What to Expect When Hiring a Freelance Web Designer (Timeline, Process, Deliverables)
Hiring a freelance web designer should follow a clear process: a discovery call to see if you're a good fit, a strategy session to understand your business, a homepage build you review before the rest of the site is built, a couple of rounds of revisions, and a final launch call to get everything live. If a designer can't clearly explain what that process looks like before you sign anything, that's worth paying attention to.
Here's exactly what that process looks like in practice, what you'll need to provide along the way, and what you should walk away with at the end.
The Freelance Web Design Process, Step by Step
Discovery call (30–45 minutes). This is a fit check, and it works both ways. It's not just about you deciding whether you want to work with a designer. A good designer is also figuring out whether they're the right fit for you and your project. This call is where you talk through what you're looking for, where you're struggling, and how the designer can help.
Statement of work. Once you decide to move forward, you should receive a simple, clear document laying out everything discussed: what you're looking for, the process, the timeline, and the cost. No surprises buried in the fine print.
Deposit and scheduling. Once you sign off, a 50% deposit typically kicks things off, and a strategy call gets scheduled.
Strategy call. This is arguably the most important part of the entire process. A thorough strategy session should involve real depth, not a quick chat. Expect somewhere around 25 to 30 questions about your business. This is how a designer figures out what actually needs to be on your website and what doesn't, rather than guessing.
Homepage build and review. After the strategy call, the designer builds your homepage first, not the whole site at once. Once it's done, you'll get on a call together to walk through it: why that particular structure and flow was chosen, and why the copy reads the way it does.
Feedback and markup. From there, you'll share your initial feedback, ideally through a tool where you can mark up exactly what you want changed, whether that's copy, images, or overall flow. The more detailed your feedback here, the better, since it helps your designer understand how you think and what actually matters to you.
Full site buildout. With homepage feedback in hand, the rest of the site tends to move faster, since your designer now has a clear sense of what you love and what you don't.
Ongoing updates. As the buildout continues, you should be getting regular progress updates, with the ability to share feedback along the way, mostly through email, with a quick call if anything needs more clarity.
Final revisions. Once the full site is built, you'll share your final round of copy, image, and structural changes.
Tech/launch call. This is where everything gets connected: your Squarespace subscription, your domain, and the final steps to get the site live.
What You Should Expect to Provide as a Client
A few things speed this process along significantly:
Photos and images you want used throughout the site
Your existing brand design, if you've already worked with a brand designer on your logo, colors, and fonts
Reference points — who your competitors are, or who you aspire to be. This doesn't have to be a direct competitor. It could be someone in your industry you admire, even in a completely different city. Seeing what you're drawn to (and what you're not) helps a designer understand your style and make sure the final site actually reflects your vision.
How Many Rounds of Revisions Should Be Included?
A reasonable standard is two rounds of revisions per page. After a page is built, you share your initial feedback, and a good designer will also weigh in with their own input on ways to improve it, not just execute changes blindly. From there, a second revision round covers anything still outstanding.
Most revision requests end up being about messaging and copy. Occasionally, the initial vision doesn't quite land, and that's usually best resolved with a video call rather than back-and-forth emails, so you can talk through what's missing directly.
What Deliverables Should You Actually Walk Away With?
A completed project shouldn't just be a live website and a goodbye email. At minimum, expect:
Full ownership of your website and domain
A support window after launch — 30 days is a reasonable standard, covering changes you need to make as you get feedback from your own clients, team, or partner
Training to manage it yourself — a library of short tutorial videos (5 to 8 is a solid range) walking you through how to update your own site, so you're not stuck waiting on your designer for every small change afterward
How Communication Should Work Throughout the Project
This ties directly into something worth watching for before you even hire someone: willingness to actually get on a call. A good process leans on quick video calls for anything that needs real clarity, rather than dragging a simple conversation through dozens of emails. Email works fine for updates and minor feedback. Calls work better for anything involving vision, structure, or when something feels off and needs to be talked through directly.
What Working With Me Looks Like
This is genuinely the process I follow with every client, start to finish: a discovery call to make sure we're a good fit, a deep strategy session before any design begins, a homepage review before we move on to the rest of the site, two rounds of revisions per page, and a final tech call to get everything connected and live. You'll leave with full ownership of your site, 30 days of post-launch support, and a personalized video tutorial library so you're never dependent on me just to make a small update.
About Me
I'm Shawn, a Brand Strategist and Squarespace Web Designer based in New York. My goal with every project is the same thing my clients tell me matters most: walking away confident that their website actually reflects their vision, and feeling ready to put it in front of potential clients and their network. If you want to talk through what this process would look like for your business, let's get on a call.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Timelines vary by scope and the web designer you work with, but a straightforward site can move from the first discovery call to launch in a two weeks, with the homepage review and revision rounds being the biggest factors in pacing.
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Having your photos and images ready, your existing brand assets (logo, colors, fonts) if you have them, and a few reference sites or businesses whose style you admire all help speed up the strategy and design process significantly.
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Two rounds of revisions per page is a reasonable standard. Most feedback centers on copy and messaging, with additional calls used to resolve anything related to overall vision or direction.
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You should. A professional designer should hand off full ownership of your website and domain, along with support and training, rather than keeping you dependent on them for every future change.
