What Your Web Designer Needs From You: A Content Checklist for Service Businesses

Before a website project starts, your designer needs six things from you: a list of your services with what each includes, the area you cover, real photos, your logo files, access to your domain and current site, and how you want customers to contact you. The copy, the page structure and the design can be worked out together. Those six can't, because only you have them.

I ask every client for this list at the start. On my redesign page I say most small business redesigns take about 2 to 4 weeks, and the thing that moves that number most is how ready the content is. A design can be finished in days and then sit for two weeks waiting for photos.

The checklist

Send these in the first week. Rough is fine.

1. Your services. Each one, what's included, what isn't, and who it's for. Prices too, or "from" prices, if you're happy to show them.
2. Your service area. Towns, suburbs or postcodes. Say where you'd rather not travel, too.
3. Photos. You, your team, your vehicle, your premises, your finished work. Before and after shots if your trade has them.
4. Logo files. The original file your logo was made in (SVG, AI, EPS or PDF), not a screenshot or a social media profile picture.
5. Access. The login for wherever your domain is registered, and for your current website or builder, or add your designer as a user.
6. How enquiries should work. Phone, WhatsApp, a form, a booking link. And where each enquiry should land: which inbox, which phone.

What each item is for

The services list becomes the structure. If I have to guess what your "deep clean" covers, the page will be vague, and vague pages don't get enquiries. A plumber who does emergency call-outs and planned bathroom refits has two different customers with two different worries. That's often what decides between one page or several. My page on plumber websites shows how I'd split it.

The service area goes on the first screen. "Cleaning in Leeds and surrounding villages" tells a visitor in two seconds whether to keep reading. It also helps search engines connect you with the places you work. My page on cleaning company websites has more on how to show it.

Photos are what make people believe you. Phone photos are fine if they're sharp and well lit. Take a few in landscape and a few in portrait, because the layout on a phone and on a laptop crops differently. Include at least one of you. People hiring a tradesperson or a therapist want to see who's turning up. If you don't have many yet, I'll design around what you have and leave clear spaces to fill later. Generic stock images make a business look like it's hiding something.

Logo files decide how sharp everything looks. A logo pulled from a Facebook profile goes blurry the moment it's made bigger. If you don't have the original, ask whoever made it. If nobody has it, or you're not happy with the logo anyway, the website will inherit that problem. I do brand identity work too, quoted separately from the website.

Access avoids surprises at launch. Check now who your domain is actually registered to. Sometimes it turns out to sit in an old designer's account, or under a relative's email. If you already have a site, tell me which pages you know bring in enquiries or show up on Google, so they can be kept and redirected properly. There's more on what to keep in redesign or just a few fixes.

The enquiry setup is the point of the whole site. If most of your work comes in by WhatsApp, the WhatsApp button should be the most obvious thing on the page. If you use a booking tool, send me the link.

Useful, but not essential

These help a lot if you have them:

• Proof. Your Google reviews link, licence or insurance numbers, trade memberships, guarantees. Only real ones.
• Sites you like, and one you don't. Two or three links, with a sentence on what you like about each. "I like how simple this feels" is plenty.
• Competitors. Who do customers compare you with? I want to know what they already see.
• Common questions. The five things customers ask on every call. These become your FAQ, and answering them on the page saves you the calls.

What can wait

You don't need finished copy. Send bullet points, an old brochure, or a voice note explaining a service the way you'd explain it on the phone. I'll write it up, and you correct the facts and anything that doesn't sound like you. Five rough notes in your own words help me more than a polished paragraph copied from somewhere else.

Extra pages, a blog and automations can all come later. A site built properly can grow.

How the project runs, step by step

This is the process I use for remote projects, from my international web design page:

1. Online consultation. A video call, or written back-and-forth if time zones make that easier. Bring the checklist, however rough.
2. Structure planning. I map out the sections or pages. You check the services and their order are right. Most big changes are cheapest here.
3. Copywriting and design direction. I draft the copy and the look of the first screen. You correct facts and tone.
4. Build and revision. I build it mobile-first. Review it on your phone as well as your laptop.
5. Launch support. Connecting the domain, testing that every form and button reaches you, and setting up redirects if it's a redesign.
6. Optional automation. Things like sending enquiries to the right person or follow-up reminders. Only if it would save you real time.

Feedback that keeps things moving

Revision rounds are one of the things that stretch a timeline. A few habits keep them short.

• One person collects the feedback. If your partner and your office manager both have opinions, merge them before sending.
• Send it in one go, as a numbered list. A screenshot with a note beats a phone call I have to write up afterwards.
• Say what bothers you as well as what to change. "This feels too corporate for us" gives me more to work with than "make the blue lighter".
• Check the boring parts: phone number, opening hours, service area, prices. A typo in your number costs more than an ugly button.

Not sure what you've got?

If you're starting from very little, that's normal. A one-page website needs far less content than a multi-page service site, and it can grow later.

If you have a site already and want to know what's worth keeping, send it to me for a free website audit. I'll come back with 3 to 5 practical improvements, and tell you what I'd need from you if you went ahead. If you've already gathered most of this list, start a project and attach what you have.