What needs to be clear before work starts

A technical brief is not required. The useful starting information is much more ordinary:

  • what the business provides
  • who its customers are
  • the towns or areas it genuinely serves
  • the telephone number, email address and preferred enquiry route
  • any existing logo, leaflets, photographs or website material
  • the person who will check facts and approve the finished pages

The website planning checklist gathers these decisions in one place.

Planning and the first complete version

The page structure is agreed before the build begins. This prevents important services from being buried and stops the website growing as a collection of disconnected requests.

We then prepare the pages with real words, navigation and enquiry routes. Reviewing a complete version is more useful than approving an isolated homepage while the rest of the website remains unknown.

Review should be focused

The owner checks names, prices, service details, locations and anything else that only the business can confirm. Reasonable amendments to the agreed pages are made before launch.

New services, extra pages, translation and changed functionality affect the original scope. Identifying those additions separately protects both the price and the timetable.

What commonly causes delays

The most common delays are missing photographs, incomplete product information, late changes to the offer and uncertainty over who can approve the work. Domain access can also hold up a launch even when every page is finished.

Multilingual work takes longer because each language version needs accurate translation, its own page structure and a final check by someone who understands the business as well as the language. Ecommerce needs product, tax, payment and delivery decisions before checkout can be tested properly.

Before a launch date is promised

A responsible quotation should separate the expected build period from matters controlled by the customer or another provider. It should also state what must be supplied, who approves the website and whether domain, email or hosting changes are included.

If a particular launch date matters, mention it at the beginning. Call Jon on +34 633 17 48 41 to discuss the scope and what would need to be ready.