Getting a new website is exciting, but it can also feel a bit daunting, especially if you've never done it before. What will they ask? What do you need to have ready? How do you avoid wasting time, or worse, ending up with something that doesn't do what you needed?
The good news is that a little preparation goes a long way. You don't need a technical brief or a finished plan. But thinking through a few key things before you get in touch will help you get more accurate quotes, a smoother project and a better website.
Here's what we'd suggest preparing, roughly in order of importance.
1. Why you want a new website
This sounds obvious, but it's the most important question, and it's surprising how often it goes unanswered.
"Our website is old" is a reason, but it's not really a goal. Try to dig one level deeper. What would a better website actually do for your business?
For example:
- Generate more enquiries or quote requests
- Take bookings online and reduce phone calls
- Sell products directly
- Make you look more credible to larger clients
- Help recruit staff
- Reduce the number of repetitive questions your team answers
- Reflect a rebrand or a change in direction
It's fine to have more than one goal, but try to put them in order. A website designed primarily to generate leads looks quite different from one designed primarily to support existing customers.
Tip: If you can attach a number to it, even better. "We'd like around 20 enquiries a month instead of 5" gives a designer something concrete to design towards.
2. Who your customers are
Your website isn't really for you. It's for the people you want to reach. The more a web designer understands them, the better they can shape the site.
Think about:
- Who your best customers are: type of person or business, age, location, sector
- What problem they have when they come to you
- What they need to know before they'll get in touch
- What questions they typically ask
- What makes them choose you over a competitor
- How they're likely to find you: Google, social media, word of mouth, referrals
You don't need a formal marketing persona. A few honest notes will do.
3. Your budget
We know, nobody likes saying a number first. There's a worry that if you name a budget, the agency will simply quote exactly that.
In practice, sharing a budget, or at least a range, helps you far more than it hurts. Website costs vary enormously, and without a budget, an agency has to guess. They might propose something far beyond what you can afford, or something much more basic than you'd hoped for.
With a budget, a good agency can tell you honestly what's achievable, suggest where to focus the money, and propose a phased approach if needed.
Don't forget ongoing costs too: hosting, domain, maintenance and any marketing. (We wrote a whole article on how much a website costs in the UK if you'd like a sense of typical ranges.)
4. Your timeline
Is there a date the site needs to be live by? A product launch, an event, a trade show, the start of your busy season?
If so, say so upfront. A typical small business website often takes somewhere between six and twelve weeks from start to launch, depending on size and how quickly content and feedback come together. If you need it faster, it may be possible, but it's much easier to plan for if the agency knows from the start.
Be realistic about your own availability too. If you're going to be on holiday for three weeks in the middle of the project, it's helpful to know.
5. Examples of websites you like (and don't)
This is one of the most useful things you can bring to a first conversation. Collect three to five websites you like, and a note on what you like about each. They don't have to be in your industry.
Be specific where you can:
- "I like how clean and spacious this feels."
- "I like that the prices are really clear."
- "I love the photography on this one."
- "The booking process on this site is really easy."
Examples of sites you don't like are just as helpful. "Nothing too corporate like this one" tells a designer a lot.
Look at a few competitors too, and note what they do well and badly. It's useful context, and it helps ensure your site stands out rather than blending in.
6. Your branding
Gather whatever brand assets you already have:
- Your logo, ideally in high resolution or vector format (files ending in .svg, .eps, .ai or a high-res .png)
- Your brand colours, with colour codes if you have them
- Any fonts you use
- Brand guidelines, if you've had them created
If you don't have much, that's fine. Many agencies, us included, can help with branding alongside the website. But it's worth knowing upfront, because it affects both the scope and the timeline.
7. Your content, or a plan for it
Content, meaning the words, photos and videos on your site, is the single most common reason website projects are delayed. Designers can't finish pages without knowing what goes on them.
You don't need everything written before you get in touch. But it helps to think about:
What pages you need. A rough list is a great start: Home, About, Services (and maybe a page per service), Case Studies, Blog, Contact, and so on.
Who's writing the copy. Will you write it yourself, reuse content from your current site, or would you like the agency to write it? If you're writing it, be honest about how much time you'll have.
What photos you have. Do you have good-quality photos of your team, premises, products and work? If not, is a photoshoot an option? Real photos almost always outperform stock.
Existing content worth keeping. Blog posts, case studies, testimonials, FAQs. These can often be migrated to the new site.
8. Features and functionality
Make a list of anything your website needs to do beyond displaying information. For example:
- Contact or quote forms
- Online booking or appointments
- Selling products or taking payments
- A blog or news section
- Customer login or members' area
- Newsletter sign-up
- Integration with your CRM, accounting or booking software
- Multiple languages
- Job listings
Divide it into "must have" and "nice to have". It makes quotes much easier to compare and helps if you need to phase things in.
9. Your technical details
It's surprising how often nobody in a business knows where the website is hosted or who controls the domain name. Before starting a project, try to find out:
- Where your domain is registered (e.g. GoDaddy, 123 Reg, Namecheap) and who has the login
- Where your current website is hosted, and the login
- Who manages your business email, since changes to your domain settings can affect it
- Access to Google Analytics, Google Search Console and your Google Business Profile, if you have them
If the original web designer set things up in their own name, now is a good time to get ownership transferred to you. It's your business, and those accounts should belong to you.
10. Who'll be involved on your side
Decide who will be the main point of contact, and who needs to sign things off. Projects run much more smoothly when one person gathers feedback from everyone internally and passes on a single, consolidated set of comments.
If a business partner or director will want a say at the end, involve them from the beginning. Late opinions from someone who hasn't been part of the process are a very common source of delays and rework.
Questions to ask the web designer
Preparation cuts both ways. Here are some good questions to ask any agency you're considering:
- Can I see examples of similar websites you've built?
- What's included in your quote, and what would cost extra?
- How many rounds of revisions are included?
- Will I be able to update the site myself?
- Who will own the website, domain and content?
- What happens after launch? Do you offer support?
- How do you handle SEO when replacing an existing site?
- What do you need from me, and when?
Don't worry if you don't have everything
If you've read this far and thought "I don't know half of this", don't worry. A good web designer will help you work through it. Part of our job is asking the right questions and helping you figure out what you need.
But the more of this you can think about beforehand, the more productive that first conversation will be, and the better your website will be at the end.
Ready to get started?
Tell us a bit about your business and what you're hoping to achieve. Whatever stage you're at, we'll help you work out the next step.
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