Web design workflow: A guide to streamline your creative processes

You may have found yourself in a situation where your creative team is neck-deep in a web project, the deadlines looming, and you’re still hunting down feedback from a handful of stakeholders scattered across emails and slack messages. It’s a PTSD-inducing scenario that can be squashed with one thing: a sharp web design workflow.

If the last few years of ramped up content production have made anything clear, it’s that streamlined processes are a lifeline for creative crews. With the pressure to churn out standout websites at warp speed, you can’t play fast and loose with your workflow.

Below, we’ll unpack what a web design workflow really means, why it’s a must for your squad, and the steps to nail it. Ready to ditch the mess and launch your next site without drama? Let’s take a look.

What we'll cover

What is a web design workflow? 

A web design workflow is a start-to-finish outline of the tasks involved in a website build. That includes client onboarding, research, wire-framing, production, review and approval, testing, and launch.

A well-planned workflow also accounts for the people involved at each stage of a website build, which may include illustrators, graphic designers, copywriters, developers, UX designers, customer success managers, and project managers. 

Clients are a big part of the web design process, too — from the initial kickoff meeting to the final site approval — so any web design workflow should account for their role in the project. 

Why do you need a web design workflow?

If your creative team juggles multiple stakeholders, shifting deadlines, and varied deliverables, you need a good web design workflow. Besides, you get big benefits:

Improves collaboration

When everyone knows their role, the timeline, and the handoff points, collaboration flows effortlessly. Say a web designer, a developer, and a content strategist joining forces on a new site launch. With a clear workflow, each person knows exactly when to step in, how their work fits into the project, and where to leave or receive feedback.

You can prevent duplication and ensure that revisions get communicated fast. And by the way, centralized feedback tools are a big help here: rather than chasing comments across emails or group chats, the entire team keeps feedback aligned in one place—so critical updates never get missed.

Ensures quality

Building checkpoints for testing, review, and revision right into your workflow is the key to catching issues early. You might schedule internal team reviews or even invite end users to weigh in on drafts before launch. 

Take a creative agency that holds periodic review rounds during the web design process: each round hones the design and keeps everything—from layout responsiveness to color palettes—on brand. That means fewer nasty surprises in the final stretch and a better chance of wowing clients away with the finished product.

Saves time and resources

Efficient workflows means no more endless revision loops that can drain time and energy from creative teams. Without a clear process, you risk losing hours sifting through outdated files, waiting on scattered feedback, or undoing work that someone else already updated (and the list goes on). 

In contrast, a well-organized system makes it easy to gather feedback from every stakeholder, address necessary changes together, and move on—no backtracking required. This accelerates the entire project schedule and stretches your budget further by ensuring every minute spent adds real value to the final outcome.

What are the steps in a web design project? 

Consider this section a high-level overview of the web design process; later, we’ll talk about some additional steps that may need to be included when creating a web design workflow.

Define website goals and objectives

Start by clarifying your client’s core objectives. Ask questions about the site’s purpose, target audience, and any unique functionality (eg. a retail client’s need for e-commerce integration or a nonprofit’s donation portal). Next, host a structured kickoff meeting where both the creative team and client stakeholders can review design requirements, finalize branding elements, and discuss the desired look and feel of the new site. The project manager should take detailed notes, recording any key decisions, questions, or follow-up tasks.

By the end of this meeting, everyone should have a clear understanding of the project’s scope, roles, and immediate next steps.

Create a sitemap and wireframes

A sitemap defines the architecture of the website, such as parent pages, child pages, pages that aren’t part of the navigation, and links accessible from the header and footer. Wireframes are detailed layouts for each page on a site that include placeholders for images and content. UX designers usually present wireframes that illustrate what pages will look like on desktop and mobile devices.

Designers often want to look at how competitor sites are structured as they create sitemaps or wireframes, so they may need the client to provide some competitor URLs for review. Clients typically review the sitemap, to make sure it aligns with their expectations. Wireframes should be presented to the client soon afterward. Once those are approved, designers can create mockups.

To build a solid sitemap and wireframes, start by gathering some input: confirm the site’s main pages and subpages and review any special functionality or branding guidelines. Next, sketch a draft of the sitemap that lays out how users will move through the site. After sharing the initial structure with your internal team and the client, refine the layout based on their feedback. Then, move on to creating wireframes for each key page, placing placeholders for images, text blocks, and calls to action. Finally, schedule a walkthrough or review session with the client to gather feedback on both the sitemap and wireframes before shifting into detailed mockups.

Content audit

A content audit is an analysis of a website’s existing URL structure. The team member performing this audit runs an analysis using software that provides details for each page, including traffic, backlink and conversion data. A content audit will also discover any “broken” URLs on the site.

