What Should You Prepare Before Starting a Website Project?

Starting a new website can feel like a design task, but the strongest projects begin well before anyone chooses colours or creates page layouts.

The early decisions you make about objectives, audiences, content and functionality will shape the project’s scope, cost and timeline. Preparing these areas in advance helps a web design agency understand what your business needs and reduces avoidable delays once work begins.

You do not need to arrive with a complete technical specification. A good agency should help you define the solution. However, the more clearly you can explain the business context, the more useful its recommendations and proposal will be.

Use this website project checklist to prepare the information your agency will need.

1. Define what the website needs to achieve

Begin with the reason for the project.

“We need a modern website” describes an appearance, not an objective. Try to identify what should be different for the business or its customers once the new website is live.

Your objectives might include:

• generating more qualified enquiries;
• explaining a complex service more clearly;
• helping customers find the right product or service;
• supporting online bookings, applications or purchases;
• entering a new market;
• building credibility with larger clients;
• reducing repetitive questions or administrative work;
• making content easier for your team to manage;
• improving search visibility in Malta or another market.

Prioritise the objectives rather than treating every possible benefit as equally important. This gives the agency a clearer basis for decisions about content, user journeys and functionality.

2. Identify the audiences you need to reach

A website should not try to speak to everyone in the same way.

List the main audiences who will use it and what each group needs. A professional services website, for example, may need to address prospective clients, existing clients, job applicants and referral partners. Their questions and desired actions will differ.

For each audience, consider:

• what brings them to the website;
• what information they need first;
• what may prevent them from trusting or choosing the business;
• what action you want them to take;
• whether they are likely to visit on mobile, desktop or both;
• whether they need content in more than one language.

You do not need extensive customer research to start. Notes from sales calls, common customer questions and feedback from staff can already reveal useful patterns.

3. Decide how success will be measured

A website is easier to evaluate when success has been defined before launch.

Possible measures include enquiry form submissions, telephone calls, bookings, sales, downloads, event registrations or applications. You may also want to monitor visibility for important search terms, engagement with key pages or the number of visitors who complete a particular journey.

Choose a small number of meaningful measures linked to the website’s purpose. Traffic alone is rarely enough. A smaller number of relevant visitors who take action may be more valuable than a large volume of unfocused visits.

These measures will also help the agency decide which analytics and conversion tracking should be configured.

4. Review your existing website and content

If you already have a website, identify what should be retained, improved or removed.

Create a simple content inventory containing the current pages, documents, news posts, images and other useful material. Note which content is accurate, which requires updating and which no longer supports the business.

Also review any available analytics. They may show which pages attract visitors, which content performs in search and where users leave the website. Popular URLs may need to be retained or redirected carefully to protect existing visibility.

Do not assume that every existing page needs to appear in the new website. A redesign is an opportunity to simplify the structure and remove duplication.

5. Outline the pages you expect to need

You do not need to finalise the entire sitemap, but a preliminary page list helps establish the size of the project.

A typical business website may include:

• Home;
• About;
• individual service pages;
• sectors or audiences served;
• projects or case studies;
• team profiles;
• insights or news;
• frequently asked questions;
• Contact;
• privacy and cookie information.

Avoid combining every service on one general page if customers search for and evaluate those services separately. Focused service pages usually make the offer clearer and give search engines more useful context.

The agency can then refine the structure around customer journeys, keyword opportunities and the relationships between pages.

6. Gather available brand assets

Provide the agency with the most complete and current version of your visual identity.

Useful brand materials include:

• logo files in editable and web-ready formats;
• brand guidelines;
• colour specifications;
• approved typefaces and font licences;
• photography and video;
• icons, illustrations or patterns;
• examples of current marketing material;
• tone-of-voice or messaging guidance.

If these assets are inconsistent, incomplete or no longer represent the business, it may be sensible to address the brand before or alongside the website. A new interface can improve presentation, but it cannot fully resolve an unclear identity.

7. Clarify who will produce the content

Content is one of the most common causes of website delays.

Decide whether your team will supply finished text and images, whether the agency will create them, or whether responsibility will be shared. If subject-matter experts need to contribute, identify them early and explain what will be required.

Consider the following:

• Who will write or approve the copy?
• Is professional photography required?
• Are staff biographies and headshots ready?
• Do existing case studies have client approval?
• Will the website be multilingual?
• Who will review translations?
• Are downloadable documents current and accessible?

