What to prepare before you start building your website

Most website projects stall not because the builder is slow, but because the content still isn’t ready when work begins. The builder waits on photos, on a price list, on a short intro, while you grow impatient that the page still isn’t live. This is the checklist I send clients before we start, and gathering these makes the build faster and cheaper.

1. One clear goal

Before you think about colors or layout, answer one question: what is this page for? It sounds obvious, yet many people skip it and end up with a decent-looking page that serves no clear purpose. A clear answer makes every later decision easier, from which button to add, to what to say first, to what to leave out.

For a restaurant the goal is usually a call to book a table or directions to the door. For a spa it’s a message to book an appointment. For an online shop it’s closing an order in chat. For a homestay it’s taking direct bookings and skipping the middleman’s commission.

Alongside the goal, think about how you’ll measure it. Which number tells you the page is working? Calls this week, chat messages, table bookings. With a target to aim at, you’ll later know exactly what to fix.

2. Your business details

This part is basic but often comes out incomplete or wrong. Gather it all in one place and the builder just drops it into the right spots:

• Your full name and the name customers actually use for you.
• The exact address, with a Google Maps link so one tap opens directions.
• Opening hours, lunch breaks, and any weekly closing day.
• Phone number and chat number, sometimes two different ones.
• The social channels you actively run: Facebook, Instagram, TikTok.

One small tip: double-check the phone number and address on Google Maps. I once met a homestay owner with a single wrong digit, and for a month customers were calling a stranger while the owner had no idea.

3. Products, services, and prices

This is what customers care about most, so it needs to be laid out clearly. Each dish or package should have a name, a line or two of description, and a price.

A restaurant gives a menu: dish name, price, and where possible a line for the signature dish, say “Rare-beef pho, broth simmered for 12 hours”. A spa lists its packages: name, duration, price, and what steps are included. A homestay lists room types: double, family, the view, weekday and weekend rates. An online shop lists products with prices and categories.

If prices change often and you’d rather not lock them in, you can give a range or write “contact for a quote”. But in my experience customers like to see prices, since hiding them tends to make people hesitate rather than reach out.

4. Real photos

This is the most commonly missing piece, and the one that affects how customers feel the most. A page full of text with no real photos looks flat, while stock images are easy to spot, and trust leaks away the moment they’re noticed.

You don’t need to hire a photographer, since phones shoot well enough today, as long as you do a few things right:

• Shoot in daylight, near a window or outdoors, using natural light for true colors.
• Tidy the frame first: clean table, neat room, nothing stray creeping into the shot.
• Shoot horizontally for a cover image, vertically for viewing on phones.
• Take several angles of each thing, then pick the best few.

A restaurant shoots dishes while still hot and steaming. A spa shoots the room, folded towels, a few plants. A homestay shoots the made-up room, the balcony, the view out. And don’t forget your logo if you have one, sending the original file rather than a photo of a printed copy.

Real photos that are bright and tidy build more trust than any sales line.

5. Content that builds trust

Customers who don’t know you yet are always a little wary, so the website’s job is to ease that wariness with real proof. Gather these:

• Reviews from past customers, copying a few genuine ones with a name or initials.
• Screenshots of thank-you messages and kind comments on Facebook.
• A few real numbers: years open, customers per month, rooms available.
• Papers or certificates if your field needs them, such as a spa license or a food-safety permit.

One specific compliment is worth many vague ones. “I booked over a holiday and the host replied within 5 minutes” persuades far more than “great homestay”. If you have photos of a full house or an event, gather them all.

6. A few references and your taste

Finally, help the builder understand your taste. You don’t need design jargon, just point to a few sites you like. Send two or three links, anyone’s and even a competitor’s, that you find appealing, each with a line on why, such as this looks clean or this color suits my shop. That’s enough for both sides to speak the same language and avoid endless back-and-forth.

If you already have a brand identity, from a logo to your main colors to the font on your signboard, send it along. If not, no problem: just say which colors you like and the feeling you want the page to give off, whether cozy, premium, or youthful.

And if by now you realize you don’t have good photos yet, or aren’t sure how to write a tight intro, don’t worry. Plenty of places, Seawin Tech included, will help you rewrite the content and arrange the photos into a finished page. You just bring the raw material, and the polishing is the builder’s job.