The purpose of the content audit is to preserve a site’s engaging pages and identify any pages that may be negatively impacting SEO. For example, if 50% of the pages on a website have little to no search traffic, Google might interpret that as a sign that the site is not highly relevant and therefore should not appear on the first page of search results. 

Keyword research

Some clients may conduct their own keyword research, but if they don’t, it should be built into the content creation process. Including keyword research early on ensures the website is aligned with how people are actually searching for products, services, or information—driving more relevant traffic and enhancing overall visibility.

Keyword research doesn’t end with the site launch, either. A digital marketing or content team will periodically review which pages are ranking for specific keywords, make any necessary content revisions, and add new terms as user interests evolve.

Web design mockups

Upon approval of the sitemap and wireframes, designers can begin working on design mockups. These assets may include colors, font styling, and interactive elements that a designer envisions for the final site.

Teams should ensure that clients sign off on the mockups, because once development begins, it can be difficult to change page elements or functionality without additional time and costs. 

Web development

At this stage, developers begin implementing the new site design. To get this done, you should:

Split the project into clear tasks: Break down the site build into manageable components such as front-end layouts, back-end integrations, and specific feature sets (e.g., e-commerce modules or custom animations). Assign each task to the appropriate developer to ensure work progresses and there’s no diffusion of responsibility.

Coordinate development efforts: If two or more developers are coding simultaneously, establish a version control system and define clear branching and merging practices. Regular check-ins help prevent conflicts and keep everyone updated on progress.

Conduct iterative reviews: Schedule frequent reviews—both internal and with the client—to catch bugs or design discrepancies early. Use each review cycle to refine the work, confirm alignment with the project brief, and make sure deadlines are on track. This approach helps maintain quality throughout the development phase.

Write content

After a content audit and keyword research is complete, content creation for a new website occurs in conjunction with the design, as UX designers may need content to fill a space of a specific size. Writers may be tasked with on-page content, calls to action, blog posts, metadata, and other types of content. 

This is one aspect of a website design workflow that is highly dependent on the client’s review — if content pieces are not reviewed and approved in a timely manner, the site launch could be delayed.

Set up content redirects

Based on the results of the content audit — and a human review of underperforming pages — a team may recommend that some URLs be redirected to new URLs on the new site. That means that if a website user were to type the old URL into their browser, they would instead be taken to a new page, rather than see a “404 - page not found” error. 

If the URL structure for the new site will be different than the existing site’s, a team member may need to create a spreadsheet that includes all legacy URLs and their new destination. Here’s an example of how those entries might look: 

Website testing

Testing begins once all website elements are in place on a staging site. It often starts with an internal design review, ensuring developers have correctly implemented the design and interactive features. Many teams also outsource quality assurance testing to avoid internal bias.

A streamlined collaborative review process at this stage is essential for catching issues early and keeping feedback organized. Using a centralized proofing or feedback tool consolidates comments from designers, developers, and QA testers in one place, preventing important input from getting lost in email threads or chat messages. After finalizing internal QA, you can invite clients to conduct their own review and sign off on the site before it goes live.

Website launch

Once everything’s ready to go, it’s time to launch the site! You might want to sync the big day with a special event, a product drop, or a key business moment—whatever makes sense for you. Ideally, pick a quieter time with less traffic to keep things smooth for your users. Make sure your core team is available to jump on any last-second hiccups and double-check that all the must-have features are working perfectly. After the site’s live, share the link with your stakeholders, do a final sweep to ensure everything’s running as it should, and start collecting some early feedback so you can squash any bugs fast.

How we streamlined our own website redesign at Ziflow

We kicked things off by creating a comprehensive status file that mapped out the entire website. Pages were sorted based on clear priorities, using existing traffic data and our strategic goals to decide what came first.

Next, we built a catalog of reusable design components. This helped our developers quickly pull together web pages while keeping everything consistent visually and functionally.

We also took stock of our existing assets, creating a library from our old website. By tweaking and refining these existing resources, we saved time and maintained our new brand style.

Before finalizing designs, we did some targeted user testing. This feedback was super helpful, giving us insights that allowed us to adjust designs and ensure the final website experience truly met our audience’s needs.

Once our designs got the thumbs-up, we quickly plugged them into our pre-built components. This sped up development and reduced the chance for inconsistencies or errors.

Throughout the process, we held daily standups with our redesign team and key stakeholders. These quick meetings helped us spot roadblocks early and kept everyone aligned and motivated.

By sticking to this straightforward, collaborative approach, we made our website redesign smoother and faster, and ultimately launched a site that not only looks great but aligns perfectly with our business goals.

The challenges of web design workflows

If you’ve ever been part of a web design project, you know that production timelines can be disrupted for a huge variety of reasons. When planning a web design workflow, especially with a client, it’s wise to overestimate the time needed for each step, so that if and when an unexpected obstacle arises, it’s less likely to postpone the launch date. It's also important to set up controls that determine when the next phase of web development can occur.

