What we need to know to design your website
18th February 2026
posted 18th February 2026
Designing a website is not just about choosing colours and layouts. To create a website that truly represents your business and works effectively, we need to understand you, your goals and your audience.
Whether you are launching a brand-new website or refreshing an existing one, providing the right information right from the start is very helpful. Before your website is built, we’ll gather the information we need from you via our Welcome Pack, an online questionnaire that creates a brief for your designer.
In this blog, we’ll explain what we need to know to design your website properly, and why each part matters.
1. Tell us about your business and what you do
Firstly, we need to understand your business. This will help us design a website that reflects who you are, what you do, and communicates this clearly to visitors from the moment they land on your site.
Do include:
What products or services do you offer
Who do you provide them to
What makes your business different
Your values, tone and personality
2. Your goals for the website
Every website should have a purpose. Knowing what you want to achieve will allow us to design with that goal in mind. The design, layout and calls to action will be shaped around these goals to ensure your website works as hard as possible for your business.
Your goals might be used to:
To generate enquiries or leads
Selling products online
Increasing brand awareness
Booking appointments
Sharing information
3. Your target audience
Understanding your audience helps us design a site that speaks to the right people. This hugely influences design choices such as layout, navigation style and visual elements.
Do include:
Who are your ideal customers
Their age range or industry
How technical they are
What problems are they trying to solve
4. Design preferences and branding
If you already have branding, we need to know about it. If you do not have established branding, that is fine. We can help guide design choices, but it is still useful to know what you like and dislike, or if there are websites you admire.
Do include:
Your logos
Brand colours if set
Fonts you currently use
Imagery style
Brand guidelines, if you have any
5. Content and pages you need
We need to know what pages your website should include and what content will go on them. Clear content planning helps ensure the site is structured logically and easy to navigate. Creating a website based on your content ensures good communication with your visitors.
This might cover:
Core pages such as Home, About, Services and Contact
Any additional pages like FAQs, galleries or testimonials
Content you already have, such as text and images
6. Functional features and integrations
Some websites need more than just standard pages. Knowing this early allows us to plan the design and build correctly from the start.
Let us know if you require:
Contact or enquiry forms
Third-party booking systems
Ecommerce functionality
Password protected pages
Integrations with email marketing or CRM tools
7. Competitors and inspiration
Seeing examples of websites you like or competitors you admire can be incredibly helpful. It does not mean copying another site, but it helps us understand your expectations.
This gives us insight into:
Your industry standards
Design styles you are drawn to
Features you like or dislike
Ways to stand out from competitors
Summary
The more we know about your business and goals, the better your website will be. Providing clear information at the start helps us design a website that not only looks good but also delivers results.
Our Welcome Pack is designed to capture this information in one place, making the process simple and stress-free. Alternatively, if you would rather talk things through, our Assisted Welcome Pack is always available to help guide you through the Welcome Pack process. A great website starts with a great brief, and we are here to help you create it.