What happens in the development phase
What's happening behind the scenes while we build your website — and what you need to do (and not do) during development.
The development phase is where your approved designs are turned into a real, working website. This is largely a technical phase that runs in the background — but there are a few things you should know and a few things we'll need from you.
Quick summary
During development, we build your site on a staging environment — a private preview URL — based on the approved designs. You can watch progress there. We'll ask for your final content, any account access we need, and your review when we're ready to hand off to testing.
What we're doing during development
Development involves:
- Building the pages and layouts from the approved designs
- Setting up any integrations (contact forms, booking systems, payment processing, email marketing tools, analytics)
- Adding your real content — text, images, and media — as it becomes available
- Testing the site across different devices and browsers
- Connecting your domain and any third-party services
All of this happens on a staging environment — a private version of your site that isn't live to the public yet.
How to view your site during development
We'll share a staging link with you. This is a private URL where you can preview the site as we build it. Things to keep in mind when viewing staging:
- Some features may not be fully functional yet — we build in stages
- The URL will be different from your final website address
- Don't share the staging link publicly — it's a work-in-progress
We'll let you know in ClickUp when something is ready for you to review.
What we need from you during development
Development is when we typically need the most from you:
- Final content — your text, images, bios, and any other page-specific copy. If you haven't provided this yet, now is the time.
- Account access — we may need access to your hosting, Google Analytics, payment processor, or other tools. See the access guides for how to share these safely.
- Prompt answers — if we ask a question in ClickUp, a quick response keeps development moving.
Content delays affect timelines
The most common reason development takes longer than planned is waiting for client content. If your copy and images aren't ready when we need them, the launch date moves. Plan ahead and aim to have all content ready before development begins.
What you shouldn't do during development
- Don't make changes to your current live site if we're rebuilding it — unless you tell us first. Changes to the live site may not carry over to the new build.
- Don't share the staging link publicly — the staging site is not finished and is not optimized for public viewing.
- Don't make decisions based on placeholder content — if something uses dummy text, that's temporary. Judge the layout and design, not the placeholder copy.
Common questions
Related guides
- What happens at launch & handoff
- How to give feedback that gets results
- How approvals & sign-off work
- Giving us access to your accounts
- What we need from you
Need a hand?
What happens in the design phase
What to expect during the design phase — how we create the visual look of your site, how to review designs, and how to give feedback that moves things forward.
What happens at launch & handoff
The final steps before your site goes live — what to expect at launch, how ownership is transferred to you, and what happens after the site is live.