Before you order a new website, you should clarify goals, target group, site needs, content, functions, responsibilities, budget and operation. A clear starting point provides a sharper offer and fewer expensive detours.
- Choose one primary goal for the website.
- Appoint someone responsible for content and approvals.
- Plan SEO, measurement and editing before launch.
1. Direction and goal
Formulate the most important goal
Choose one primary task for the website: qualified inquiries, sales, booking, recruitment or credibility. Several goals can exist, but one must guide the prioritization.
Describe the main target group
Who is entering the site, what do they already know, and what doubts are holding them back? Specific customer questions are more useful than broad personas.
Set a measurable baseline
Record current traffic, inquiries and known issues. Otherwise, it will be difficult to assess whether the new site actually works better.
2. Content and Ownership
- Make a list of required pages and their task.
- Appoint one person who can approve text and design.
- Collect logos, colors, fonts, images and documents.
- Assess which existing content should be kept, rewritten or deleted.
- Agree who will write and proofread.
Content is often the real bottleneck. Set deadlines for text and images in the same way as for design. If good pictures are missing, that should be part of the plan from the beginning.
3. Functions, platform and SEO
Distinguish between necessary and desirable
Divide features into three groups: needed at launch, nice to have, and possible later. It protects both schedule and budget from features that no one uses.
Clear editing
Who should update the page and which areas should be editable? Ask to see the specific fields and workflows before handing over. At Maqeto, the Maqeto CMS comes with the website, so you can edit texts, images and blog posts yourself without waiting for us.
Plan the search structure
Link one distinct search intent to each important page. For a Funen business, geography may be relevant, but local pages must have real local content. Also plan for redirects from old addresses so that existing visibility is not lost.
Law and consent
List forms, analytics tools, ad scripts, and embedded content. This determines the need for privacy text and cookie consent. A consent solution should be configured based on the services actually used.
4. Before and after launch
- Test navigation, forms and links on mobile and desktop.
- Check page titles, descriptions, headings and captions.
- Set up 404 page, sitemap, robots file and redirects.
- Test speed and availability with realistic content.
- Check domain, SSL, email and backup.
- Register the page in relevant search tools and follow the indexing.
- Plan the first round of improvements after data is received.
A launch is a shift from assumptions to observations. The first few weeks should be used to discover friction, not to declare the project complete.
If the briefing can answer the points above, an agency can make a much sharper offer — and spend the time creating value rather than looking for non-answers.
Frequently asked questions
What must be ready before a web project starts?
Clarify the most important goal, the target audience, required page types, material, functions, responsibilities, budget and desired time frame. Everything does not have to be finished, but the most important decisions must be visible.
Who will own the project internally?
Designate one person to gather feedback and approve content and design. Too many undecided decision makers often creates waiting and conflicting fixes.
When should SEO be considered?
SEO should be thought into structure, URLs, content and technique before design and development are locked. It is more expensive to repair the information architecture after launch.