Define the goal before anyone draws a layout
Before you contact a studio, answer one question: what should the website do for your business? It might collect leads from Instagram and Google ads, show a catalogue, take payments through Click and Payme, or reassure a corporate buyer before the first call. The answer drives the number of pages, the features, the timeline and the budget.
Agree on how you will judge the result as well. That could be cost per enquiry, the share of visitors who reach the form, or phone calls coming from the site. Without basic analytics you cannot tell whether the site pays for itself, and decisions end up based on impressions.
How the work usually runs
A sensible process starts with a conversation, not a price. The team learns about your goal, your customers and what you already have: logo, photos, copy, an old site. Then comes the brief, a set of questions that closes the gaps which later cause rework.
After the brief you should receive a written estimate listing the work, stages, timing and payment terms. Development should not start until it is approved. The usual sequence afterwards looks like this:
- Structure: the list of pages and the order of blocks on each, agreed before any visual design.
- Design: layouts of the key pages, your comments, revisions, then the remaining pages in the approved style.
- Development: front end, admin panel, forms, integrations and the mobile version.
- Testing: checks on real phones and several browsers, analytics set up.
- Launch: moving the site to your domain and handing over all access.
What the business owner should prepare
Deadlines usually slip because of approvals, not because of code. A few things are worth sorting out in advance.
- One responsible person who collects feedback and makes decisions. When four colleagues send conflicting comments, the project stalls.
- Facts about your product: how pricing works, real advantages, the questions customers ask most. A studio can write the copy, but only you know the facts.
- Access to your domain, hosting, old site, and ad and analytics accounts. If a previous contractor holds them, recover them before work begins.
- A decision on languages. If you need Uzbek and Russian versions, plan them from day one, because adding a language to a finished site costs more.
What shapes the price of a website
There is no single price for a website, and that is normal. A one-screen landing page and an online shop with a catalogue, customer accounts and payments are different scales of work. The total depends on the number and complexity of pages, custom design versus a template, integrations with a CRM, Telegram and payment providers, multilingual setup, copy and photo preparation, and ongoing support.
Ask for an estimate broken down by task. You then see what you are paying for and can postpone extras to a second phase instead of paying for them upfront.
Site builder, freelancer or agency
A site builder fits a quick, one-off need: an event announcement, a test page for an idea, a simple business card. The limits appear later: URLs that are not really yours, awkward two-language setups, narrow integrations and a subscription without which the site disappears. Such a project usually cannot be moved and has to be rebuilt.
A freelancer can be a good choice for a small, well-defined job if you have seen their work and are ready to manage the project yourself. An agency makes sense when the site is a working tool tied to advertising, analytics and a CRM, and you will develop it for years. In that case control over code, domain and access matters more than launch speed.
“Free website” offers and the contract
Free offers tend to be one of three things: a free builder plan on someone else’s subdomain with the platform’s ads, a “gift” site bundled with an advertising order, or a template with no brief and no revisions. In the second case the cost is simply inside the overall estimate. Look at the final sum and at who owns the domain, code and accounts.
The contract should state the scope, deadlines, payment stages, currency of settlement and what counts as finished work. Acceptance is a checklist, not a question about whether you like the design: pages open, forms send enquiries to the right channel, the mobile version reads well, analytics collects data, domain and hosting are registered in your name, and source files are handed over.
If you want to order a website and first make sense of the task, the markdev team can help define the scope, structure and a reasonable set of features without extras. Send us a message and we will go through your situation together.
FAQ
How long does website development take?
It depends on scope and on how quickly approvals come from your side. A one-page site is much faster than a shop with integrations. Exact dates are best fixed in the estimate after the brief, once the list of pages and features is clear.
What should I prepare before ordering a website?
A clear idea of who your customer is and what action they should take, facts about your product and pricing, a logo and photos if you have them, and access to your domain and old site. The rest is clarified during the brief.
Can I make changes after launch?
Yes. Small edits within the agreed scope are handled during acceptance. Further growth, such as new sections, features or languages, is set up as a separate task or a support agreement.
Why choose a custom site over a site builder?
You control the domain, URL structure and code, can connect the integrations you need and can move the site to another host. On a builder these options are limited by the platform’s rules.
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