St. Louis Web Design Agency | Since 1999

We’re definitely not tied to any specific platform or CMS, we’ve worked with all kinds! We’re partial to WordPress for its scalability and flexibility but have done custom designs in other platforms like Magento, Shopify, Squarespace and other more custom CMS systems. If you already have a platform you know and love, that’s great! We’ve probably worked with it already and if not, we’re happy to learn its complexities.

Every project is a little different, but the process generally follows the same arc. It starts with understanding your business and your audience. We consider who’s coming to the site and what they need to do when they get there. If you have an existing site, that becomes a useful reference point for identifying what’s working and what needs to change.

From there, we get into design. We start by either building out a visual direction with new typography and color, or working within your existing brand standards. Rather than designing every page at once, we start with one key page for you to review and sign off on, then use that as the foundation for the rest of the site. That way there are no big surprises along the way.

Accessibility isn’t a checklist item at the end of a project, it’s built into the design process from the start. At a baseline, that means legible typography and colors that meet contrast requirements. Depending on the scope of the project, it can go further: restructuring navigation for keyboard and tab usability, writing content in plain and approachable language, and making sure the site holds up for users who rely on assistive technologies. Accessibility is a wide spectrum, and how deep we go depends on your audience and requirements — but the fundamentals are always there.

We start with understanding how you want your brand to come across. Get a good sense for the tone, the feel, the impression a visitor should walk away with. From there, we either establish brand standards if they don’t exist yet, or work within the ones you already have. That means being precise with typography and color usage and extending that same intentionality to supporting elements like iconography and imagery so everything feels cohesive rather than pieced together.

You betcha. We would never launch a site and leave you high and dry. We’ll make sure you know how to use your site to make updates and additions, and walk you through site care. If all of that sounds like too much to take on, we offer maintenance contracts to keep your site tidy and up-to-date on a regular basis and even manage your content updates if you like. Just let us know the level of support you prefer and we’re happy to make it so.

First, the we start basic. Is this a redesign or a ground-up build, and what is the site’s primary purpose? Whether it’s generating leads, driving e-commerce, or simply giving prospects a place to validate your business shapes a lot of decisions early on.

From there, scope questions: how many pages are you working with, and will the site include a blog or any specialized functionality like user accounts, appointment scheduling, a product catalog, or a project portfolio? These details can significantly move the needle on complexity and cost.

It’s also useful to know how design-intensive you’re envisioning the site to be — think of it on a scale of one to ten, where one is clean and straightforward and ten is rich with animations, video, and interactive details.

On the technical side, it helps to know if the site needs to talk to any external systems like a CRM, ERP, inventory software, or a job board. And who will be managing content after launch? That often influences which platform makes the most sense.

Finally, a couple of questions that don’t always come up but really matter: what does a successful visit look like? Is it a form submission, a purchase, a phone call? And how do you expect people to find the site, and how important is ranking for non-branded search terms? That tells us a lot about where SEO fits into the overall scope.

It might feel like a lot to think about, but getting aligned on these things early is what keeps a project on track and on budget. The more we can talk through upfront, the smoother the project goes.