Understanding the Design Shop Website Process: How to Start Strong

Building a new website with LeagueApps Design Shop is a collaborative partnership — and the more prepared you are at the start, the smoother and faster your project will move from concept to launch. This article walks you through the initial steps of the Design Shop process, explains why we request specific information, and outlines your organization’s responsibilities for domain registration and enterprise email.

How to Begin Your Design Shop Website Project

Your project officially begins once we collect a few essential items that help our team understand your organization and your vision for the site:

Complete the Initial Organization Form

This gives our team background on your programs, age groups, structure, branding, and goals so we can prepare for your intro call.

Schedule Your Intro (Launch) Call

During this call, we review the full build process, timelines, expectations, and your content responsibilities. However, if you submit all required initial site assets—including Sections One and Two of the Site Notes, plus your images and logos—we can skip the intro call and begin the design process immediately.

Access Your Design Shop Google Folder

After the call, you’ll receive a Google Drive folder where you’ll upload all your materials. This becomes the central hub for your entire website project.

What We Need From You First — and Why It Matters

Before we can design your homepage and wireframe, we must receive:

Sections One & Two of the Site Notes Document

These two sections provide:

• Your preferred site map (main navigation menu)
• Your homepage content outline
• Brand details, mission statements, and call-to-action priorities
• Any special functionality or pages we should plan for

Why we need it:
Your organization knows your content best — we cannot design an accurate wireframe or homepage layout without your direction. These sections determine the structure of your navigation and help our design team build a layout that matches your needs from day one.

High-Resolution Images & Logos

• Official organization logos
• High-quality photos of athletes, facilities, and programs

Why we need it:

• Your logo and brand images establish the homepage’s and banners’ visual identity.
• High-resolution files ensure your site looks professional across mobile and desktop devices.
• Replacing low-resolution images later can require substantial rebuild work — providing them early keeps the project on schedule.

Your Responsibility: Domain Registration & Enterprise Email

While Design Shop builds and launches your site, your domain and organization email are fully owned and managed by you.

Here’s why:

Why domain registration is your responsibility:

• Your organization must retain ownership and control of your domain for long-term security.
• You choose the domain registrar that’s best for your needs (e.g., GoDaddy, Google Domains, Namecheap).
• You maintain billing to ensure your domain never expires — which would take your site offline.

Recommended services for domain management:

• GoDaddy
• Google Domains
• Namecheap

Each service allows you to manage DNS settings, renewals, and domain security directly.

Why enterprise email is also your responsibility:

We recommend using a professional email platform for:

• Staff and team communication
• Password resets and account security
• Deliverability for registration emails

Design Shop does not create or host email inboxes — but we will help point DNS records during site launch if needed.

Recommended enterprise email services:

• Google Workspace (Gmail)
• Microsoft 365 (Outlook)
• Zoho Mail

These services offer domain-connected email addresses (e.g., info@yourclub.com) and modern security features like 2FA.

What Happens Once These Items Are Submitted?

Once Sections 1–2 and your initial assets are uploaded, our team moves into the next steps:

• Our Sr. Designer creates your wireframe and homepage concept
• We schedule a design review call
• You provide feedback and approval
• We begin the full site build

Submitting complete materials early ensures your project stays on schedule for a timely launch.