Website planning
Planning a business website project
A useful brief explains what the website should help people do and what needs to change. You can start with a page of notes and develop it with the person building the site. These questions help bring the important decisions into view.
Give the website a clear purpose
Write a sentence about the main result you want. For example: “Help prospective commercial clients understand our work and send us a relevant enquiry.”
Think about the visitors you most want to reach, the questions they are likely to have and the next step they should be able to take. Use that to decide what the site needs to explain.
Look at what you already have
Gather the current pages, useful text, images, documents and examples of work. Mark what to keep, update or retire.
Note what is missing and who can supply or approve it. Confirm permission before publishing customer names, project photographs or testimonials. Agree who will produce any new material the launch depends on.
Map the pages and the enquiry path
Give each page a purpose, the questions it needs to answer and a next step. Use navigation labels that a new visitor will recognise.
Then follow the path of a possible enquiry:
- Where might the visitor arrive?
- What will they want to know before getting in touch?
- Will they use email, a form, a booking tool or a phone number?
- Who receives the enquiry and follows it up?
- How will the visitor know what happens next?
Understand the existing setup
Identify who manages the domain, hosting and email. Note booking, payment, customer-management or other systems connected to the website.
Agree which parts will change and which need to keep working. If pages move, include redirects from the old addresses. Confirm how the business will retain access to its accounts and content.
Agree what will be built and checked
Ask for a clear list of pages, features and content work. Agree who writes the copy, supplies images, reviews the design and approves launch.
Include checks for phone layouts, keyboard navigation, readable content, working links and redirects. Follow the enquiry path through to actual receipt at the destination, whether it uses email or a form. A working button or confirmation message alone does not prove delivery.
Plan for the day after launch
Agree who handles hosting, renewals, updates, backups and access. Include website security in the discussion, such as multi-factor authentication for administration accounts.
Distinguish occasional updates to supplied text or images from new pages, features and regular publishing. Record who handles each kind of work and how it is agreed.
Record who can access the source and content, which licences are needed and any platform limits on moving the site. A checked preview still needs an approved launch and checks on the published site.