A business website planning checklist for SMEs
Prepare your website brief with clear customer journeys, service pages, enquiry handling and ownership.
Define the visitor’s next action
Decide whether the website should generate an enquiry, explain services or guide a purchase. Prioritise the information a visitor needs before taking that action: what you offer, who it suits and how to contact your team.
Prepare useful service content
Write a clear description of each service using the words your customers use. Explain the problem it addresses, what an engagement includes and how to ask for a quotation. Use real details that your team can verify rather than broad promises.
Plan enquiries and content ownership
Decide who receives website enquiries and who responds when that person is unavailable. Assign someone to review contact details, service descriptions and published articles. Keep domain, hosting and analytics ownership documented so future changes are straightforward.
Agree on launch checks
Review the website on a phone and a desktop, follow every important link and send a test enquiry through the intended channel. Check that page titles describe their content and that each published page has a stable address. Agree on the process for future updates before launch.