Clients judge you on two things: the work, and how it feels to work with you. The second is almost entirely communication, and it is the one most easily systematized.
Pick a cadence and never miss it
A short weekly update on the same day, every week, is worth more than sporadic long ones. The consistency is the point — it means silence stops being a signal, because there is no silence.
Three lines is enough:
Done this week: Rebuilt the checkout step, fixed the mobile nav
Next week: Payment provider integration
Need from you: Approval on the copy in the doc (by Thursday keeps us on track)
Over-communicate at the boring parts
Long stretches of internal work feel like nothing to a client. Those are exactly the weeks to send the update, even when the honest content is "still building, on track."
Match their channel, within reason
Some clients live in email, some in Slack, some only answer the phone. Meet them where they are, but keep decisions written down somewhere durable. A decision made in a voice call and never recorded is a disagreement waiting for month three.
Response time is a promise
Agree it at kickoff — same day, next day, whatever is true — and then keep it. A reliable next-day reply is better than an erratic instant one, because it lets them plan.
Try it
Set a recurring calendar block for your weekly updates, all clients at once, same day each week. Twenty minutes total, and it removes most "just checking in" emails from your inbox.