Getting a website made goes dramatically smoother when you've prepared the right things in advance. Not technical things, practical things: words, photos, decisions. This checklist covers everything a new business should have ready, and what to verify before and after launch.
Work through it in an afternoon and you'll be better prepared than most businesses that walk into a website project.
Before the build: the basics
- Business name, final, spelled the way it will appear everywhere
- Domain name, registered in your own name, ideally matching your business (how domains work)
- A professional email address, hello@yourbusiness.co.uk beats a personal Gmail
- Logo if you have one, and if you don't, don't panic; clean typography works fine to start
- Phone number and service area, the details customers need to reach and vet you
Before the build: your content
- One or two sentences on what your business does and who it helps, in plain words
- A list of your services or products, named the way customers would search for them
- Rough notes for an about page: your background, why you started, what you care about
- Photos, real ones of you, your work, your premises; phone photos in good light are fine
- Any proof you have: qualifications, certifications, insurance, early reviews
- A decision on pricing: show prices, show ranges, or explain how quotes work
Don't aim for perfect copy, aim for honest raw material. Shaping it is your designer's job. If you're unsure which pages the content should fill, see What Pages Does a Small Business Website Need?
Decisions to make once
- Route: DIY builder or professionally built, decide deliberately, not by default
- Budget: know your number before you ask for quotes (what's reasonable in 2026)
- The one action you want visitors to take: call, email, book, buy
- Who answers enquiries, and how fast, then say so on the site
Before launch: check these
- Works properly on a phone, not just 'fits on the screen', but easy to use
- Every page loads fast, slow sites lose visitors and rankings
- The contact form actually delivers to your inbox (send a test)
- Phone numbers are tappable and email addresses are correct
- Every page has a title and meta description, this is what Google shows
- No placeholder text hiding anywhere
- HTTPS padlock shows in the browser
- A privacy policy page exists and is linked in the footer
After launch: the first month
- Set up a free Google Business Profile and link your website, essential for local search
- Submit your sitemap to Google Search Console so Google indexes you faster
- Add your website to your email signature and social profiles
- Ask two or three early customers for honest reviews
- Read your own site as a stranger a week later, fix anything unclear
That's the whole list
Nothing here requires technical skill, just an afternoon of gathering and deciding. Do it well and any decent designer can take you from notes to launched website in weeks.
Want the rest handled for you? We take new businesses from checklist to launch, design, build, domain and all, with everything explained as we go. Tell us about your business and we'll take it from there.