Website Content Checklist: What to Send Your Web Designer

Send your web designer a page list, confirmed business facts, usable images and a clear approval contact. You can start with rough notes if writing is part of the agreed work. What matters is knowing which details are true, which are still missing and who can approve them.

I would rather start with an honest, incomplete content pack than polished copy full of claims nobody has checked. Your designer can help organise the information. They need your input to know what your business actually offers.

This checklist is for an established business preparing a new website or a redesign. It covers the material needed to build the pages; choosing the supplier and agreeing the build price are separate decisions.

Start with the buyer and the action

Write a short description of who the site serves, what they need to understand and what they should do next. For a service business, that might be checking whether a job is covered before requesting an estimate. For a wholesaler, it might be identifying a product and asking about quantity and availability.

Then agree who supplies the facts, who writes or edits the text, and who approves publication. “Content included” needs a definition. Editing your notes, interviewing your team, researching a subject, translating pages and taking photographs are different tasks. Confirm which are included before setting the schedule.

You do not need to decide every sentence before speaking to a designer. You do need to identify the person who can answer questions about the business. If you are still comparing suppliers, use the web designer vetting guide alongside this preparation list.

Gather a pack for the pages you actually need

Use the agreed page plan. The rows below are content groups, not a requirement to buy a particular number of pages. A small site may combine some of them; a larger business may need separate pages for different services or locations.

Keep the contact details intended for publication separate from private staff details. Describe the information a buyer needs to provide, and where the enquiry should arrive. A form layout alone will not settle that operational decision.

For a redesign, send the current website address and flag pages you know customers use. Do not assume copying the visible homepage preserves the rest of the site. The website migration guide covers the separate question of moving addresses, assets and working services.

Make one service content card before repeating the work

Start with a representative service or product. Ask the designer to use it to check the proposed layout and identify missing fields. Once the structure works, prepare the remaining entries in the same format. This is a practical preparation method, not a promise that one sample will reveal every requirement.

Here is a blank service card you can copy:

Service name: [the name customers recognise]
Who it is for and where it is available: [confirmed customers and area]
What is included: [specific work or deliverables]
Limits and exclusions: [what needs a separate discussion]
What the buyer should send: [information needed to assess the request]
Price wording: [approved amount and conditions, or the agreed way to request a quote]
Supporting material: [image filenames, documents and public examples approved for use]
Fact owner and approval status: [person, date and unresolved questions]

This is a template, not a description of a real customer's business. Leave unknown fields clearly marked. A missing price is a question to resolve; it is not permission for someone to invent a starting price or promise a turnaround time.

For a product-heavy site, keep repeated data in a structured sheet rather than burying it across separate documents. Our auto parts catalogue preparation guide gives a more specific example of matching product records and images.

Send images with their meaning and usage information

Send the best available original files, with filenames that connect them to a page, product or project. Include the logo files you have, brand colours if already defined, and any font or image licence information relevant to the project. A screenshot of a logo may help identify it, but ask whether a better source file is needed.

For each important photo, explain what it shows and why it belongs on that page. Identify anything that must remain visible when the image is resized. That context also helps the designer write appropriate image descriptions: the W3C images tutorial bases text alternatives on the image's information or function, and treats purely decorative images differently.

Keep a record of the source and permitted use of supplied material. Being able to view an image online does not establish permission to republish it; the Library of Congress explains that distinction. If the rights are unclear, flag the file for review or arrange a suitable replacement.

Use public, approved material for work examples. Do not put private customer conversations, quotations or personal details into the website content folder. A designer does not need your entire business archive to explain a service.

Give every item an owner and an approval status

Keep one shared content list with the page or item name, file link, responsible person, status and open question. Simple statuses such as draft, needs fact check and approved for publication are enough. Make it clear which document is the current version.

Separate approving the facts from approving the final wording. A business owner may confirm what a service includes, then a writer may improve the explanation. Before publication, check that the edited version still preserves the agreed scope, conditions and contact details.

For multiple languages, identify who can approve each version. Keep names, specifications, price conditions and service areas consistent, while allowing natural phrasing. A translated page also needs the right contact destination and downloadable files; translating the heading alone does not complete it.

Record account access in a separate handover process. Tell the designer which domain, hosting and editing systems exist, then agree the access needed. Keep passwords and recovery codes out of the content document; use individual invitations where the service supports them.

Decide what can start and what can go live

Ask the designer to name the material needed for the next agreed stage. A page plan or a sample layout may be possible while some text is still being written. A launch date should account for the remaining content work and approvals, rather than assume everything will arrive later.

Before a page goes live, check its actual text, images, prices or quote instructions, contact details and next action. Remove placeholder claims and unapproved examples. Test the enquiry route with an authorised test, including where the request arrives. The website self-audit checklist helps with that final visitor-facing review.

If photography, translation or substantial copywriting is missing, agree who will do it and whether it changes the scope or schedule. You can choose to launch a smaller, useful set of approved pages when that fits the business. Keep the remaining work explicit, and leave out any unfinished page that would mislead a buyer.

The pack is ready to hand over when the designer can find the current material, distinguish facts from open questions and reach the person who can resolve them. That gives the project a usable starting point without asking you to become a copywriter first.