How website development on Tilda works: what the client does at each stage

Published November 6, 2026

1. First discussion and the composition of the project

At the first stage I find out why the site is needed and what it should do: collect requests, sell, tell about the company, support advertising. The type of site and the approximate set of pages and features depend on this. From the conversation and the brief I propose a structure and an estimate for the project, and everything that goes beyond the agreed volume I later estimate separately and before it is done.

What is needed from you here is information about the business, not a technical specification. What you do, who your clients are, which lines of work you have, whether there is an old site, what does not suit you in it, which sites you like. If there are limits on the timeline or the budget, it is better to say so at once: a reasonable composition of the first version can be fitted to them.

What speeds this stage up is an honest list of what is already there and of what is not. If the texts, the photos or the product data are not collected yet, that does not stop the start, but it affects the work plan and the estimate.

2. Collecting materials and preparing the source files

Next the materials are collected: texts or information for them, photos, a logo, documents, product data, contacts. I look at what is fit for the site at once, what needs to be processed, and what is missing.

What is needed from you is a shared folder in the cloud with the materials laid out by the future sections, and answers to questions about them. Access is settled here as well: I create the site on your Tilda account, so the project and the access to it stay with you. For your own domain a paid plan is needed: Personal suits one site, Business is needed for several sites and for exporting the code.

This stage goes fastest when the materials are passed by one link, the files are labeled, and the best frames for the cover and the galleries have already been chosen. If there is nobody to collect them, I can take on the preparation of the materials, the processing of the photos and the graphics, and this is simply included in the estimate.

3. Structure and prototype

First I propose the structure: which pages will be on the site, how they are connected, what is in the menu. Then the prototype: which blocks are on each page and in what order. There is no design at this stage yet, the logic is what gets discussed.

What is needed from you is to look at the structure and the prototype and check the main things: whether all the lines of work are in place, whether it is clear where a visitor will go, whether there are enough blocks to answer the clients’ questions. It is most convenient to send the comments as one list and to name one person who approves the stage.

This stage is worth not rushing. Changing the order of the blocks in the prototype is the easiest, and mistakes found later are more expensive to fix.

4. Creating and approving the design

On the basis of the prototype I make the design. Usually one key page is agreed first, most often the home page, then the rest are designed after that model. On Tilda I assemble most of the pages from standard blocks: that way the owner later changes the texts, the prices and the photos in the ordinary editor. I use Zero Block where there is no way to do without it, for example for a non-standard composition of the first screen. Custom design, complex animation and Zero Block affect the timeline and the cost, so we discuss their volume in advance.

What is needed from you are references, if you have them, and comments on the layout. Ordinary language helps here: “cramped”, “the button is not visible”, “I want it calmer” help more than a ready recipe without an explanation. It is worth looking at both the computer version and the mobile one.

What speeds up the approval of the design is the same thing as for the prototype: one list of comments and one responsible person. Separately it is worth distinguishing the fixing of a mistake from a change to a decision already approved: the first is part of the work, the second — a new volume, which is estimated before it is done.

5. Developing functionality and integrations

When the design is approved, I make what works on the site: forms, quizzes, calculators, a catalog, a cart and payment, if they are needed, integrations with other services. I usually set requests up in several channels: Tilda CRM, Google Sheets, email and Telegram. If another arrangement is more convenient for you, I will set that one up.

What is needed from you are decisions on how the processes should work. Who receives the requests and where. Which questions to ask in the quiz. How to calculate the price in the calculator. Which payment system to connect: this depends on your contract with the bank or the payment service. If an integration with an external service is needed, access to it will be needed.

Complex features are better discussed back at the first stage, and here only the details are clarified. A new feature thought up at the development stage lengthens it noticeably.

6. Filling the site and checking it

At this stage the pages are filled with the final texts, photos and products. For a store this is the loading of the catalog: products from CSV or YML files are loaded by import, if the data are prepared in a table. Then I check the site on different screens, from a computer to a phone.

What is needed from you is to proofread the texts and check the prices, the contacts, the company details and everything you know better than the developer. A typo in a phone number or an outdated price on a launched site costs more than an extra hour of checking.

What speeds this stage up is that the materials were collected and checked in advance. If during the filling it turns out that some of the information is outdated, it is better to note that at once and decide whether to launch with a temporary version or to wait.

7. Testing and publication

Before launch I check that everything works: the forms send, the requests arrive in all the channels, the links lead where they should, the pages open on different devices. I connect the domain, the analytics and the advertising counters, and I do the basic SEO setup: headings, meta tags, page addresses. If the site is moving from another platform, I keep the page addresses wherever that is possible, and for the changed ones I set up 301 redirects.

What is needed from you is access to the domain registrar, a paid Tilda plan and a final confirmation that the site can be published. A test request is worth sending yourself as well, to make sure it arrived where you are waiting for it.

After publication the work does not necessarily end. One-off revisions and new pages can be ordered as an update. If tasks come in all the time, support for a site on Tilda is more convenient: regular checks, watching the deadlines of the domain and the plan, updating prices, texts and the catalog.

How long this takes and what the timeline depends on

The timeline depends on the type of site and the composition of the work. For a landing page on Tilda the site states a timeline of 2–3 weeks, for the other projects the timeline is set after the brief. What noticeably affects the speed are the stages that depend on the client: collecting the materials, answers to questions, approval. A developer can work quickly, but cannot approve a layout for you.

For a store, preparing the products takes time of its own. An online store on Tilda starts from the products: what characteristics they have, by which parameters they are chosen, where the prices and the stock come from. The sooner these questions are settled, the faster the catalog, the filters and the cards come together.

Questions and answers

Will I myself be able to make changes after launch?

Yes, if the pages are assembled from standard blocks. Texts, photos, prices and dates are changed in the ordinary Tilda editor without a programmer. If there are many revisions or a new block is needed, they can be given to me.

What if some of the materials are ready later than the main launch?

The site can be launched with the sections that are ready, and the rest added as they are prepared. It is important to agree in advance which sections are required for the start and which can appear later, and to leave a place for them in the structure.

What is the best way to pass revisions after launch?

However it is convenient: as text, a list, voice messages or a screen recording with comments. I break a long recording down into a list of tasks, clarify the disputed points separately and only then make the changes.

If you are preparing for website development on Tilda and want to understand how these stages will go in your project, describe the task in the quiz on the site. I will reply in person, clarify the details and propose a structure and an estimate.