If you’re thinking about a new website, you might be wondering how much you need to have ready before speaking to a web designer. Do you need all your text written? A folder full of professional photographs? A detailed plan of every page?
The reassuring answer is that you can start the conversation before any of that is finished. Part of my job is to help you work out what the website needs, how it should be organised and what will make it useful to your customers.
A little preparation does help, though. It makes it easier to agree the right scope, give you an accurate quote and keep the project moving once work begins. Here’s what to think about, what to gather and what we can work through together.
Start with what you want the website to achieve
You don’t need a formal brief. A few notes about your business and what you want to improve are a good starting point.
Perhaps your current website looks dated, doesn’t explain your services properly or attracts enquiries for work you no longer want. You might be launching a business, adding online sales or trying to win larger projects.
Try to identify your main priorities:
- Which services or products do you most want to promote?
- Who would you like more enquiries from?
- What should visitors do: call, complete a form, book an appointment or buy?
- What would make the new website a worthwhile investment for you?
For example, a landscaping business wanting more complete garden transformations needs to explain and demonstrate that work clearly. A gallery dominated by lawn mowing and hedge cutting could give visitors a different impression, however good the design looks.
Think about the questions your customers ask
You already know things about your customers that a designer needs to learn. Think about the conversations you have before someone decides to work with you.
What do people ask about price, timescales, the process or the area you cover? What reassures them? Are there common misunderstandings you find yourself explaining repeatedly?
Those answers help shape the content. If customers regularly ask whether you take on small jobs, for instance, the website should make that clear. If they need confidence that you can handle a large commercial project, relevant examples will matter.
A short list of common questions is often more useful at this stage than a polished paragraph about being passionate or offering excellent service.
Gather your content, even if it needs work
You don’t need to write every page before getting in touch. It does help to gather the information you already have and identify where you need support.
Useful material includes:
- Descriptions of your services or products.
- Your business background and information about your team.
- The locations you serve, opening hours and contact details.
- Project examples, customer feedback and relevant qualifications or accreditations.
- Existing brochures, proposals or other material that explains your work.
If you have a website already, note which pages are accurate, which need rewriting and which can go. We can review its structure together rather than automatically copying everything into a new design.
Decide who will write the text
Copywriting needs a clear owner. You might supply finished text, provide rough notes for a copywriter or work through the content with support. Any writing help should be agreed in the scope and budget.
Even with a copywriter involved, you’ll need to supply the facts and check the result. Someone outside your business won’t automatically know the detail of your services or which claims you can support.
As the content develops, a shared document with a heading for each planned page helps keep things organised. Include the latest approved wording and clearly mark anything still to be decided.
Find your logo files and brand assets
If you have an existing logo, gather the original files rather than relying on a small image copied from social media. SVG, EPS, AI or a suitable PDF can be useful; if you aren’t sure what you have, send the available files and I can check them.
Brand guidelines, colour references, font names and examples of printed material also help. If you’ve licensed a particular font, we’ll need to check whether the licence covers using it on the website.
You don’t need a complete rebrand to start a web project. We can discuss whether your current identity gives us what we need or whether any preparation is worth doing first.
Plan your photographs and project examples
Photography has a big influence on how a website feels. Good images help visitors understand your work, see the people behind the business and judge whether you’re right for them.
Gather the original, full-resolution files where possible. Images downloaded from messaging apps or copied from an old website may be too small or compressed for larger layouts.
Depending on your business, useful subjects might include your team, premises, products, completed work and the process of delivering it. For a case study, add a few notes explaining the customer’s brief, what you did and the outcome. The context helps turn a photograph into evidence of your work.
If you need a photographer, plan that early. We can discuss the types of shots and compositions the website will need before the shoot. A wide image suitable for a desktop banner may also need an alternative crop for a phone screen.
For example, leaving photography until the end could mean the design is ready but the launch is waiting for a finished project, a photographer’s availability or suitable weather. Agreeing the image plan early makes that dependency easier to manage.
Only supply images and testimonials you have permission to use. If material comes from a photographer, supplier or previous agency, check what use has been agreed.
