Plan your website
Plan the website before you build it.
A useful small-business website starts with clear choices: who it serves, what visitors need to do and what each page must explain. This guide gives you a compact planning process before design, copywriting or development begins.
Start with a visitor task
Name the single task each priority visitor should be able to complete. That could be understanding a service, comparing options, making an enquiry or finding practical information.
Do not begin with a list of pages. Begin with what a real visitor needs to know before they can take the next step.
Choose a small page set
Most early small-business websites need fewer pages than expected. A homepage, one or more service pages, an about page, a contact route and useful supporting information are usually enough to begin.
Each page should have one job and one primary reader question.
Practical checklist
- List the visitors you serve first.
- Write the primary task for every priority visitor.
- Give each planned page one clear purpose.
- Remove pages that repeat another page without adding value.
Create a content brief
For every important page, note the question it answers, the evidence or examples required, the action it supports and the related pages it should link to.
This brief becomes the shared reference for writers, designers and developers.
Further reading