to share access.

From you: answers to our questions, access to analytics if relevant, and the name of your CRM provider so we can check what its feed offers.

2. Scope and quote

We write a scope document: the page map, the templates, the integrations, who writes what content, and the assumptions behind it. The proposal prices each part and lists running costs separately. The pricing page explains how.

From you: a careful read and any questions. Nothing goes ahead until you accept.

3. Design

We design the listing template first, using real examples from your current stock, because it is the most important page on the site and its fields affect everything else. Then come the home page, search results, branch pages, lettings pages, guides and forms. Designs are presented as working pages you can open on your phone, not static pictures.

From you: feedback on each round, gathered from the people who matter in your agency. Consolidated feedback in one message keeps things moving.

4. Build

Approved templates are built in clean, documented code. The listings feed is connected and tested with your live data, forms are set up to route to the right branches, and the lettings fee page is built from your actual figures. You get access to a private preview site throughout.

From you: fee figures, scheme details, branch information and team details, plus a contact at your CRM provider if the feed needs their help.

5. Content and testing

Content goes in, whether you supplied it or we wrote it with you. Then we test: every template on real phones and desktops, keyboard-only use, a screen reader, form delivery to every inbox, the feed's handling of new listings, changes and removals, and page speed against Google's Core Web Vitals thresholds.^[1] Accessibility is checked against WCAG 2.2 level AA as the target.^[2]

From you: a final review of the content and a sign-off for launch.

6. Launch and aftercare

We agree a launch time that suits your office, usually outside your busiest hours. At launch we switch the domain, put redirects live for a redesign, submit the sitemap, and test sample pages and forms by hand. Over the following weeks we monitor for errors, broken addresses and form problems, and send a written review at two weeks and at six weeks.

After that, the care and hosting service can take over, or we hand everything to you or your chosen host.

How we communicate

We work by email, with calls when they genuinely help, such as for discovery or design reviews. You always know which stage the project is in, what is next and what we are waiting for. If something is going to take longer than planned, you hear about it early, with the reason.

What can slow a project down

• Feedback in pieces. Several people sending separate comments on the same design leads to rework. One consolidated set per round is faster.
• Content arriving late. Branch details, fee figures and team photos are needed before the build can finish.
• Feed problems. If a CRM provider is slow to supply feed access or documentation, the listings work waits. We raise this early.
• Scope changes mid-build. These are fine, but they are priced and scheduled separately so the original work is not delayed.