How to Build a Website for a Client in Under 60 Minutes with Draftly

The traditional agency process to build a website for a client takes anywhere from 4 to 12 weeks. It’s a marathon of discovery calls, wireframes, mockups, and endless revision cycles. But what if you could compress that entire initial design and build phase into a single, focused 60-minute session? With Draftly, this isn't just possible; it's the new standard for efficient agencies and freelancers, reducing initial build times by an estimated 95%.

This guide isn't about rushing. It's a precise, step-by-step workflow for creating a high-quality, cinematic website for your client in one hour. We'll break down the process minute by minute, showing you how to go from a client brief to a shareable, impressive first draft that feels 90% complete.

The 60-Minute Client Website Workflow: A Breakdown

Success in this timeframe depends on structure. Forget aimless clicking; this is a focused sprint. Here’s how the hour breaks down, allocating time for the most critical tasks in any client website build.

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• Minutes 0-10: Preparation & Prompting. Gathering assets and crafting the perfect generative brief.
• Minutes 11-15: AI Generation. The magic moment where Draftly builds the site's foundation.
• Minutes 16-45: Refinement & Customisation. The longest phase, dedicated to aligning the AI's output with the client's specific brand and content.
• Minutes 46-60: Polish & Presentation. Final checks and preparing the site for client review.

Step 1: The 10-Minute Prep Phase (Minutes 0-10)

Preparation is everything. The quality of what you put in directly impacts the quality of the AI's output. Before you even open the Draftly prompt bar, get your client's core assets ready.

• Asset Collation: Gather the essentials. You don't need everything, just the foundational pieces:

• Client Setup in Draftly: Use the Draftly Business Centre: Manage Clients and Projects in One Place to create a dedicated space for your client. This keeps their projects, assets, and sites organised, which is crucial when you're managing dozens of clients.
• Craft the Master Prompt: This is the most critical part of the prep phase. Synthesise the client's business into a concise instruction for Draftly. A good prompt includes:

Step 2: The 5-Minute AI Generation (Minutes 11-15)

With your prompt perfected, it's time to let the AI do the heavy lifting. This phase is fast, but your choices here set the stage for the rest of the build.

• Run the Prompt: Paste your master prompt into Draftly and start the generation. The AI will analyse your request and begin creating a multi-page structure, cinematic hero section, relevant copy, and AI-generated imagery.
• Review Variations: Draftly will often present a few different starting points or thematic directions based on your prompt. Spend a minute or two clicking through these initial concepts. Look for the one whose structure and overall flow best match the client's goals.
• Select Your Foundation: Choose the variation that feels closest to the mark. Remember, everything is editable, so you're looking for the best foundation, not a perfect final product. This choice locks in the core structure you'll refine in the next step.

Step 3: The 30-Minute Refinement Sprint (Minutes 16-45)

This is where the AI-generated draft becomes a client-specific website. Your goal is to swap generic content for client assets and fine-tune the design to be 100% on-brand.

Fine-Tuning with AI Chat Editing

• "Change the headline in the hero section to 'Designing Spaces That Tell a Story'."
• "Replace the image in the second section with the 'living-room-project.jpg' I uploaded."
• "Add a new section featuring three client testimonials."

Customising the Brand Identity

• Upload the Logo: Replace the placeholder logo with the client's official version.
• Apply the Brand Palette: Use the global styling panel to input the client's primary and secondary HEX codes. This will update colors across the entire site instantly, from buttons to text links.
• Set Typography: If the client has specific brand fonts, apply them. If not, choose a font pairing from Draftly's library that matches the brand's aesthetic. You can learn more about this in our guide to how to customise fonts, colors and your brand kit.

Populating with Real Content

Step 4: The 15-Minute Polish & Presentation (Minutes 46-60)

The final stretch is all about quality control and preparing for the client handoff. A polished first draft inspires confidence and dramatically reduces revision requests.

• Cross-Device Testing: The most critical final check is mobile responsiveness. Use Draftly's built-in device previews to see how the site looks and feels on a phone and tablet. Make any necessary tweaks to ensure a flawless experience on every screen. A quick run-through of our guide on Testing Your Draftly Site on Mobile Before Launch can help you spot common issues.
• Check All Links: Click every button and navigation link to ensure they go to the right place. A broken link in a first draft looks unprofessional.
• Proofread Everything: Do one final read-through of all the copy. Check for typos, grammatical errors, and any placeholder text you might have missed.
• Generate a Preview Link: Instead of sending screenshots or a clunky video, use Draftly's preview feature to generate a live, shareable URL. This allows the client to experience the cinematic scroll and interactivity of the site just as a visitor would.