Definition and architecture
We map business goals, existing content and the needs of the team that will run the site. Out of that come the navigation map, the content model and the platform decision, with the reasoning written down.
Interface design
We build the visual system and its components on top of the architecture already defined. We design the real states, not only the ideal screen: empty, error, loading, long content and short content.
QA, launch and evolution
We test on real devices and browsers, check speed, accessibility and redirects, and launch against a checklist. Then we measure, prioritise improvements and ship in cycles.
Development and integrations
We build component by component, wire up the CMS and the integrations with payments, analytics and CRM, and hand over an editable site from day one on a staging environment the client can review.
It comes down to three variables: how many unique templates the site needs, how much content has to be modelled and migrated, and how many external integrations are involved. A corporate site of ten to fifteen templates with a manageable CMS sits in a different range from an e-commerce build with a large catalogue and inventory integrations. We quote against a defined scope, never an open hourly bucket, and hand over a stage-by-stage breakdown so it can be trimmed or extended before signing. If budget is the main constraint, the sensible move is to start with the templates that carry the business and grow in phases on the same system.
A custom corporate site runs eight to fourteen weeks from kickoff to launch. Architecture and the content model take the first two or three, interface design another three or four, and development with integrations the rest. An e-commerce build or a large migration runs longer, mostly because of content volume. The factor that stretches a project is almost never technical: it is content that does not exist yet and approval rounds with no clear owner. That is why we agree from the start on who approves what, and how fast.
Web design defines how the site looks and behaves: structure, visual hierarchy, components, states and interaction. Web development turns that into something that works in a browser: build, CMS, integrations, performance and security. They run as one process because the decisions constrain each other. An animation chosen without technical judgement costs load speed, and a CMS structure defined without design judgement forces templates nobody wants to use. At Contra Studio, design and development share the project from week one.
It depends on who will run the site and how complex the content is. Webflow works very well for brand and marketing sites where the team needs to publish fast without depending on developers. WordPress is still solid when there is heavy editorial volume or a strong dependency on existing plugins. A headless CMS such as Sanity makes sense when the same content feeds web, app and other channels, or when the product team already runs its own stack. We recommend the platform after reviewing your content and your team, not before.
A headless CMS separates content from presentation: content lives in one place and is delivered by API to the website, the app or any other channel. It is worth it when you publish the same content to more than one destination, when the catalogue or editorial structure is complex, or when you want full freedom in the frontend without being tied to one platform's templates. For a fifteen-page marketing site with a single channel, it is usually more tool than the job needs. We assess that with your team before proposing it.
Yes, provided the migration is planned before anything moves. We start from a full inventory of URLs and their current traffic, keep the address structure where it makes sense, set 301 redirects one by one for everything that changes, and carry over titles, metadata, structured data and headings. After launch we watch coverage, errors and impressions in Search Console through the first weeks so anything off gets fixed early. Expect two to four weeks of fluctuation while the search engine reprocesses the site; it settles once the redirects are complete.
By treating performance as part of the build rather than a fix at the end. We set a page-weight budget per template during design, serve images in modern formats at the size actually used, keep third-party scripts in check, and measure Core Web Vitals at every delivery instead of only before launch. We also size hosting to realistic traffic. A slow site loses visitors before it shows what it offers, and since 2021 speed has been a stated Google ranking signal on top of that.