Explain what the website needs to do
You don’t need to choose plugins or write a technical specification. Describe the task you want a visitor or member of staff to complete.
For example, “Customers need to book an appointment, pay a deposit and receive a confirmation” gives us a useful starting point. We can then work through availability, cancellations, payment arrangements and how bookings will be managed.
Mention requirements such as:
- Online payments, product sales or delivery options.
- Booking systems, event registration or appointment scheduling.
- Memberships, customer accounts or restricted content.
- Connections to a CRM, mailing platform or other business software.
- Forms that need particular information or must reach different people.
For an online shop, you’ll also need to plan product descriptions, photographs, prices, variations, stock information and fulfilment details. We can agree who supplies and uploads that material as part of the project.
Separate what you need at launch from ideas for later. That helps keep the initial scope realistic while allowing for future development.
Work out who controls your existing accounts
If we’re replacing a website, we’ll need to establish where the domain is registered, where the site is hosted and who currently manages it. Your business email may use a separate service, so that’s worth identifying too.
It also helps to know who has access to your website administration, Google Analytics and Google Search Console, if you use them. Existing performance information can help us understand which pages are already bringing people to the site and what needs preserving during the change.
You don’t need to send passwords in your first enquiry. Initially, just identify the accounts and who controls them. When access is needed, we can arrange an appropriate way to provide it, such as adding a separate user.
If a previous supplier holds everything, find that out early. Access, domain transfers and coordination with an IT provider can affect the launch plan. Identifying email arrangements also helps us plan website changes without accidentally disrupting business email.
Share a realistic budget and any fixed deadlines
A budget range helps me suggest a suitable approach. It lets us discuss the level of design, content support and functionality that fits, and decide whether anything should be introduced later.
Think about ongoing costs as well as the initial build: hosting, maintenance and any paid services the site depends on. Sebdigital offers both one-off builds and subscription packages, so we can discuss how you’d prefer to fund the project and manage it afterwards.
If you have a deadline, explain what sits behind it. A launch tied to an exhibition or a business opening needs different planning from a preferred completion date with some flexibility.
The schedule also depends on content, photography, access and your availability to review the work. If anything is likely to take time, it’s better to include it in the plan from the outset.
Choose who will coordinate feedback
Decide who will be the main point of contact, who needs to contribute and who has final approval. A project can involve several people, but one person should bring their feedback together.
Consolidated feedback makes it easier to resolve conflicting requests and use revision time well. Comments are most helpful when they explain the problem: “Our priority service is difficult to find” gives us something clearer to address than “This page doesn’t feel right”.
Set aside time to review the designs and the site before launch. Check contact details, service descriptions, prices where shown and how enquiries should reach you. Your knowledge of the business is an essential part of that review.
What you don’t need to have ready
You don’t need to arrive with finished page layouts, a complete sitemap or a list of technical tools. We can work out the structure, design and suitable functionality together.
A few example websites can help explain your preferences, especially if you can say what appeals to you: the clarity of the navigation, the photography or the way a service is explained. You don’t need to find one site that does everything, and the aim is to create something appropriate to your business.
It’s also fine to say you need help with content, images or deciding what should be included. Knowing where support is needed lets us allow for it properly.
Your website preparation checklists
Before our first conversation
- A brief explanation of your business and the customers you want to reach.
- Your main reasons for creating or replacing the website.
- Any essential features you already know you’ll need.
- A rough budget range and any important deadlines.
- Your existing website address, if you have one.
- An idea of where you might need help, such as text or photography.
Before the relevant design and build work begins
- An agreed scope, page structure and plan for any later phases.
- A clear owner and delivery dates for text, images and other content.
- Available logo files and relevant brand information.
- A photography plan, including any images still to be taken.
- The practical details of bookings, payments or other essential features.
- A plan for access to existing accounts and coordination with other suppliers.
- A main contact, an approval process and time allocated for reviews.
Ready to talk about your website?
You can get in touch while your plans are still taking shape. A conversation can help establish what you need, what’s already available and what needs preparing next.
At Sebdigital, you’ll work directly with me, Seb, to turn your business knowledge into a clear plan for the website. Tell me a little about your project, and we’ll work through the next steps together.