What to prepare before building your small-business website

1. Choose the main goal

Decide what a useful visit looks like for your business. Do you want someone to send an enquiry, request a quote, book an appointment or buy a product? Pick the main action before choosing a design.

For a straightforward service business, a clear explanation of your work and an easy contact route may be enough. Taking payments or accepting bookings introduces extra requirements that should be included in the initial brief.

Write down who you serve, where you work and the two or three questions people ask before contacting you. Those answers are a useful starting point for the website.

2. Plan your pages

A five-page website could use Home, About, Services, FAQs and Contact. That is a starting point, not a rule. If customers need detailed information about different services, individual service pages may be more useful than a separate FAQ page.

For each page, write one sentence explaining its purpose. If two pages do the same job, consider combining them. If a page tries to cover several unrelated services, discuss whether the scope needs to expand.

Include any required policy pages in the page-count discussion. Do not assume that a five-page quote includes an unlimited number of extra pages.

3. Gather text, images and brand files

Prepare a description of each service in your own words: what is included, who it is suitable for and how a customer gets started. Specific details are more useful than claims such as “the best service”.

• Your logo, preferably as an SVG or a high-resolution transparent image.
• Final business name, public email address and other contact details you want displayed.
• Approved service descriptions, business background and genuine qualifications.
• Photos you own or have permission to publish.
• Testimonials or project examples with permission from the people concerned.

If you need help writing the text or sourcing images, include that in the quote. Supplied-content packages usually assume that these materials will be ready before the build.

4. Check domain ownership and account access

If you already own a domain, identify who manages it and make sure you can access the account. Keep the domain registered to your business and agree which accounts you will control after handover.

Tell your designer whether the domain is also used for business email. Website changes need to be planned around existing email records. Use an agreed secure method for granting access instead of putting passwords into a contact form.

If you are keeping your current hosting, have its suitability checked before committing to the project. Ask who will be responsible for backups, updates and troubleshooting after launch.

5. Agree the build price and ongoing costs

Ask for the one-off build and recurring costs to be shown separately. Check domain renewals, hosting, email, paid themes and plugins, support and any minimum commitment.

For example, InstaIT’s WordPress starter build is €499 plus VAT for up to five pages. Optional starter hosting and care is €39/month plus VAT. Choosing twelve months of that care brings the build and care total to €967 plus VAT, before separately priced extras.

Agree the revision allowance and what counts as additional work. Adding a new page or booking system after approving the scope is different from correcting text during an included review round.

6. Make a simple launch checklist

Before approving the website, read every page, check the layout on your phone and test each contact route. Send a test enquiry and confirm it reaches the intended inbox.

Confirm that you know how to request changes, who handles technical maintenance and how you can obtain a copy of the website. Discuss search and analytics setup where appropriate, including the way visitor consent will be handled.

A website launch is a starting point. Keep service details accurate, add genuine examples as the business grows and judge progress by useful enquiries as well as visits.