1406 Insights

Develop Your Website in Less Time Than It Takes to Grow a Beard

Written by Rebecca Salzman | 8/28/23 3:30 PM
We're guessing the specific timeline depends on the face that's growing the hair, but for our purposes in this article, let's all agree that it takes about 4 to 8 weeks to grow a beard. Are you re-reading the blog title in disbelief? Yeah, we're saying you can have a fully designed and developed website in less than the 4 weeks it takes a man with Chia Pet genes to be ready for his lumberjack Halloween costume 🤯
 
"But how? There's no way! I've seen websites that have taken months—MONTHS!—to design and develop, and they didn't even do anything particularly cool!"
- You, maybe
 
It's true. We've nailed down a system that can take a client from No Website to A Gorgeous, Optimized, Fully Integrated HubSpot Website in less than a month. Technically, we could do it in 2 weeks 🫣 Are we insane? "Delulu"?? Perhaps, but for different reasons. No, when it comes to this website design and development process, we hate to brag, but we're kind of just really smart. In fact, we're so smart...
 

"How smart are you?"

We're so smart that we recognized that the majority of the themes and templates in HubSpot's ROBUST (a.k.a. overwhelming) marketplace are built by developers, for developers. That isn't all that helpful for a lot of businesses. Because the reality is you might not have an in-house developer who knows what to do with a fully loaded toolbox with all the special little doohickeys that do very specific things. You might have a designer, who could be familiar with some of those tools, but probably not to the degree of a developer. The incredible functionality that HubSpot offers can be a double-edged sword: it's great for someone who knows how to leverage all those options; it's a bit daunting for a designer, much less for someone who has never built a website before. A designer-friendly theme is going to be a lot more accessible than a developer-friendly one.
 
So we built one. You can read more about the specifics of what makes it work so well for designers here*, but suffice it to say that a website built with a designer in mind is a lot easier to hand over to a lot more folks. This is how our website design and development process can be so streamlined: the majority of the hard work has already been done in building out the theme. The template just needs your branding, your copy, and your approval, and bada bing, bada boom, you've got a website.
 
*Oh, P.S. It's not currently available in the HubSpot marketplace. We'll update if and when it is.
 

"Okay, so what's this fancy process?"

Let's set the scene, shall we?
 
FADE IN:
 
INT. YOUR OFFICE - DAY
 
CEO, a successful but frustrated business owner is pacing behind their desk, with their hands tugging at the roots of their hair in desperation.
 
CEO
It's been three months and not only does the home page still have a typo, but we've added two new team members who need to be added to the Meet the Team page, we have three new offerings that need to get on the Services page, and the Calendly link has been broken for over a week!
(dropping to their knees and shaking their fists at the sky)
These developers are killing me!!!
 
Suddenly, NEWEST TEAM MEMBER (NTM) leans into CEO's office door.
 
NTM
Heya, boss, I couldn't help but notice you seem... distressed.
 
CEO
YES. Sorry, yes, I am sick of waiting around twiddling my thumbs while our website falls farther and farther behind. These changes are simple! I could do them myself, I just can't get into the backend, and even if I could, I might mess up some code or something!
 
NTM
Mind if I take a look?
 
NTM comes around to take a look at CEO's screen.
 
NTM
Oh, yeah, I see what you mean. Honestly, boss, I think this whole website could do with a revamp. At my last job, we used HubSpot and they have a whole directory of partners who can help set everything up how you want it.
 
CEO
And then I can make my own edits?
 
NTM
It probably depends on the type of site you have built, but yeah, we could probably find an agency to get that set up. Here, let's see what we've got...
 
NTM Googles "HubSpot agency easy website development and design you can update yourself" and the first result is:
"Read the latest 1406 Consulting blog post: Develop Your Website in Less Time Than It Takes to Grow A Beard"
 
CEO
In less time than it takes to grow a beard?? Click that! Who are they? We need them!
 
CUT TO:
 
INT. ZOOM MEETING - DAY
 
CEO is in a Zoom meeting with REBECCA SALZMAN of 1406 Consulting, excitedly discussing CEO's new website plans.
 
CEO
I couldn't be happier to have found you. I can't wait to get started, what do you need from me to get this going?
 
REBECCA
We couldn't be happier you found us! We mainly just need your company branding and then for copy, we have a couple options. We can migrate your existing site over more or less verbatim--
 
CEO
Oh, there's a typo on the home page.
 
REBECCA
(smiling)
We can definitely get that corrected for you in the migration. And we also have a brilliant, fabulous, amazing content writer, who can retool your copy or add anything your current site is missing.
 
CEO
Yes! I think a lot of what exists can stay the same with some edits like the home page typo, and then I have a couple more team bios and new services to add, so I can have my team get that info over to you today and your content writer can craft it to fit with everything else.
 
REBECCA
Fantastic! We'll start laying out your website copy in our templates to get two options for the full site design together. You'll be able to review those in a week, and once you approve one, we'll just need another week after that to develop it. We do quality assurance as we develop, so once we have the developed site ready for your review, you can approve it and launch on the same day.
 
CEO
(with tears in their eyes)
That sounds amazing. Hallelujah. Thank you. Thank you.
 
REBECCA
You're gonna be okay, CEO.
 
CEO blows their nose into a tissue and nods, overwhelmed with relief and hope.
 
CUT TO:
 
THREE-ISH WEEKS LATER (DEPENDING ON APPROVAL PROCESS)
 
INT. CONFERENCE ROOM - DAY
 
CEO and their ENTIRE TEAM are celebrating, confetti falling from the ceiling, music blasting, party horns blowing, with the new website projected onto a large presentation screen in all its shining glory. CEO notices something on the screen and pops onto a laptop at the conference table. They navigate into their CMS Hub® account and quickly add a banner at the top of the site home page:
"NEW WEBSITE CELEBRATION SALE! SAVE 10% WITH CODE 'NEWSITE' NOW"
They hit publish and refresh the site on the presentation screen, beaming with pride as it appears. The ENTIRE TEAM cheers louder.
 
THE END
 
Don't you just love a happy ending?
 

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