What happens in a 72-hour website build

Most small businesses don’t need a six-month website project. They need a good site, built right, and live this week. That’s what a 72-hour build is for: a basic site, built from scratch, and for three days we go hard.

Before the clock starts

The 72 hours start once we’ve agreed on what you’re getting, in writing, with the price. Before day one, I’ll ask you to pull together:

• Your logo, in the best version you have.
• Photos of your place, your team at work, or what you sell.
• Your hours, address, phone, and email.
• A short list of what you sell or do, in your own words. Bullet points are fine.
• Access to your domain, if you already have one.

If something’s missing, that’s fine. We’ll decide on day one what to use instead.

Day one: the outline and the start of the build

Day one starts with a conversation about your business: who your customers are, what makes you different, and the one thing you want visitors to do, whether that’s call, book, buy, or come in.

From that, I write the outline: the pages, what goes on each one, and the action every page leads to. Getting this right first is what makes the speed possible, because nothing gets designed twice.

Then the build starts the same day. By the end of day one, the bones of the site are up: the pages exist, the menu works, and your logo and colors are in.

Day two: the push

Day two is where we really push. I lock down the structure, meaning the order of each page and what sits where, and the face of the site: the type, the colors, your photos, and the first screen people see.

• Phones first. Most of your customers will see the site on a phone, so that’s where I build it first, then scale it up for desktop.
• Plain words. Clear copy that says what you do, where you do it, and how to reach you.
• Built to be found. Every page gets a clear title and description, plus the behind-the-scenes markup that helps Google understand your business.

By the end of day two, it looks and reads like your business.

Day three: finishing touches and your review

Day three is the polish. I check every page on a phone and on a desktop, tighten the wording, make sure every button and form works, and make sure it loads fast.

Then I walk you through it. You tell me what you’d like changed, I make the changes, and when you approve it, it’s ready to go live.

What makes 72 hours possible

• An outline before anything gets designed, so nothing gets rebuilt.
• No template to fight with. I build from scratch, around your business.
• Quick answers from you. A same-day reply to a question keeps the whole build on schedule.
• Focus. For those three days, your site gets my full attention.

When 72 hours isn’t the right fit

A basic site covers the essentials. If you need a lot of pages, an online store, booking, member sign-ups, or a lot of new writing and photography, that’s a full business site. Those run around $3,000 and take about two weeks, and the extra time is worth it. Not sure which you need? That’s the first thing we’ll figure out together.

What it costs

A basic site, built from scratch, starts at $1,000. You get a written plan with the price before the clock starts, and when it’s done, you own it. There’s no monthly fee to keep it online. For more on what drives the price, read what a small business website costs.

Want yours this week? Let’s talk.