How to prepare for your website
Contact Person
If there is more than one point of contact please provide the following info so we can get in contact if needed:
- Name
- Phone
- Time zone
Website Goals + Outline
Describe the purpose of your website and how you will measure its success.
Put together a brief with some clear ideas on what you want:
- How many pages you need (All parent and subpages count.)
- What features you want (Forms, galleries, music, blog, social media integration, ads, etc.)
- If you need ecommerce functions
- Any extra services you might need
Sitemap - Website Outline: How your pages are organized.
Please provide a document listing the order and hierarchy of the pages of your website.
Content - Text & Media
You will have a much smoother journey if you prepare your copy in advance. Write your content first!
Text (Copy)
- Please supply a text document of the text for your website (we must be able to copy & paste).
- Clearly separate text with the page title headings.
- Include references to images and video file names (provide separately. See below).
- Be sure to check spelling and punctuation.
Media Files
Provide an online link to a folder of images and video files named clearly.
Ecommerce
For ecommerce we will send clients a document to provide us the following info for each product
- Image
- Product name
- Sku
- Price
- Inventory per color and/or size
- Product weight (for shipping)
- Box Dimensions (for shipping)
- Product Description
- Category
We will also need to know how you calculate shipping, taxes and how you prefer to accept payments.
Design References
Think about which fonts, colors, and styles you like or dislike, and why. Think about your target audience, and whether you already have any branding you want to bring forward to your new site.
Colors
If you have a specific color you want to use please send an image or a hex color code so that we can use that exact color.
Website Examples
Put together references or examples of sites you like to show your designer. If you already have a website; list what you like about your current site and what you don’t like. Send us links, images, etc. of other sites or designs you like. Be sure to include a note about which parts you like so we are clear.
Fonts: the look and feel of your text.
If you have a particular font you like, we 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 us with the font file. For fonts supplied to us: It is your responsibility to have the appropriate license to display fonts on your website.
Hosting and Domain login info
Domain Name: the address of your website.
Hosting: storage space for your website files
We need access to your hosting to upload the files and database of your new website. Usually this is a link to the cPanel, a username and a password. If your domain name is on a separate account we may need that login information as well.
If you do not have website hosting or a domain name, you’ll need to get that!
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- Free SSL Certificate
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Additional info needed
- List any Software you want the website to integrate with…
- Timeline – key project dates and deadlines?
Make your project go smoother and faster by doing this:
- Get the copy done in time (preferably before the project starts)
- Provide resources like images or branding needed for the project
- Dedicate time and effort to reviewing designs
- Give clear, constructive feedback
- Sign off on designs in a timely manner
- Take part in testing the website (test on every device you have)
