I like to know who is responsible for what, and what you are expecting my involvement to be from the very start.

1. Development – probably me, but just in case there are other devs involved.
2. Content – see below
3. Design – see below
4. Final sign off

Name, Email, Phone and Timezone are helpful so we can get in contact if needed.

Mission statement: a summary of the aims and values of the project

A simple few sentences explaining the purpose of the website and how to measure it’s success. When you provide a mission statement I can better advise you and make decisions during the website build to achieve success.

Examples:

“The purpose of this website is to improve our online sales/bookings and reduce administration time.”

“Our current website doesn’t rank well in search engines – we would like to attract new customers online.”

“We would like to give current and potential clients and colleagues examples of our finest work to prove our experience in the industry.”

Brief: a document that guides the entire web process

A brief is a document outlining what you need to be done.

Include:

• Business information
• Things that have failed in the past, previous issues
• Software you need to integrate with
• What you like about your current site or what you hate about it
• Timelines – key dates
• Budget
• Technical requirements
• General notes
• Love notes
• Design references – see below.

Content: words, images, videos and other media for each page of your website.

Unless asked specifically, web development does not include making the content. If you need help with this please let me know and I will arrange it!

Text, Words, Copy.

Please supply a separate text document (I must be able to copy & paste) for each page of your website.

Include:

1. Page title
2. SEO Meta Description and Key Phrases, if required
3. Hyperlinks and link text
4. References to images/videos supplied in a separate folder

Alternatively, include text and images in your finalised design files, see point 4.

If you would like me to be creative – let me know! I can work with a draft of your content and selection of images, or arrange a photographer for you.

DO: Make sure you have checked spelling and punctuation.

DO: Make sure your whole team has approved the content.

DON’T: Send me images or text I can’t use. Why does this happen so often?

For posts, please include:

• Author
• Publish Date
• Categories
• Tags

Images / Videos

Please make a separate folder of images and video files named clearly.

Videos are often hosted on social media platforms, if this is the case include the links in the page content above.

Images need to be compressed and resized for web with just the right balance between quality and load speed. If you are unsure, please provide larger files so I can compress for you. Otherwise, follow these basic guidelines.

• RGB only (no CMYK – thats for print)
• 72 dpi
• Icons and graphics should be supplied double the size they should appear or in a vector format
• Compressed for web
• Max file size: 500KB
• Large images: 1500px width
• Small images: 1000px width
• Full screen images: 1920px width – landscape is best for full screen

Site map: How your pages are organised.

The sitemap is usually quite simple, but as essential part of the planing. Please provide a separate document listing the order and hierarchy of the pages of your website. This could be a sketch or text document but most importantly it should clearly show how many pages and their hierarchy.

Design: How the content should look

If you have a designer or are a designer please supply only the signed off – final_final_03_2.psd – versions of all the pages, with their approved content either in the designs as live text or in a separate folder so I can copy and paste.

Indesign never. Illustrator I don’t hate, Photoshop always.

72dpi, RGB, layered files.

Please let me know if the design is pixel perfect, I will match it.

As a guide you can use these dimensions, although there is no standard!

Large Desktop: 1920px wide

Small Desktop: 1280px wide

Tablet: 768px x 1024px

Mobile: 375px x 667px

References: links, images, videos of anything you like the look of.

Send me links, images, video – whatever you want – of another site or designs you like. Be sure to include a note about which parts you like so we are nice and clear.

If we aren’t working from a prepared design I will use these and any other information to make your content attractive.

You can include these in the brief above.

Fonts: the look and feel of your text.

If you have a particular font you like, I need to make sure it will display for all visitors or a suitable fall back is in place. Take a look at Google Fonts, select a web safe font, or supply me with the font files to be processed.

It is your responsibility to have the appropriate licence to display fonts on your site.

Domain Name: the address of your website.

I generally only need access to administer your domain in special cases, so I will ask. It comprises of the link to the admin, your username and password.

My recommended hosting and domain registration service is Truehost. Go to the link below to choose a domain of your choice.

Hosting: storage space for your website files.

I definitely need access to your hosting to upload the files and database of your new website. Best send it over at the beginning of the project so I can confirm what I am making will be compatible. Usually this is a link to the cpanel, a username and a password.

If you do not have website hosting, you’ll need to get that!

Most of my clients and myself have used Truehost service for over 5 years and I highly recommend them. Choose Truehost – Shared hosting for low traffic sites or if you are just starting out.

Please note: by purchasing services from Truehost using these links I will earn an affilliate commission.

Shared hosting is like living in a share house – all the resources are shared so it can become slow, at some point you may need to upgrade. If you have multiple sites or need more speed you can upgrade to a VPS

Lastly, If you already have a website I will need access to the admin – please provide the link to the admin, your username and password.

If you have any other website related accounts it’s helpful for me to have access in case I need it.

Some popular ones are:

• Google Analytics – for tracking visitors
• Google Search Console - for tracking Google Search performance
• Ahrefs - for competitor analysis