Pre-Website Design Checklist & Required Information

The following questions are important to answer before you start a new website or overhaul an old one. Answering these questions up front will ensure that your website is built efficiently and within budget.

Although there are many ways to build a website, there are two that we find easiest: using a website builder or using WordPress. If this is your first rodeo, we recommend using a website builder like Wix, Squarespace, GoDaddy, or Shopify to create your site – it’s the best option for tech novices. To promote the website is possible with social media platforms, TikTok is the hottest one right now and you can buy likes on tiktok to get more engagement and improve the views of your content.

Given the current economic climate and uncertainty, website builders are also the cheaper route, since hosting costs are included, and you’ll likely have to spend extra with WordPress for specialized support.

That being said, WordPress is still a popular choice, so we’ll take you through both building processes. No matter which option you go for, by the end of this post, you’ll be able to build a website in as little as an hour if you follow our seven easy steps.

How do we know? Well, we’ve been where you are right now. Since then, we’ve carried out hours of research on building websites so that we can bring you the most accurate and relevant guidance to help you get your site up and off the ground. Why not read on and give it a go for yourself?

You can also download this helpful checklist here.

Category Question Answer
General Why do you want a new website? ex. Because the current one is outdated.
What is the goal of the website? What do you want your visitors to do after they get to your website?
Do you have a domain name?
Do you have a hosting plan?
Do you know the login information for the hosting?
Maintenance Do you plan to maintain the website yourself?
Would you like to be able to update the content on the pages yourself?
How often will the pages need updating?
Blog Do you want an integrated blog?
How often will you write for your blog?
What is the goal of your blog?
E-commerce Will you be selling products or services on the website?
Do you need credit card processing?
Will you be updating your products yourself? (prices, pictures, descriptions, adding new, or removing old products)
What are your product categories? (t-shirts, pants, scarves, etc…)
What options do you have for your products (color, size, etc…)
How is shipping calculated?
How is tax calculated?
Do you have pictures for your products?
Do you have an excel list of all the products you want to sell with titles, descriptions, prices, categories, and options?
Site content Do you have a logo?
Do you have professional photos?
What information do you want on the home page?
What information do you want on other pages?
How many pages do you want the site to be?
Do you have all the content for the pages written?
Are photos available for each page?
What phone number will be used on the website?
Will there be a physical address on the website? If so, what is it?
Do you need an email contact form?
What are you trying to highlight or feature?
Analytics Do you want to track your marketing efforts?
Do you have a Google Analytics account? If so, what is the tracking number?