Standard operating procedures
What standard operating procedures does a small web design agency need?
Write short, checkable procedures for intake, demo, proposal, revisions, approvals, launch, support, cancellations and ownership, and improve them every time something goes wrong.
What you will be able to do
Write short, checkable standard operating procedures (SOPs) for every stage of a client's life with your agency, so either partner or a future contractor can follow them without asking you.
Before you start
- Have your role sheet from Roles in a lean agency.
- Open the agency SOP starter.
Why this matters
An SOP is "how we do this here", written down. Without them, proposals go out with old terms, one client gets three rounds of revisions and the next gets eight, a launch skips the form test, and nobody knows what to do when a client cancels. With them, the work continues when someone takes a week off or a contractor joins.
- 1IntakeWho, what, why
- 2DemoDraft on a call
- 3ProposalScope, price, terms
- 4BuildAgreed pages only
- 5ApprovalWritten sign off
- 6LaunchChecklist, then live
- 7SupportInside the care plan
- 8RenewalReview and renew yearly
One short SOP per stage of the loop.
Step by step
Tick each step as you do it. Your ticks are saved in this browser.
List the SOPs you need
Start with nine, one page each: intake, demo (free draft and video call), proposal, revisions, approvals, launch, support, cancellation, and ownership and handover. Add others only when something goes wrong twice.
Use the same format for every SOP
In the agency SOP starter: a trigger (what starts it), an owner (from your role sheet), the steps as a checklist, the templates it uses, the "done" condition, and a time target.
Write intake and demo
Intake: what you collect from a new lead (business, website, goals, decision maker, budget range, timeline), where it is stored, how fast you reply. Demo: what the free draft must include, how long you spend (about 30 minutes, an hour at most), and how you run the video call. This follows the sequence the agency behind these tips uses: reach out, get a reply, make a free draft, show it live on a video call, close. See The free draft offer and Run the sales meeting.
Write proposal, revisions and approvals
Proposal: sent within a set time after the call, from the proposal template, with setup fee, care fee, scope, not included and payment terms. Revisions: how many rounds are included, one consolidated feedback list per round, and what happens beyond. Approvals: in writing, by email or a signed form, so launch never waits on "I thought you said".
Write launch
Point to the launch QA checklist and add the agency steps: payment terms met, DNS zone exported, deploy, HTTPS verified, forms tested by submitting them, monitoring and backups on, client added to the register, handoff email sent. Deploy, break and recover a site covers the technical part.
Write support
One channel for requests, how they are logged, response times, how you decide in scope or quote, what counts as urgent. Include the exact wording of a friendly out of scope reply, so nobody composes it while annoyed.
Write cancellation and ownership
Cancellation: notice period, how the client tells you, the final invoice. Ownership: the domain is in the client's name and stays theirs. The website itself is not handed over for free. To own it and take it with them, they pay the one time buyout fee you set upfront in the care agreement; then you deliver the files or repository access and help move the hosting. Without the buyout, the site comes down at the end of the paid term. Either way, hand over their credentials through a password manager share, remove your own access, and use the client handoff checklist. A clean exit is how former clients still refer you.
Test each SOP by having the other person follow it
The partner who did not write it runs the next real instance using only the page. Every question they ask goes into the SOP. Solo? Follow it literally yourself and fix every gap.
Review SOPs after every mistake
Ask "which SOP was missing a step", not "who messed up". Add the step.
Example
A two person studio building sites for veterinary clinics in Portland. Their revisions SOP:
SOP: REVISIONS
Trigger: client has seen the first full build on staging
Owner: Build role (backup: Win role)
Templates: proposal (revision terms), feedback form
Steps
[ ] Send the staging link with the feedback form, not "let me know what you think"
[ ] Ask for one consolidated list of changes per round, from the decision maker
[ ] Confirm the round number in writing ("This is round 1 of 2 included")
[ ] Group changes: in scope, out of scope (quote), unclear (ask)
[ ] Make in scope changes, update staging, send summary of what changed
[ ] After the final included round, send the approval request (see APPROVALS)
[ ] Any further rounds: quote first, start after written OK
Done when: client approves in writing or a further round is quoted
Time target: changes done within 3 business days of receiving the list (illustrative)
The friendly out of scope reply from their support SOP:
Hi Dana, happy to help with this. Adding an online booking page is
outside your current care plan, which covers small edits to existing
pages. I can do it as a small project. Here is a quick quote and
timeline. Reply "go" and I will schedule it.
Common mistakes
- Writing a manual instead of checklists. One page per SOP, steps as tick boxes.
- No owner per SOP. A procedure everyone owns is one nobody follows.
- Approvals by vibe. "They seemed happy" is not approval. Get a written OK.
- Forgetting cancellation. Exit terms written upfront, including the buyout fee, protect your reputation and your referrals.
Try it yourself
Using the agency SOP starter, write three SOPs in full: revisions, launch and cancellation. Then have your partner, or yourself on a fresh day, follow one on a real or practice project and record every question that came up.
Deliverable: three one page SOPs plus a list of questions you added back into them.
Time: about 60 minutes.
Resources
- Agency SOP starter the one page SOP format
- Website proposal template revision and payment terms
- Launch QA checklist the technical launch steps
- Client handoff checklist ownership and handover
- Roles in a lean agency where SOP owners come from
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Last reviewed October 18, 2026. Prices, laws and tool terms change, so check current terms before you rely on any figure.