What to prepare before a website build

The projects that run smoothly tend to have one thing in common: the client arrived with a few things already sorted. None of it is complicated, and none of it needs to be perfect. Here is what actually helps.

Know who you are talking to

Not demographics. Specifics. Which customers do you want more of, and which do you quietly hope stop calling? What are they worried about before they get in touch? If you can describe your best customer in a couple of sentences, the whole project gets easier.

Gather what you already have

Old photos, testimonials, pricing, a list of services, the text of your current site if you have one. It does not need to be organised. It just needs to be in one place. I would rather work from your real words than invent them, even if the writing gets rewritten later.

If you have brand assets such as a logo, fonts, or colours, dig up the original files rather than a screenshot from an email. If you do not have any of that, it is not a problem. Branding can be part of the build.

Think about photography early

Photography and video take longer to arrange than people expect, and stock imagery is one of the fastest ways to make a site feel generic. If we need to shoot something, planning it during the strategy stage means it is ready when design starts instead of holding up launch.

Decide who has the final say

One decision-maker keeps a project moving. Feedback gathered from five people with no one arbitrating is the single most reliable way to stall a build. Collect opinions by all means, then have one person make the call.

Everything else, SEO foundations, CMS setup, training so you can update the site yourself afterwards, I handle as part of the build. You do not need to have any of it figured out before we start.