What do I need before starting a website project?

Decisions to make first

• The goal. More calls, more bookings, better-quality leads, or credibility for referrals. Pick one primary aim.
• The audience. Who you want more of, specifically.
• The decision-maker. One person who signs off, even if others give input.
• The must-haves. Features you truly need at launch versus later.

Writing these down is most of a website brief, and it’s the most useful thing you can bring to a discovery call.

If two partners disagree on the goal, settle it before kickoff, not in the second design round.

Assets to gather

Collect your logo files (ideally vector), any brand guidelines, existing photos, team headshots, a list of services with a few lines on each, testimonials and reviews, and examples of your work. Also note three or four websites you like and why. Specific reasons, like “the navigation is simple” or “it feels calm”, are more useful than the links alone.

Don’t worry if some of this is missing. The point is to know what exists and what doesn’t, so gaps like headshots or project photos can be planned for rather than discovered late.

Access you’ll need

Find the login for your domain registrar, current hosting, Google Business Profile, Google Analytics and Search Console. Many projects stall for a week because nobody knows who registered the domain. If a previous designer holds those accounts, ask for access now, while relations are friendly. Your email setup matters too, since changing DNS carelessly can interrupt mail.

Store these logins somewhere safe, ideally a password manager, and share access through each platform’s user invitations rather than handing over your own password. That way access can be removed cleanly after the project.

Before a project starts, I send a short checklist and ask for access to the domain and analytics first. Those two cause the most delays when they turn up late. I don’t need finished copy on day one, but I do need to know who’s writing it and when. If you’re missing photos, we plan a shoot or pick a direction early. And I always ask who has the final say. A project with one clear decision-maker is far more likely to finish on time.