North Anchor Media
North Anchor Media
You've decided to move forward — thank you. Here's exactly what happens next, in plain language, so there are no surprises between today and the day your site goes live.
Hi there — first off, I'm glad we're doing this. A website is one of those things that's easy to put off forever and quietly costs you customers the whole time it sits half-built. You made the right call to just get it done.
This document walks through the four phases from here to launch, what I'll need from you to keep things moving, and what's included once the site is live. Most clients are up and running within two weeks. The single biggest factor in how fast that happens is how quickly you can get me your materials — so we'll start there.
Read through when you have a minute. If anything's unclear, text me. My number's at the bottom.
From signed agreement to your domain pointing at a finished site — five checkpoints, in order.
I don't open the design tool until everything below is in my hands. This isn't bureaucracy — it's the one rule that keeps small projects from sliding into three-month projects. Send it all in one batch and we're off to the races.
If materials trickle in over weeks, the project timeline resets each time. That's in the agreement. Get everything below sent over within a few days of signing and you'll be looking at a preview by next week.
tip Click each row to check it off — your progress saves automatically so you can come back to this page later.
Once everything is in, I disappear for about a week. Here's what's happening on my end.
A standard small-business site. We'll talk about what goes where, but the shape is:
Every site I build includes the following, no add-ons required:
I don't write your copy or design your logo from scratch. If you need help with either, I will be happy to quote it as a separate piece of work.
When the first draft is ready, I'll text you a private preview link. Here's how the review works — please read this one twice.
Go through every page on both your phone and your computer. Take your time. When you're ready, send everything in one message.
One message. One list. As specific as you can be — page name, what to change, what to change it to. Or I can set up a virtual meeting to review the list of changes.
A round is one batch of changes. I apply them all and send you the updated preview to approve.
If you send a second batch after that, additional rounds are $50 each — and I'll confirm with you in writing before doing the work.
Approval in writing. A quick "looks good, launch it" text or email is all I need to move to the next phase.
Once you approve the preview, three things happen — usually all in the same afternoon.
Whichever package you chose (see next section). Stripe, Venmo, or Zelle — your call. Nothing connects to your real domain until this clears.
I buy the domain on your behalf (~$10–20year, billed at cost) and point it at your finished site. DNS usually propagates within 5 minutes.
I send you the link and we test it together. If anything looks off in the first 48 hours, I fix it on my time, not yours.
You'll have picked one before signing — it's highlighted below for the record. Either way, what gets built is the same.
Domain cost (~$10–20/year) is added to either package at cost. No markup.
Only relevant if you're on the Standard package. The line between "included" and "new work" matters — here it is in writing so neither of us has to guess later.
No problem — just ask. I'll quote it as a small add-on. Most things land between $50 and a few hundred and I'll always confirm in writing before I start.
I'm a solo operation. I'll respond to texts within a day, but I don't sit on Slack waiting. The trade-off is you always work directly with the person building your site — no account managers, no handoffs.
Drip-feeding feedback over a week turns a two-day revision into a two-week one. Send everything in one message and we both get to move on faster.
That's its own craft and separate service.
Your site stays online for the rest of the paid month. After that, you can export the site to your own host for a $100 transfer fee, or we wind it down. No drama either way.
Two weeks is typical. The fastest I've launched a site is four days — and the only reason that was possible is the client sent every single material on day one. The slow ones are slow because of materials, not me.
That's exactly what the revision round is for. Tell me what's off — be specific. I'd rather you say "the home page hero looks dated, can we try something cleaner" than "I don't love it." Specific feedback gets a great second draft. Vague feedback gets a guess.
On the Buyout package — yes, fully. Domain, code, hosting, all yours. On the Standard package, I host and maintain it; if you ever cancel, you can buy out the site for a $100 transfer fee.
Easy add-on. I'll quote it before doing the work — typically $75–150 per page depending on complexity.
Yes. Every submission emails you. No logins, no dashboards to learn.
Small swaps (new phone number, updated hours, new headshot) are included in the retainer. Bigger updates — full rebranding, new service section — get quoted separately. The retainer is a maintenance budget, not a redesign budget.
That's the whole next step. Reply to this with your logo, written content, photos, and brand colors — or whatever subset you have ready — and the clock starts. Anything missing, we'll figure out together.