A practical guide for client projects

How to build a website for a client.

Start with a clear agreement about the website, then turn it into a brief you can build from. This guide takes you through preparation, the first build, client feedback, and the checks before you share it widely.

Prepare and build

Agree what the client needs before choosing the details.

  1. Agree the job

    Write down the audience, the pages, and the action the site should encourage. Agree who approves the work and how they will send feedback.

    • Choose one client contact to consolidate feedback.
    • Agree the review stages and who handles ongoing updates.

  2. Gather approved facts and assets

    Collect the services, prices, contact details, hours, and coverage the client wants published. Ask for their approved photos, logo, and any existing website address.

    • Check that the client has permission to use the supplied material.
    • Resolve missing facts instead of filling the gaps with guesses.

  3. Bring the brief into Designhouse

    Describe the project in a new website chat, or start with the client's existing site. Answer the follow-up questions and review the proposed brief before confirming the build.

    • Name the pages and the job each page needs to do.
    • Include the approved business facts and upload the chosen assets.

From a brief to a website

Give every page a reason to exist.

The Kettleworth brief asks for a site that helps people request a plumbing call-out. That purpose carries through four pages: a useful introduction, services and prices, emergency information, and a contact form.

Use the same test on your client project: what decision does each page help the visitor make, and where can they go next?

Read the worked brief
Kettleworth Plumbing & Heating preview

Kettleworth Plumbing & Heating

Explore how the service information, prices, and contact routes fit together.

Explore the example website

The first review

Check the site before asking for a design opinion.

Start with whether the website is accurate and useful. Then ask the client to review the presentation with those basics already checked.

  1. Read names, services, prices, hours, and coverage against the agreed brief.

  2. Open every page on a phone and a desktop. Check navigation, image crops, and contact links.

  3. Send a clearly labeled test inquiry. Confirm it arrives in the project dashboard and the intended account inbox.

  4. Ask the client for one list of changes, grouped by page, with replacement wording or files where possible.

Turn feedback into clear requests

Name the change and how you will check it.

These sample revision requests use the Kettleworth example. Adapt the wording to your client's approved changes, then inspect the result before publishing.

A price update

Example request

On Services and prices, change the boiler service price from £85 to £95. Update any other mention of that service price across the site. Keep the call-out fee unchanged.

What to check

Check the service page and every other price reference in the preview. Confirm the call-out fee still matches the brief before publishing.

A clearer inquiry form

Example request

On the Contact page, add an optional dropdown labeled ‘Type of job’ with Boiler service, Leak or repair, Bathroom project, and Other. Keep the existing contact fields.

What to check

Check the options and the existing fields, publish when approved, then submit a test inquiry and confirm the selected job type arrives with it.

See more about editing by chat

The final address and the next update

Make the responsibilities as clear as the website.

Your first build already has a Designhouse address. Before the client promotes the site, finish the review, connect the intended domain, and agree how it will be maintained.

Get the client's approval

Confirm the final pages, business facts, images, and contact routes. Keep a record of their approval and of any work agreed for later.

Connect the domain

On a paid plan, add the client's domain and follow Designhouse's DNS instructions. Coordinate with the person who manages it, preserve email records, and check the website at the final address.

Confirm who handles inquiries

Decide how the account owner will get submissions to the person responding to them. Test that process with the client before promoting the site.

Agree the ongoing service

Decide who supplies new prices and photos, how feedback reaches you, and who checks and publishes updates. If you maintain the site, return to its Designhouse chat for the next change.

Working with clients in Designhouse.

Updated September 2026

Put the agreed brief to work.

Start the conversation with the client's business, pages, and approved content.

See example sites
Start a client website