What to send your web designer before they start

Almost every website that runs late runs late for the same reason: the developer is waiting on the client. Not because clients are difficult, but because nobody told them what was needed until the moment it was needed.

Here is the whole list up front. Most of it you can pull together in an evening.

The essentials

Your business name, exactly as you want it written. Including whether it is "Ltd", whether there is an ampersand, and whether the first letters are capitalised. Sounds trivial. It appears on every page.

A one-line description of what you do. Not marketing language, just how you would say it to someone in a pub. "I fit kitchens and bathrooms" is perfect.

Your services, listed. Just a list. Bullet points in a message is fine. If some are more profitable or more wanted than others, say so, because that changes what goes at the top of the page.

The areas you cover. Towns, postcodes or "within 20 miles of X". This directly affects whether local customers can find you.

Contact details. Phone number, email, and whether you want WhatsApp on the site. Also: which of these do you actually want people using? Some businesses want calls, some would much rather have messages.

Opening hours. Including whether you take calls at weekends.

Anything you already have

Your logo. In the best quality you have. If it is only a low-resolution image from a Facebook banner, say so. I would rather know upfront than discover it at build time.

Photos. Of your work, your premises, your team, your products. More is better. Send them at full size, not resized for WhatsApp.

Existing website, if any. Even a bad one is useful. It tells me what you already have written and what is worth keeping.

Social pages. Facebook, Instagram, Google Business Profile. There is usually more usable content in these than owners realise.

Any printed material. Business cards, leaflets, van livery, quote templates. These often contain your existing colours and wording.

The questions worth thinking about

These take five minutes each and make a real difference to the result.

Who is your ideal customer? Homeowners or landlords? Local or national? Price-sensitive or quality-first? A site built for one is wrong for the other.

What do people always ask before booking? Every business has three or four. Those questions become your FAQ, and answering them upfront saves you the phone calls.

Why do people choose you over the competition? Years of experience, guarantee, being local, being cheaper, being better. Whatever it genuinely is. This is usually the single most valuable thing you can tell me.

What do you want someone to do on the site? Call, message, fill in a form, book, or buy. Pick the main one. Everything gets designed around it.

Are there two or three websites you like? They do not need to be in your industry. Competitors' sites work, or just sites you find easy to use. Send links and say what you like about them. This saves an entire round of revisions.

Anything you definitely do not want? Colours you hate, a competitor's style you want to avoid, a stock photo cliché that makes you wince. Equally useful.

Photos, the part people underestimate

For trades, salons, restaurants and anyone whose work is visible, photos do more selling than any copy I can write. Some practical notes:

• Real photos of your own work beat stock every time. A slightly imperfect photo of a real kitchen you fitted is worth more than a perfect stock image of someone else's.
• Daylight, phone camera, landscape orientation. That is genuinely enough. Modern phones are fine.
• Before and after, where relevant. Extremely persuasive for anything involving renovation or repair.
• Wide shots and detail shots. The whole room, then the bit you are proud of.
• Do not send screenshots of photos. Send the originals.

If you do not have good photos, tell me. I will give you a specific shot list rather than leaving you guessing, and it is usually twenty minutes of work.

What you do not need to have ready

Written copy. Most business owners do not have it and should not have to write it. Send me the raw information and I will structure and draft the pages, then you tell me what is wrong. That is much easier than starting from a blank page.

A finished idea of the design. That is my job. Preferences help, a full specification does not.

A domain. If you do not have one, I will help you pick and register it in your own name.

The realistic timeline

Send everything above in one go, and a straightforward business site is usually designed, built and ready for review within five to seven working days.

Send it in pieces over three weeks, and the project takes three weeks. Not because the work is slow, but because it keeps stopping.

That is genuinely the whole difference.