Content should be planned alongside the design, not inserted only after every layout has been approved. The amount and hierarchy of information influence how each page should work.

8. List the functionality the website requires

Describe what users and administrators should be able to do, without worrying about the technical implementation.

Requirements might include:

• enquiry or application forms;
• online payments;
• appointment or event booking;
• e-commerce;
• searchable directories;
• user accounts or protected content;
• document downloads;
• multilingual publishing;
• newsletter subscriptions;
• vacancies and applications;
• maps, filters or calculators.

Separate essential functionality from features that would be useful but are not required for launch. This makes it easier to control the scope and plan later phases.

9. Identify integrations and existing systems

Tell the agency which systems the website may need to connect to. These could include a CRM, payment provider, email marketing platform, booking service, inventory system or internal database.

Gather the name of each platform, the account owner and any available integration documentation. Do not send passwords through ordinary project documents or email. Access should be shared securely only when required.

It is also useful to confirm who currently controls the domain, DNS, hosting, analytics and business profiles. Ownership can take time to resolve if accounts were created by a previous supplier or former employee.

10. Consider SEO before the structure is finalised

Search engine optimisation should influence the content plan from the beginning.

List the services, products and locations for which the business should be found. Add the questions customers commonly ask before making contact. An agency can use this information during keyword research and map appropriate topics to individual pages.

For an existing website, provide access to relevant analytics and search performance data where possible. This can help identify valuable pages, queries and links that should not be lost during the rebuild.

Planning SEO early supports clearer URLs, stronger page structure, appropriate redirects and content that reflects real customer demand.

11. Confirm legal, privacy and accessibility requirements

Inform the agency about any specific obligations that affect the website.

These may relate to the personal information collected through forms, cookies and analytics, regulated content, age restrictions, online payments or accessibility standards. The agency can implement appropriate technical and design measures, but legal wording may still need to be supplied or reviewed by a qualified adviser.

If the organisation follows internal security, procurement or brand approval procedures, share those requirements before development begins.

12. Establish the budget and desired timeline

A realistic budget helps the agency recommend an appropriate approach. It does not need to be a fixed final figure, but a range can prevent both sides from developing a solution that is not commercially suitable.

When considering the budget, include more than the initial build. Content production, photography, translations, hosting, licences, maintenance and ongoing SEO may need to be planned separately.

If there is a fixed launch date, explain what drives it. Product launches, events and regulatory deadlines require more careful scheduling than a general preference to finish quickly. Allow time for discovery, design, content, development, testing, training and approvals.

13. Choose a project owner and approval process

The agency needs a clear point of contact who can coordinate information and consolidate feedback.

Decide:

• who owns the project internally;
• who contributes specialist information;
• who reviews design and content;
• who has final approval;
• how quickly feedback can normally be provided.

Large feedback groups can slow a project if responsibilities are unclear. Agreeing the process early helps ensure that comments are considered together and decisions are not repeatedly reopened.

What you do not need to prepare

You do not need to design the website yourself, select the technology or write a detailed technical specification unless your organisation already has those requirements.

A capable web development agency should help translate business needs into a suitable structure and solution. Your role is to provide context, priorities and access to the people who understand the organisation.

Start with clarity, not perfection

The purpose of preparation is not to answer every question before contacting an agency. It is to give the project a clear starting point.

At Midja, we help businesses shape the scope as part of the website process. We bring together content, brand, user experience, development and search considerations so that each decision supports the wider objective.

If you are planning a website project in Malta, speak to Midja before trying to complete the brief alone. We can help identify what is essential, what can wait and what should be clarified before work begins.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need all my website content before contacting an agency?

No. It is useful to know what content exists and who will produce the missing material, but the final copy can be developed during the project. Content planning should begin early because it affects the sitemap and design.

Should I prepare a website brief?

A brief is helpful, even if it is short. Include the business context, objectives, audiences, expected pages, essential functionality, timeline, budget range and internal decision-makers.

Who should manage the project internally?

Choose someone who understands the business, can coordinate contributors and has access to the final decision-makers. The role requires timely communication more than technical knowledge.

What access will a web agency need?

Depending on the project, it may eventually need controlled access to the domain, hosting, analytics, existing website and connected services. Confirm account ownership early, but share credentials securely and only when necessary.