In February 2026, a SaaS startup in Leeds came to us 14 days before their product launch. They had a working product, a pricing page designed in Figma, investor backing, and no website. Their previous agency had fallen behind, and they needed a marketing site live in under two weeks.
Here's how we did it, what we compromised on, and what we refused to compromise on.
Day 1 to 2: Scope and content
The first thing we did was cut the scope. The original plan was a 12-page site with a blog, case studies section, integration directory, and a resource library. We talked them down to five pages: homepage, features, pricing, about, and contact. Everything else could come later. A five-page site that's live beats a twelve-page site that isn't.
We spent Day 2 writing all the copy. Every page. Every headline, every paragraph, every CTA, every meta description. Copy first, design second. This is non-negotiable in our process because designing without final copy means redesigning when the copy changes.
Day 3 to 6: Design and development
We designed in WordPress directly rather than creating high-fidelity mockups first. This saved three to four days of back-and-forth. The client reviewed designs as functional web pages, not static images. Changes happened in real-time on video calls. By day 6, the site was functionally complete.
Day 7 to 10: Performance and polish
These four days were dedicated to performance optimisation, responsive testing, and cross-browser compatibility. We optimised every image. We tested on 12 device and browser combinations. We ran the site through PageSpeed Insights and fixed everything until we hit 90+ mobile score. We set up the WAF, configured SSL, and hardened the WordPress installation.
Day 11 to 12: Launch preparation
Final content review with the client. DNS configuration. Analytics setup (GA4, Hotjar, conversion tracking). Redirect mapping from their old landing page. Backup configuration. And a launch checklist that covers 40+ items we've refined over dozens of launches.
What we compromised on
Custom illustrations. We used a clean, consistent icon set instead of bespoke artwork. The blog section (deferred to month two). The integration directory (deferred to month three). And some nice-to-have micro-animations that would have added visual polish but eaten into our performance budget.
What we refused to compromise on
Page speed. Security. Mobile responsiveness. Copy quality. And the client's brand consistency. These are non-negotiable regardless of timeline. A fast launch with a slow, insecure, or off-brand site is worse than no launch at all.