Below are some of the issues teams might encounter during a website build:  

Access to design and website assets

One challenge lies in giving clients and non-designers easy access to the creative assets needed for feedback—especially if they don’t use Adobe or other specialized software. If stakeholders can’t view or annotate wireframes, design comps, or live staging sites easily, collaboration grinds to a halt. Ensuring they can open, comment on, and approve these assets in a single platform is essential for keeping website projects on track. This approach removes technical barriers and makes it simpler for everyone involved to review content, spot issues, and provide timely input.

Internal review delays

Before locking in a project timeline, managers should take a good look at who’s actually available. Things like vacations, holidays, parental leave, or even other commitments can easily stretch things out. Plus, if the team’s juggling work for other clients, that could slow down how fast they can crank out new deliverables.
On the flip side, development schedules can get tricky too—especially if the team’s spread thin or hits some unexpected tech snags. 

Even a small holdup, like waiting on one designer or developer, can throw the whole process off track. To stay ahead of it, bake some extra time into each phase and keep up with regular check-ins so you can nip delays in the bud. If you already know key people will be out, tweak the timeline or shuffle tasks early on to keep things rolling smoothly.

Poor client communication

Similarly, setting clear expectations with clients about timely reviews is crucial for keeping a web design workflow on track. Even well-planned timelines can slip if stakeholders take too long to provide feedback or fail to respond altogether. Delays in approving wireframes or staged designs push back subsequent tasks, forcing the team to either stall progress or make assumptions that may lead to rework. 

It’s often necessary to reiterate the importance of quick, organized feedback so that the project momentum doesn’t stall. Without consistent communication from the client, critical decisions remain in limbo and the entire workflow can become derailed, resulting in cost overruns, missed deadlines, and frustration on both sides.

Changing project scopes

Because website development includes many moving parts, creative assets, and stakeholders, even the most conservative launch timelines tend to get pushed back. During iterative review, clients or stakeholders may change their business focus, bring in new people to oversee the project, or undergo a rebrand that affects how the website should look. That can cause the dreaded "scope creep" that pushes back the project’s timeline.

To stop a web design workflow from getting off track, it's helpful to have a complete record of previous agreements, communications, and kickoff notes directly alongside design assets like wireframes and design approvals, so initial plans can be compared to both iterative designs and the communication timelines around those designs.

Essential tools for an efficient website design workflow

Establishing a smooth web design workflow is ninety-percent having the right tools in place. From gathering creative feedback to organizing tasks and coding the final product, each stage calls for specific solutions that streamline communication and prevent costly back-and-forth. 

Below are the key tools your team should adopt to keep every aspect of a website design project on track:

• Collaborative proofing platform: Centralizes all feedback and prevents scattered comments across emails or chat threads.
• Project management software: Helps assign tasks, track progress, and set deadlines for individual contributors.
• Design and prototyping tools: Applications like Figma or Adobe XD enable designers to create and share intuitive wireframes and layouts.
• Version control system: They provide a historical record of updates, making it easy to revert if something breaks.
• Content management system (CMS): They streamline the process of adding, updating, and organizing web content—vital for sites requiring frequent edits or blog posts.
• QA and testing tools: Automated testing suites or browser compatibility checkers help catch errors before launch, saving time and keeping your brand’s online presence polished from day one.

Best practices for creating an efficient web design workflow

Now that we’ve covered the meaning of a web design workflow, and the steps and challenges involved, we want to go over five tips for enhancing your web design workflow process that you can take away and start using today.

Simplify asset and design file sharing

With Ziflow online proofing software, you can share an intake form with clients and internal teams, and they can use it to upload assets directly to your web design team— no more PDFs and other large files randomly arriving in email inboxes. All assets needed for initial wireframing is automatically gathered and stored in one place.
These forms can also be used as a kickoff document to gather information for creative and brand briefs. Having initial project planning documented in the same system where web design versions will occur keeps your workflow transparent and on track from the beginning. 

Using collaborative proofing software to review live and static web pages

With collaborative proofing software, all web design feedback is consolidated in a single platform linked to each specific design asset. In a live staging environment, every comment, response, and action is readily visible in one view, allowing teams and clients to communicate down to the pixel level in real-time.

From initial project plans and wireframes to internal mockups and final staging for clients, every piece of feedback—along with its approval status—stays in one place. This ensures that each design iteration or proof is accurately tracked, preventing disorganized conversations and missed edits.

By enabling reviewers to experience the site in a realistic environment, collaborative proofing software reduces the need for PDF-based staging or static snapshots that can’t fully capture functionality. The result is more accurate reviews, fewer misunderstandings, and a streamlined workflow that saves substantial time for both designers and developers.

