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Client Tools

The right tools put you in control of your website without needing to be a technical expert. Here is what to expect from a modern web provider's client tools.

What Client Tools Are

Client tools are the dashboards, portals, and interfaces that your web provider gives you to manage your website, view performance data, submit requests, and communicate with your team. They are the bridge between you and the technical side of your online presence.

Good client tools make it easy for business owners to stay informed and make decisions about their website without needing to understand the underlying technology. They should be intuitive, well-organized, and accessible from any device.

The quality of client tools varies dramatically between providers. Some give you nothing more than an email address to send questions to. Others provide full dashboards where you can see everything about your website's performance, submit changes, and track the progress of ongoing work.

Types of Client Tools

  • Content management dashboards: Interfaces that let you edit text, upload images, add blog posts, and manage pages on your website without touching code. WordPress, Shopify, and other CMS platforms provide these.
  • Analytics dashboards: Visual reports showing how many people visit your site, where they come from, what pages they view, and how they interact with your content.
  • Project portals: Tools for submitting change requests, tracking project progress, reviewing designs, and communicating with your web team in one organized place.
  • SEO reporting tools: Dashboards showing your search rankings, keyword performance, and SEO health metrics.
  • Uptime and performance monitors: Tools that alert you if your site goes down and track page speed over time.

What to Look for in Client Tools

  • Ease of use: You should be able to find what you need without a training course
  • Mobile access: Check your site's performance and submit requests from your phone
  • Clear reporting: Data presented in a way that is meaningful to a business owner, not just a developer
  • Request tracking: The ability to submit, track, and reference past change requests
  • Self-service options: Updating basic content, images, or information yourself when you want to
  • Notification settings: Alerts for important events without being overwhelmed by noise

Why Client Tools Matter

Client tools are about more than convenience. They affect your ability to run your business effectively:

  • Responsiveness: Quick updates to your website when your business information changes
  • Visibility: Understanding how your website is performing and where improvements are needed
  • Control: Making simple changes yourself instead of waiting for someone else to do it
  • Accountability: Tracking what work has been done and what is pending
  • Independence: Reducing dependency on your web provider for every small change

Questions to Ask Your Web Provider

Before signing up with a web provider, ask about their client tools:

  • How do I make simple content changes to my website?
  • Can I see website traffic and performance data?
  • How do I submit a request for changes or new work?
  • How do I track the status of my requests?
  • What training do you provide for using these tools?
  • Can I access everything from my phone?
  • What happens to my access if I leave your service?

Related Guides

Website Maintenance & Updates

What your provider handles behind the scenes

 Web Design Services

What to expect when working with a web provider

Internet Crafters does access to your own site and accounts

This is a la carte work, billed hourly rather than bundled into a package. You get an estimate and a confirmed scope before anything starts, so the number you approve is the number you pay.

Custom Development

$90/hr

1-hour minimum. We estimate the hours and confirm scope before starting.

What that covers here

  • Your domain registered in your name, and hosting in an account you control
  • Our own analytics on every package, running from launch day, rather than something we keep to ourselves
  • Search Console set up on your property so the indexing data is yours to read
  • Update requests handled through the monthly package or hourly, with the scope agreed before work starts

A Launch site is static, which means there is no admin panel to log into and no dashboard to learn. Content changes come to us. That is a genuine trade: less for you to manage, and less for you to do yourself.

What we would suggest instead, once

If you would rather change your own hours and photos, that is Grow at $1,200, which comes with your own editing access and a walkthrough so you actually use it. Say so early: it is better to pick that at the start than after launch.

How to get on the hourly rate

Ask. Hourly work is open to anyone, with no setup fee and nothing you have to buy first. We confirm the scope and the hours with you before any of them get spent.

Bigger pieces of work get scoped and quoted as a project rather than billed by the hour. Tell us what you need.

Get an estimate for this See every rate we charge

Which trade suits you

Some businesses want to change their own copy at midnight. Others never want to think about it again. Both are reasonable and they lead to different builds.

Static versus a CMS Start a project