What Information Do I Need Before Building a Website?
The biggest delay in building most small business websites is not the design, it is not knowing what to actually send over. Here is a simple list to work from.
Why a bit of prep makes everything faster
Think of building a website a bit like decorating a room: the painting itself is quick once you know the colour, the furniture and where everything goes. Most of the delay happens beforehand, deciding what you actually want. Gathering the right information up front means your website can be put together properly the first time, rather than stopping and starting while you dig out details as you go.
The basics every site needs
Whatever your trade, most one-page websites need the same handful of things:
- Your business name, exactly as you want it to appear.
- A short description of what you do and who for, a sentence or two is enough.
- Your services or products, in plain terms customers already use.
- Your prices, or at least a starting-from figure if they vary by job.
- Your opening hours or availability.
- Your area covered, if you travel to customers.
- How you want to be contacted, phone, WhatsApp, a form, or a booking link.
Nice-to-haves that strengthen the site
These are not essential to launch, but they make a site noticeably more persuasive once you have them:
- Photos of your work, premises or team, see our guide on what photos you need for a full breakdown.
- A few customer reviews, even two or three genuine ones help.
- Any qualifications or certifications worth mentioning.
- Social media links, if you are active on Instagram or Facebook.
None of these need to be perfect. Rough notes are enough to start; wording can always be tidied up later.
A simple way to get it all organised
You do not need a spreadsheet or a project plan. A single note on your phone, or a page in a notebook, covering the points above is plenty. If you would rather work through it with prompts rather than a blank page, the website readiness checker tells you what you already have covered and what is missing, and the one-page website planner helps structure it into an actual page layout.
The goal is not a polished document, it is just enough detail that nobody has to guess what goes where.
How LaunchSite makes this easy
When you sign up with LaunchSite, onboarding walks you through exactly what to send, in plain questions rather than technical jargon, so you are never staring at a blank form wondering where to start. Once onboarding is complete, your first draft arrives within 3 working days. The £39.99/month plan includes the build, hosting, SSL, a standard domain, email forwarding and monthly updates, with no upfront build fee and no tech setup on your end.