Set controls for internal & client review workflow stages

When you use an automated web design workflow, designers can effortlessly bring in reviewers—whether it’s the internal team or clients—to check out static or live staging pages and keep tabs on feedback, all from one spot. The backend rules handle who gets pinged and when, so only the right people get involved at the perfect moment, like when a new version goes live. At the same time, designers can set up separate channels for internal folks, syncing them with the project’s phases to pull in the right collaborators as things move along. For example, phase one might just be the design and tech crews, phase two could bring in the creative directors, and phase three opens the door to clients.

This setup keeps people from chiming in too early on unfinished work, ensures nothing moves forward without the green light from key reviewers, and keeps everyone on the same page about how the project’s shaping up. If something’s lagging—like an overdue task—automatic nudges can speed up responses, which is a lifesaver for getting client sign-offs. All in all, these tools save a ton of time by cutting out the back-and-forth of tracking down stakeholders or piecing together scattered feedback, letting designers and project managers focus on keeping the creative flow humming along.

Use public/private markups and comments to centralize design feedback

With a traditional web design process, teams often juggle email threads, PDF comps, and scattered annotation tools—leading to lost feedback, duplicated efforts, and version confusion. By moving to a live, dynamic environment where all stakeholders can comment in real time on the current design down to the pixel level, feedback becomes centralized, clear, and instantly actionable. This approach ensures nothing important slips through the cracks, cuts down on back-and-forth emails, and keeps everyone focused on the same version at all times.

Public and private comments in collaborative markup tools add another layer of efficiency and control. While public comments keep all reviewers informed on high-level decisions, private or internal-only notes let designers exchange sensitive feedback or discuss minor tweaks among themselves before involving the client. This way, teams can refine drafts behind the scenes, address smaller updates, and provide a polished experience for external reviewers—without risking confusion or exposing in-progress ideas prematurely.

Implement detailed version control over web design files 

Website design projects can involve hundreds of small tweaks, and being able to whip up new webpage versions with just a few clicks—and then compare them side by side—is a game-changer. It makes it so much easier to show everyone involved in the approval process exactly what’s changed, keeping things clear and visual. Version control is a must-have for catching mistakes and mapping out a design’s evolution over time. No more jumping between old and new URLs or staging sites, trying to explain updates without a clear system—all the changes and feedback are right there in one spot, laid out side by side.

Create approval decision checklists that align with design stages

Sometimes, team members may not understand why a stakeholder made a specific request, change, or denied approving a certain design. With a decision checklist, clients can choose from a list of options to provide context about a change request—forming a complete picture of the reasoning behind design changes.

Integrate proofing with design software

Automating review stages is only half the battle—tying your design software (like Illustrator, Photoshop, or InDesign) directly into your proofing platform is what truly removes workflow barriers. With this integration, designers no longer need to juggle separate systems or manually upload files. They can compare proofs against live design files, track approvals and feedback at a glance, and instantly apply new changes without leaving their design environment. 

As a result, teams collaborate in real time, respond to requests faster, and maintain one continuous thread of updates from concept to final asset—all without the friction of shifting between disconnected tools.

Link markup tools with project and client management platforms

Similarly, web design teams and project managers can take review and feedback updates and sync them with internal or client project management platforms like Asana, Jira, and monday.com, and Slack. Stakeholders and internal creative workers can be updated when a new web page is ready for review, a change has been made, or a comment on a web proof needs their attention. 

Linking design proofs with project management tasks, project structures, and communication threads not only keeps clients updated on the progress of work in one place, but it also prevents your project or traffic managers from having to update information in two systems all the time. 

Put controls in place for web compliance review

Brand compliance should be built into the earliest phases of web design. From matching correct brand colors to following industry regulations and ensuring ADA compliance, teams must stay vigilant about every facet of the site. Simply tracking edits for client review isn’t enough—you also need a clear record of the entire approval process, complete with timestamps and version histories, to prove your site meets all relevant standards.

By storing feedback, approvals, and version logs in one central system, you gain the audit trails necessary for external reviews and internal accountability. When an audit or compliance check happens, all web page iterations and decisions are easily accessible, helping you demonstrate adherence to guidelines without scrambling to piece together scattered files.

Streamline your website design workflow with Ziflow 

You owe it to your creative team to give them a great website design workflow. It brings clarity to the tornado of site builds, keeps collaboration marching along, and ensures your final product is exceptional—all while hitting those tight deadlines. With the right steps in place, you’re setting your team up to deliver jaw-dropping designs that clients love, without the usual stress.

But even a great workflow needs the perfect tool to back it up. Ziflow is your all-in-one collaborative proofing platform to make reviews and approvals easy. With automated workflows, rock-solid version control, and real-time collaboration, Ziflow lets your team stay on top of every detail and push out stellar sites. 

Ready to take your web design process to the next level? Ziflow’s here.