People ask how a website can take five weeks, or why it is not one. Here is the honest calendar, week by week, including the parts that depend on you.

Week one: the brief and the words

We meet for an hour, then write down what the site must do, who it is for and what visitors should do next. We draft the words for the main pages. This is the week that decides the rest, so we protect it.

Weeks two and three: design

We design the home page first, then the rest in the same system. You see designs on Wednesday and Friday. Give us feedback in one list, not six emails, and week three goes twice as fast.

Week four: build

We build the pages in a tool you can edit yourself. Forms, maps and buttons are wired to real places. We test on a phone first.

Week five: test and launch

We check every link, every form and every page on four phones. Then we launch on a weekday morning so we are around to fix anything. You get a short video showing how to change your own text.

Where delays hide

Photos arrive late. Words are still being argued about. Someone needs sign-off from a person on holiday. Tell us early and we plan around it.