How long a contractor website takes.

From the first text to launch.

Every build goes through these six steps. Two counts are fixed, the 7 or 14 business days from your first payment to the first draft and the 7 business days from your approval to a live site, and everything else moves as fast as the two of us do.

1. You send the form or a text.

   The start form takes about three minutes on a phone. It asks for your trade, the towns you work, and the jobs you want more of. You can also text (206) 468-2416, and texts get an answer within the hour on weekdays.

2. I send a written plan back.

   The plan is one page. It lists your pages, your towns, your tools, the price, and two dates. Read the town list closely, because every town on it gets its own page. Nothing is due until you have read it.

3. The first payment starts the build.

   A Site starts with $750, and a Site with Tools starts with $2,000. Send your logo, job photos labeled with the town, and your license number. The first draft arrives with your own business in it, in 7 business days for a Site and 14 for a Site with Tools.

4. You review the first draft on your phone.

   Open the draft on your phone, mark what changes, and text me the list. Changes to the agreed pages are part of the build until you approve the draft. The 7 business days start the day you approve it.

5. Live 7 business days after your approval.

   Approve the draft and the site goes live 7 business days later, on your domain. Hosting costs you nothing, and your domain is registered in your name.

6. The last payment is due at launch.

   On a Site, the other $750 is due at launch. On a Site with Tools, the other $2,000 is due at launch. From launch day, each quote request reaches your email the moment it is sent, and the dashboard starts counting.

What slows a build down.

A build slows down when it waits on something. My terms put it in one line. Time spent waiting on content, photos, logos, logins, or feedback adds to the timeline day for day. These are the five waits to plan for.

Waiting on photos.

You can start without job photos. I build with your logo and your towns, and photos sent before launch go into the build. The wait comes when you want every page full at launch and the photos are still on the crew phones. If that is the plan, send them before the draft.

Domain and email access.

If you already own a domain, the new site goes live on it, so I need a way into the account that holds it. If a past designer registered it, find out whose name it is in, and if it is not yours, get it moved into your name first. If your email runs on the same domain, say so at the start. The email settings sit next to the website settings, and the switch has to leave your email working.

DNS changes.

DNS is the setting that tells the internet where your domain points. Going live means pointing it at the new site. The change is quick once I am in the account. The wait is in finding the login, getting the account owner to approve it, and giving the new address time to reach every phone and computer. After the switch I run the HTTPS check again, because a domain move is where certificates go wrong.

Changing the page list midway.

The written plan lists the pages before the build starts. Changes to those pages are part of the build, and swapping Kent for Renton is a change. A new line of work the plan never mentioned is quoted flat before I start on it, and it starts once you approve it in writing. A pack of ten more pages is $600, and pages you add after launch do not hold up the launch.

A draft that sits.

Once the draft is up, the next move is yours. Open it on your phone the day it arrives, send the changes in one text, and approve it when it looks right. The 7 business days start the day you approve it.