What to prepare before your website project starts

The first week of a project goes fastest when the basics are already in one place. Here’s what we ask every client to gather before the kickoff meeting.

Think of it as a website project checklist for the client side. None of it is technical, most of it takes an afternoon, and every item you bring saves a round of emails later. Below is the list, then why each item matters and what to do when something is missing.

Your checklist

The website project checklist, item by item

Logins for your domain, hosting and current site

These are the items that most often hold up a launch. The domain may have been bought years ago by a former employee or an old agency, and nobody remembers the password. If you are not sure where your domain is registered, an ICANN lookup shows the registrar, so you know whom to contact. Start this early: recovering an account can take days.

Logo files

A logo copied from a website or a WhatsApp image is too small and blurry for a modern screen. Ask whoever designed it for the original files. An SVG scales to any size; a large PNG with a transparent background is the next best thing.

Brand colours and fonts

If you have a brand guide, send it. If you don’t, a few things you already print, such as a brochure, a menu or a business card, tell us a lot. We will turn them into colours and type that work on screen.

Three websites you like

They don’t need to be in your industry. One sentence on what you like about each, such as “the photos feel warm” or “I find prices quickly”, is more useful than a long list of links.

A rough list of pages

Home, about, services, contact is a fine start. We will refine it into a sitemap together in the first stage, based on what your customers need to find.

Why the goal matters most

Everything else on the list saves time. The goal shapes the whole site. A site built to bring in enquiries puts the contact options everywhere; a site built to sell puts the products first. If you only prepare one thing, make it this.

Content you can gather now

Content is the item that delays most projects, so it helps to start collecting before kickoff, even if nothing is final:

• Photos of your team, your place and your work. Real photos beat stock images almost every time.
• Your services or products with prices, or at least a price range.
• Client logos and short testimonials you have permission to use.
• The questions customers ask most often, and your usual answers.

You don’t need polished text yet. Our note on why we start every website with words explains how a rough draft becomes the copy on each page.

Don’t have everything?

That’s normal. Bring what you have, and we’ll work out the rest together in the first stage, Think.

Questions people ask

How long does it take to prepare?

For most businesses, an afternoon for the checklist and a week or two to collect content and photos. Logins are the exception: start those first.

Do we need a written brief as well?

It helps. A one-page brief covers the goal, the audience and the budget, and this website project checklist covers the materials. Our guide to writing a brief your web studio will love shows what to put on that page.

What happens after the kickoff meeting?

We agree on the scope and the sitemap, then move on to design. You can read what happens in each stage in how we run a project, or compare what each of our website packages includes.