Before you start: a small-business website checklist

Describe the business and its customers

Explain what you do in ordinary language and who normally buys from you. Include the services you want to promote first, any work you do not take on, and the areas you cover. For an online service, say that customers can work with you remotely.

• Your business name and preferred contact name.
• Your main services and any important limits.
• Your customers and the places or markets you serve.
• The current website address, if you have one.

For example: “I maintain gardens for homeowners around Lancaster. Lawn cutting and hedge trimming are the main services; I do not offer landscaping.” That is more useful for a page plan than “a professional gardening solution”.

Choose the action visitors should take

Decide whether the main route should be a phone call, an email, an enquiry form or another agreed function. Think about the information needed to respond: a tradesperson may need a job description and town, while a consultant may need the type of advice requested.

A form that delivers to your inbox and a form that opens the visitor’s email app behave differently. Agree which you need. If bookings, payments, uploads or customer accounts are required, raise them in the first conversation so they can be assessed and quoted.

Gather accurate text and photographs

Collect the facts you already use when answering customers: service details, opening hours where relevant, prices you want to publish and useful preparation instructions. Rough notes are a useful starting point. Full copywriting or additional content work needs its own agreed scope.

• Check phone numbers, email addresses and business details.
• Choose photographs that show your actual work clearly.
• Explain what each photograph shows and whether it is finished work or progress.
• Supply your existing logo and any relevant original files.
• Confirm permission to use images, testimonials and other supplied material.

Keep the original photograph files if you have them. A large collection is less useful than a smaller selection with clear captions. Do not present two views of the same job as separate projects.

Check domain, hosting and access

Say whether you own a domain and have hosting already. Suitable existing hosting can be used; deployment and any migration should be included in the quote. Domain and hosting charges, including renewals, are separate from the website build.

Keep these accounts in your name. Use a delegated access invitation where the provider supports it, rather than emailing passwords. If an existing site is being replaced, explain what needs to stay, including important pages, enquiry destinations and business email.

You can make an initial enquiry without choosing a hosting plan. It is better to understand the requirements before buying something that may not fit.

Share the budget, timing and editing needs

Give a realistic budget range and mention any genuine deadline. If you are still exploring, say so. List what is ready now and what you expect to supply later; missing photographs or text can affect the agreed schedule.

Also explain who will make decisions and who will edit the website after handover. A site you update yourself needs a different plan from one where occasional changes are requested. Revision allowances, ongoing care and support arrangements belong in the written quote.

Check the plan before approving work

Before work starts, read the proposed pages, functions, content responsibilities, costs, timetable and deliverables. Check the enquiry destination and whether the agreement includes uploading the website or supplying files for someone else to deploy.

At handover, check that the agreed source or editing access, image and logo files, account ownership details and relevant guidance are included. For an editable website, identify a representative text or image change you should be able to make yourself. Then agree what must be checked before release and what you receive at handover. Keep your feedback together so changes are clear. New features or extra pages need a separate discussion; a defect in agreed work still needs fixing.

Read the project process, compare website options, or send your initial enquiry. There is no need to complete a long document just to ask whether a project is suitable.