Iteration is vitally important for any creative endeavour.

You cannot write a book, build a brand, make a product, carve a spoon, without multiple passes. You need the options, you need the time, and you need the practice.

Iteration refines and turns nebula ideas into actionable steps and physical objects.

When building a website, we move components around, change colors, add, remove, and edit until the customer (and the Eightfold team) is happy.

We want everyone in the process to feel confident that the product we publish is of quality.

That being said, just publish the dang thing.

There’s a concept in game development: Development Hell.

It happens when a project gets stuck in a purgatory-like state. It could be due to financial issues, technical issues, differences in creative direction, or even constant edits.

While pushing a project back to give it the time it needs to cook is really important, most games that get published after being in development hell aren’t that successful.

They lose their original intent and end up being a hodgepodge of decent ideas that don’t work well.

Just because a project takes a long time doesn’t mean it’s stuck in development hell.

Just last year, the long-awaited sequel to Hollow Knight came out. It was originally announced on February 14, 2019 as a DLC to Hollow Knight. However, it ballooned in scope, became an entire game, and took 7 years to make.

Some people were worried it was in development hell, but in reality, it was in development heaven. They just really liked the work and therefore took the time to see it through in a sustainable and fun way.

But most businesses don’t have a runaway success that has sold over 15 million copies.

In our experience, the final couple of weeks of a site build are usually the hardest.

It’s when clients realize they didn’t look close enough, and edits start pouring in. It’s when that board member who has (maybe) too much pull decides they don’t like something and demands a rework even though they haven’t been involved in the process up to this point.

It’s when everyone realizes that the thing that’s going to represent their businesses, brand, voice, services—everything—will be seen by real people.

The rubber hits the road, and feet get cold.

It’s at this moment that I want to change my job title to Best Man, shake the client, remind them why they got down on one knee, and gently push them down the aisle.

There is a merit to pushing due dates back, and there’s especially merit to upholding sustainable development cycles that value the well-being of workers.

But there’s also merit in just publishing the dang thing.

We know it’s important to iterate, try new things, and shift things around, but at what point is enough enough? How many iterations do you need before you click the publish button?

There’s no answer here, but as someone who has pushed publish on countless personal and professional creative projects, the sooner the better.

For businesses with multiple board members, marketing professionals, branding experts, and people who care, it’s important to get the feedback quickly. We like giving people ample time to look through drafts and make edits or recommendations. However, if edit suggestions aren’t submitted in a timely manner, all hell breaks loose.

People forget what has changed, edits start to get edited, and the project starts to balloon.

Rule of thumb: if edits are happening to edits, it might be time to put your pens down.

At Eightfold, we love our data; we love concrete information we can use to make informed decisions to help our clients achieve their goals. If you’re building a site with Eightfold, or with any other agency, follow these tips to make sure your site gets through development in a timely, cost-effective manner.

The first step of any site build is figuring out the sitemap. This is the hierarchy and categorization of each page that will exist on the site.

The way I approach this is by figuring out the services, products, and highlights of the business.

Let me break it down like this:

You run a business that offers home renovation services. Your business is located in Prescott, Arizona. You offer bathroom, patio, living room, kitchen, and bedroom renovations. You also have an interior design service.

The sitemap would look something like this:

This initial organization is vital for ensuring the site includes everything you need. If you know what your business does, we’ll have an easier time planning the sitemap and ensuring everything your business does is included on the site.

Mid 2025 I had to get bilateral inguinal hernia surgery. That means I had two tears in my intestinal sack and my intestines were trying to escape through those holes. It was not fun, and the general consensus I got was to not get the surgery.

However, after talking with the surgeon, who performs about a dozen hernia surgeries a week, I decided to get the surgery. And I’m so glad I did. If I had listened to the people who had heard the surgery was bad, I’d still have my intestines sticking out of me.

All that to say, trust the experts.

Eightfold has developed countless sites for countless clients. If we say a certain layout or system will work well, trust us. If we recommend a certain copy approach, listen to it. We know what we’re talking about.

Feedback might be the biggest roadblock for most projects. There are a lot of people who have a lot of things to say about a lot of important stuff.

If your business has multiple stakeholders who each need to look over the site, take them into a room, open Figma on a computer, and lock them in it until they’ve looked over the entire site.

Maybe skip the locking in a room part, but consider that getting feedback late will push back the project and potentially increase the cost of the project. Therefore, prioritize getting feedback to the point of scheduling workshops and pushing the schedule around to make it happen.

Starting a new site build is an exciting moment at Eightfold. We love meeting new clients who have unique challenges and interesting businesses. We relish in solving problems and building products that amaze our clients.

If you’re in need of a new site, a site migration, content strategy, or anything else digital marketing related, drop us a line.