Step 1 — Define what you really need
Most small businesses order a site that is too big. Start by answering these 3 questions:
- What is the main goal? (Generate contacts, sell online, present your activity, recruit...)
- Who are your target visitors? (B2B professionals, consumers, locals, international...)
- What should a visitor do on your site? (Call you, fill in a form, buy, book an appointment...)
Step 2 — Choose the right type of site
Landing page
Testing an offer, launching a product, freelancers
custom quote
Site vitrine
Local SMEs, professional practices, tradespeople
custom quote
Site corporate
Established companies, multilingual, CMS
custom quote
E-commerce
Vente en ligne, boutique, abonnements
custom quote
Step 3 — Write an effective brief
A good brief saves you 30% of your budget. It contains at minimum:
Company name and activity
Main goal of the site
Target personas (who visits?)
Estimated number of pages
Specific features
Existing visual identity
Reference sites (desired style)
Maximum budget
Desired launch date
Who manages the content afterwards?
Step 4 — Choose your provider
There are 4 types of web provider. Here is what each is really like:
Freelance junior (Malt, Fiverr)
Flexibility and a quick start
High risk on quality and deadlines, no support after delivery
Grande agence web
Structured process, full team
Sometimes oversized proposals, changing contact person
Independent digital studio
Balance of quality and scoping, direct contact, responsive
Limited parallel capacity (watch the deadlines)
Constructeur DIY (Wix, Squarespace)
Very fast to launch
Generic design, mediocre performance, hard to evolve, limited SEO
The 5 most common mistakes
- Starting without a clear brief — Without a brief, the provider builds from their own assumptions. Back-and-forths pile up and the scope becomes blurred.
- Leaving SEO for later — SEO is built in from the site's architecture. Adding it afterwards often forces a partial redesign.
- Choosing without checking the scope — A proposal that is too vague can hide a basic template with your logo on it. Always check what is actually delivered.
- Ignoring mobile — More than 60% of visits come from mobile. A site that is not adapted loses more than half of its audience.
- Not planning for maintenance — A website needs regular updates: security, compatibility, content and performance monitoring.
Ready to launch your website?
KAH Digital Studio supports small businesses in Switzerland and France. Custom quote within 24h.