How we roll

The Sandlebridge Web Design Process: From First Hello to Finished Masterpiece

If you’ve ever commissioned a website, you’ll know it’s not just about pretty pictures and catchy words. A good website needs to work - for your business, for your customers, and for the technology running it. At Sandlebridge, we’ve spent years perfecting a process that takes your ideas from a rough sketch in your head to a polished, secure, and high-performing site you can be proud of. Here’s how we do it.

1. Discovery & Strategy – The First Coffee (or Google Meet)

We always start with a conversation. We want to know what you do, who you help, and why your website matters to you. This is the point where we’ll dig into:

• Your goals (more sales, better engagement, brand awareness)
• Your audience (who they are, how they think, what makes them click)
• Your competitors (what they’re doing well, and where you can outshine them)

By the end of this stage, we’ll have a project brief that captures your vision and translates it into clear objectives. It’s like drawing the map before we start the journey.

2. Planning & Architecture – Building the Blueprint

Once we know where we’re heading, we start designing the site structure - the “bones” that everything else will hang on. We’ll:

• Map out your site’s navigation so visitors can find things quickly
• Decide on page templates and core functionality
• Plan integrations (like booking systems, CRMs, or e-commerce)

This step prevents the dreaded “oh, we forgot about that” moment halfway through the build.

3. Design – Bringing It to Life

This is where the magic starts to happen. Our design team turns wireframes into fully-fledged page designs that are:

• On-brand – colours, fonts, and styles that reflect your business personality
• User-friendly – layouts that make information easy to digest
• Conversion-focused – calls-to-action that guide people towards taking the next step

We’ll share design drafts for your feedback, so you can fine-tune before we start the build.

4. Development – Making It Work

Once you’ve signed off the visuals, our team gets to work turning designs into a live, working website. That includes:

• Responsive layouts that work perfectly on desktop, tablet, and mobile
• Building in any custom features you need
• Optimising site speed so pages load in a flash
• Making sure everything is secure and GDPR-compliant

We keep you updated through our client portal, so you can see progress without endless email chains.

5. Testing – No Bugs Allowed

We’re picky about quality. Every website goes through thorough testing to check:

• Functionality – do all buttons, forms, and features work?
• Cross-browser performance – does it look right in Chrome, Safari, Edge, and Firefox?
• Mobile optimisation – is it just as smooth on your phone as on your laptop?

We also run a round of user testing, putting ourselves in your customer’s shoes to make sure everything flows naturally.

6. Launch – The Big Reveal

When you give the green light, we handle the go-live process. That means:

• Managing DNS changes or liaising with your hosting company
• Setting up analytics so you can track traffic from day one
• Running a final check to make sure nothing’s slipped through the cracks

Your site is live, the confetti’s metaphorically thrown, and you can start showing it off to the world.

7. Ongoing Support – Keeping Things Fresh & Secure

A website is never really “finished”. Technology moves on, design trends evolve, and your business will grow and change. That’s where our Pre-Paid Support Blocks come in handy.

With support blocks, you get a bank of hours you can use for:

• Design tweaks – updating page layouts, adding new sections or styles
• Technical fixes – sorting bugs or adding new features
• Server management – backups, domain management, liaising with hosting providers
• SEO consultancy – analytic reports and on-site optimisation

The beauty? You only use hours as you need them, and they never expire while we’re managing your site.

Why Our Process Works

We’ve refined this process over 25+ years and hundreds of projects. The secret is balance — we’re structured enough to keep things on track, but flexible enough to adapt when your needs change.

• You’re involved at every stage – no disappearing designers or mystery developers.
• We think long-term – building sites that can evolve with your business.
• We’ve got the whole package – from design and development to hosting, SEO, and ongoing support.

Ready to Start?

If you’ve been putting off your website project because you’re worried it will drag on or spiral out of control, let’s chat. The Sandlebridge process is designed to be smooth, collaborative, and focused on results so you end up with a site you love, that your customers love, and that delivers for your business.

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