A blank document called “Website materials” can delay a project more than choosing colours. How much should you write? Which photographs matter? Do you need everything ready before discussing the first design?
Start with a smaller, reliable set of information. Your supplier needs to understand the offer, the audience and the result you want. Well-organised facts are more useful than pages of general promotional language. Missing items can be managed when they are clearly identified.
Write a one-page brief
Explain what you do, whom you help, where you work and what a visitor should do next. A garage may need repair enquiries; a photographer may need people to view work and ask about dates. One main purpose makes it easier to choose the opening content.
Include what the website is not expected to do. If there is no shop, online payment or booking system, say so. This avoids two people using “order” to mean entirely different processes.
Describe each service through a real customer need
A list of service names leaves a lot unexplained. For each service, describe who it suits, what is included, how it works and what the customer receives. Add the questions you repeatedly answer in calls and messages.
Do not copy competitors’ descriptions. Google’s guidance emphasises helpful content for people. Your own process and practical experience give readers something more useful than a paragraph that could appear on any company’s website.
Explain how pricing really works
If you have a fixed price list, provide approved amounts, units and what each item includes. If quotes are individual, explain which information is needed to prepare one. Mention relevant limits such as a service area or minimum scope.
Avoid creating an attractive “from” price without clear conditions. A visitor should understand when the amount applies. If a detail is not decided, mark it as an open question so a working assumption does not accidentally become a published promise.
Choose images that explain something
Supply the best available logo files and photographs of your work, premises or team. Label what each image shows and where it can be used. An original file is usually more useful than a compressed preview copied from a chat.
A few suitable, authentic photographs can be a better start than a large unlabelled folder. If images are missing, discuss an alternative. Illustrations and AI-generated pictures must not pretend to document a real project.
- Identify the main logo and any light or dark variants.
- Name photographs by subject rather than leaving ambiguous copies.
- Record the author, permission to use and any required credit.
- Check sensitive information and identifiable people before sharing files.
Collect exact contact and operator information
Provide the correct business name, registration details, address, telephone, email and opening hours. Distinguish a registered office from the location customers should actually visit. Include links to the social profiles you actively maintain.
For an existing domain, identify the registrar and the person managing it. Do the same for business email. Arrange secure access separately rather than placing passwords in the shared brief. If replacing a website, identify important pages whose content or addresses need preserving.
Explain what you like about your references
Two or three example websites are enough when each has a reason attached. Perhaps you like the clear service list, image treatment or contact journey. Without that explanation, a supplier may imitate the part you cared about least.
Mention preferences you want to avoid, such as overly formal language or distracting animation. References should help establish a shared direction, not become instructions to copy another business’s identity, writing or photographs.
Choose one approval contact and label final files
Nominate someone to collect feedback and approve materials on your side. Conflicting requests from several people through different channels make it difficult to know which version is current.
Keep approved material separate from drafts. For each change, state the location and intended result. “Replace the opening paragraph on Services with this text” gives a much clearer instruction than “It still needs something”.
Send a usable foundation and name the gaps
Do not wait for a perfect slogan if you can already explain the service and provide accurate contact details. Your supplier may help organise or write the content where that work is part of the agreed scope. They need to know which facts are settled.
Read the brief as a new customer. Can you understand the offer and how to enquire? If so, you have a useful starting point. Resolve the remaining issues through a specific question list rather than another week staring at an empty document.
