Website Prep List: 10 Things To Do Before Your Project Starts

Planning a website update? A little preparation goes a long way in helping your project run smoothly, keeping it on track, on time, and on budget. Your website is a major part of your business and how clients connect and decide to work with you, so you can’t start prepping too soon or putting thoughtful consideration into what you need.

Cherry on top: Knowing all of this information will also help your designer/developer provide an accurate quote so there are no surprises for either of you.

Before you jump into a website project feet first, here are 10 things you can do now to make sure your project is strategic and successful:

1. Make A Wish List: In your perfect world, how would you like your website to work? Maybe your process could be improved with less steps, or could work better on mobile, or it would be great if clients were able to book online. Think about what you’d love your website to do and tell your web designer. They can help you figure out if it’s possible and how to make it happen.
2. Revisit Your Goals: Have your goals changed from when you last updated your website? What is the number one thing you want your website to do? Book more sales? Grow your email list? Build brand authority? This will help guide your designer as decisions are made for messaging, client journey, design and conversion strategy.
3. Review Your Customer Journey: Imagine your dream client landing on your website, do they know right away what you do and how you can help them? Are they able to easily tell where to go next (learn about your services, contact you, book you, etc.)? Make it easy for them to say “Yes!!”.
4. Audit Your Content: Look at each page of your website. Is your copy up to date or is there a lot of outdated information? Is it clear and easy to understand? Update what’s needed and think about including relevant FAQ. Your web designer may recommend an SEO-focused copywriter for your project, smart! Updated, fresh content helps with SEO. Your web designer will make recommendations on a proposed/update sitemap if applicable to your project as well.
5. Book A Photoshoot (if needed): Get updated photos of your team, products, or action photos. Fresh images that portray you and your brand/services will make you look professional and trustworthy. Think out of the box here too…maybe a short video would work for your brand like some drone footage of your city skyline or you working with a client.
6. Collect Testimonials: Reach out to past clients for a testimonial or feedback. Get their permission to add to your website and/or share on social media. Put them all in a doc along with the client’s name and photo/logo or business name, if applicable. Now is the perfect time to highlight your happy clients to add credibility and warmth. Be sure to gather your Google Reviews too.
7. Organize Assets & Images: Gather all of your logo files and brand assets so they are easy to share with your designer. Sort through your current images and weed out any that are dated or low-res/low quality. For the keepers, put them all in folder you can easily share with your designer (such as a Google Drive folder or Dropbox folder). Your designer can help you decide which images to use or if they suggest refreshed, professional images.
8. Look At Your Analytics & SEO Optimization: If you have analytics set up, take a look at your numbers: traffic sources, top pages, bounce rates. Who are your competitors? What are your main keywords? What do you think people type when searching for your services? Your designer/developer will help you with SEO basics and best practices and may recommend including and SEO audit with your project. Their SEO contact can provide recommendations on what’s performing well and edits to help boost what may be under performing. Knowing your data before hand will help you know what’s happening and how they can help you optimize.
9. Find Styles You Like: Grab a few (3 to 5) links of websites you like. These don’t need to be sites that provide the same service Your designer will have some thoughts and ideas on this, but if there are things you really love, share them to help them get the vibe you’re going for.
10. Plan Ahead: 
    • Plan for growth (functional strategy):  Let your designer know of any future plans for new services or other business plans. This way they can design and build a site the fits what you need now and that can easily evolve and grow as needed.
    • Consider Ongoing Maintenance: Decide if you will be the one who takes care of backups, updates the software, monitors security or if you’d rather have an expert handle it. This is such an important thing to include, here’s how my website care plans work.
    • Check Timeline & Availability: Plan ahead for when you’ll be available to work on a website project with your designer. Along with that, you’ll want to reach out as soon as you can to get on their schedule so they are available when you are.

Bonus Tips:

📌 10 Basic Essentials All Website Owners Should Know — Make sure you have access to your domain, hosting, and other critical website info before your project starts.

📌 When IS the Right Time for a Redesign? — Wondering if you need a refresh or rebuild? This guide helps you decide based on your business goals and changes.

You Got This

A successful website project starts long before the design and development begins. Smart prep takes place months before . It will help you feel confident knowing exactly what you need, your designer will have a clear direction to work from, and you’ll end up with a website that truly works for your business. Reach out early so your web designer can help you prep and guide you through each step. This prep checklist will help you get ready so you can create something amazing!

Here’s to a website that works as hard as you do! Learn more about Next Level websites here.