What to prepare before designing your business website

Preparing your website content gives design decisions a clear foundation. You do not need perfect copy or technical knowledge, but you should gather reliable information about your services, customers and the action you want to make easier.

Choosing a template before defining the message can lead to filler sections and unanswered questions. Use this brief before commissioning a design or refreshing your current website.

1. Describe your customer and their need

Think of a specific person who may need your service. What problem are they solving? What do they need to know before contacting you? What concerns do they raise? Use real customer questions without publishing personal information.

Avoid descriptions such as “we work for everyone”. You can serve several groups while choosing which should recognise your offer first on the homepage.

2. Define the website’s goal

Describe an observable action: service enquiries, product purchases, booking requests or calls. Secondary goals are possible, but the homepage needs a priority.

Explain how the action is handled, for example: “Requests reach the studio’s inbox and are reviewed each working day.” This helps design the form and its messages without promising a process that does not exist.

3. Prepare a service brief

Gather a short information block for each service. It does not have to be final sales copy; a design or writing team can help structure it.

• Service name and intended customer.
• Need addressed and an outcome that can be agreed.
• What is included and quoted separately.
• Process and materials the client must provide.
• FAQs and the next step to request it.

Mark undecided prices and deadlines as pending. Do not fill gaps with provisional numbers that could accidentally be published.

4. Gather evidence and visual assets

Find high-quality logos, brand versions and photographs you have rights to use. Organise files by service or project and identify current versions.

Add context to reviews and case studies and confirm permission to publish them. Clearly distinguish real projects from concepts. A relevant original photograph may explain your work better than a generic image that does not represent it.

5. Clarify pages, languages and features

List initial pages: home, services, about, contact and a blog if you can maintain one. Then list features such as booking, payments, languages or integrations with your team’s tools.

Separate launch essentials from later additions. If you want an editable site, specify what changes frequently: copy, prices, images, articles or whole pages. This informs the right editing approach.

6. Decide who reviews and approves

Choose one person to consolidate feedback and confirm accuracy. Separate reviews by several people can create contradictory instructions or outdated versions.

Before launch, check names, contact details, links, forms and mobile copy. List access rights and responsibilities: who maintains the site, who publishes and who investigates missing enquiries.

A brief you can copy

• Business: what we do and for whom.
• Goal: what visitors should be able to do.
• Services: main offer and scope.
• Content: available copy and images.
• Features: essential and future requirements.
• Editing: what the team will change after launch.
• Owner: who reviews and approves.

See our professional website guide and contact form guide. Once you have the initial information, tell us about your project and we can assess next steps.