What should you prepare before hiring a web designer?

Write the first three sentences

Explain what you do, who needs it and why you are commissioning the website. “Make it modern” describes a preference. “People keep asking whether we repair their appliance, and the contact page is difficult to use on a phone” gives the project something to address.

Choose the main action a customer should take and explain what follows. If they request an appointment, does someone call them back or is a time confirmed immediately? If they send a photograph for a quote, who receives it? These details affect the content, form and tools.

Bring evidence you already have: repeated customer questions, examples of enquiries about the wrong service, or a contact form that fails. Label a suspicion as a question to investigate. You do not need to prove every problem before making contact.

Gather facts that only your business can confirm

Prepare your service names, who each service is for, important exclusions and the genuine areas you cover. Confirm contact details, opening hours and how quotes or appointments work. For premises customers visit, include arrival information that helps them find you.

Explain the distinctions that customers miss. A repair business might service some appliance types and exclude others. A consultant may offer an introductory call before a paid engagement. Your designer needs the actual boundaries to write useful pages and contact prompts.

Provide the exact business name, qualifications and memberships you want shown, with supporting details and permission to use associated marks. Flag information from the old website that is no longer accurate.

Make a small content inventory

Sort what you have into three groups: ready to use, needs work, and missing. Include copy, logos, photographs, project examples and testimonials. This is more helpful than an unlabelled folder of files.

• Ready to use: current information and assets you have permission to publish, with names or captions explaining them.
• Needs work: rough notes, old service descriptions or photographs that need selection and editing.
• Missing: information to confirm, new photography, writing help or permissions still to obtain.

For photographs and testimonials, record where they came from and any permission limits. Send original logo files if you have them. Explain which work shown belongs to your business and what you did on the project.

A new business can start with an honest introduction and clear service information. Use labelled concepts where relevant to your work; publish real customer evidence when you have it.

List what must survive a change of website

Record useful page addresses, downloads, forms, booking links and connected tools. Identify pages that bring relevant visits or enquiries where you have data. Share what already works so it does not get lost in the redesign.

Write down who controls the domain, hosting, business email, website platform and any booking or payment accounts. The brief needs the account owners and the person who can arrange access. Keep passwords out of it and agree a suitable invitation or access process later.

Flag any business email using your domain. The launch plan needs to account for it when website hosting or DNS settings change. Also mention subscriptions, renewal dates and any agreement with your current supplier that affects handover.

If you are unsure how much to replace, use the refresh or rebuild guide to prepare questions about the current site.

A worked example for a local repair business

This is an illustrative brief, not a past client project. It shows the level of detail that makes an initial conversation useful.

We repair domestic washing machines and dishwashers. Customers often ask whether we cover their area and whether we repair their appliance type. We need those answers to be easy to find on a phone.

The main action is a repair enquiry. A customer describes the appliance and fault and gives us a way to reply. We then contact them to discuss availability. The website should not confirm an appointment or take payment.

We can provide our service information, current logo and photographs of our own work. We need help writing the pages. Before publication, we will confirm the service area, opening hours and appliance types we accept.

Our current domain also handles business email. We need to identify the account owner and preserve email when the website changes. We have not decided whether customers should upload photographs or send them after our first reply.

The unresolved photograph question is useful. Uploads affect the form, storage and handling of customer information. Naming the decision lets the designer discuss the options before it becomes an assumed feature.

For visual references, choose a few examples and explain the particular feature you find useful: the service menu, project photography or short contact process. That gives direction without asking the designer to copy another business.

Decide who approves the work and what the deadline means

Name one person who collects feedback and approves the result. If a partner or team member must review it too, include them in the schedule from the start.

State your budget and what it must cover, including any content work and ongoing services. Explain a fixed deadline: a new premises opening, for example, creates a different constraint from wanting the work finished soon. Tell the designer when your information and feedback will be available.

Ask the proposal to name the pages, features, content responsibilities, review stages, launch checks and handover. Clarify what you will be able to edit and who will maintain the website. The website cost guide helps you compare those inclusions.

A website brief you can copy

Copy these prompts into a document. One or two sentences per answer is enough for a first discussion. Write “need help deciding” where appropriate.

1. Business and customers: what do we do, for whom, and where?
2. Reason for the project: what is difficult now, and what evidence do we have?
3. Main action: what should a visitor do, what happens next, and who handles it?
4. Information: which services, exclusions and practical details must the site explain?
5. Content: what is ready, what needs editing, and where do we need new writing or photography?
6. Current site and tools: which addresses, downloads, forms or subscriptions must be preserved?
7. Account owners: who controls the domain, hosting, business email and connected services?
8. Approval: who supplies facts, collects feedback and signs off the work?
9. Budget and timing: what must the budget cover, and is there a firm deadline with a reason?
10. After launch: what will we update ourselves, and what support will we need?

Before sending it, remove passwords and private customer records. Use an anonymised example if you need to explain an enquiry problem. Check that the brief distinguishes essential launch requirements from things you might add later.

You can use the small-business website checklist to spot missing information before agreeing the page list.