How to decide whether to redesign or rebuild your website
Decide which problems need a repair, redesign or rebuild. Compare two scopes using customer tasks, platform limits and maintenance requirements.
THE WEBSITE OWNER'S HANDBOOK
Better decisions.
A better website.
50 practical guides for planning, designing and launching a business website. Start with the task in front of you.
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Browse every guide below, or search by a task such as redirects, quotes or contact forms.
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How to audit a business website before hiring a developer
Review service information, navigation and enquiries on your existing website. Record evidence and prioritise the fixes before asking for quotes.
How to write a website brief a developer can quote
Prepare a clear project brief with page purposes, content owners, features and acceptance checks so a developer can quote the actual work.
How to set useful goals for a business website
Turn a vague website goal into a customer task and a measurable outcome. Establish a useful baseline without inventing conversion claims.
How to choose the pages for a small business website
Choose pages by the questions customers need answered. Map a focused route from your offer to an enquiry and identify missing content.
How to prepare a content inventory for a website project
Organise page text, approved assets and content responsibilities. Use a content inventory to expose missing material before development starts.
How to separate website build costs from running costs
Compare the project fee with domain, hosting and future-change costs. Work through an illustrative first-year total and check the exclusions.
How to compare website design packages without guessing
Assess website packages against one shared brief. Check delivery limits, editing, account ownership and the handover before choosing a supplier.
How to choose a web design company for a scoped project
Review relevant work and ask practical questions about delivery. Record evidence, supplier details and unresolved scope before commissioning a site.
How to compare website redesign quotes fairly
Compare redesign proposals by content, migration, testing and handover. Identify assumptions that a headline price can hide.
How to review a business website layout on mobile
Follow a real customer task on a phone. Check stacking order, text, menus and enquiry controls before approving a responsive website layout.
How to organise navigation for a small business website
Choose predictable menu labels and test how visitors find services. Review keyboard and mobile behaviour as well as destination links.
How to plan a homepage for a service business
Draft the offer and the next action before choosing homepage imagery. Arrange service information and truthful evidence around customer decisions.
How to write a service page that helps customers decide
Explain service fit, deliverables, exclusions and the project sequence. Write a page that helps customers send a useful enquiry.
How to write an About page without empty claims
Describe your business and working process with verifiable details. Review unsupported claims, imagery and responsibility on the About page.
How to design a contact page customers can use
Choose an enquiry route, request useful information and provide an alternative. Check what the contact button actually does before launch.
How to choose clear calls to action for your website
Match button labels to the next customer decision. Check competing priorities and make the destination fulfil the promised action.
How to present website project examples honestly
Separate commissioned work from concepts and explain your contribution. Publish examples with permission and avoid invented results.
How to choose website images and write useful alt text
Select images by purpose and publishing permission. Use practical examples to review informative, decorative and functional alternatives.
How to make website text easier to read
Review real text, heading hierarchy, contrast and zoom. Find typography problems without fixing overflow by shrinking important content.
How to choose between a static website and a CMS
Compare editing tasks and operating needs before choosing static files or a CMS. Confirm the update process and what the handover contains.
How to choose hosting for a business website
Match hosting to the website runtime and features. Verify compatibility, account responsibilities and a tested preview before switching providers.
How to keep control of your domain and website accounts
Inventory domain and service accounts, renewals and recovery ownership. Agree supported developer access and verify control at handover.
How to check HTTPS when launching a business website
Test the public HTTPS domain, loaded resources and secondary-hostname redirects. Record the real result instead of relying only on a dashboard.
How to test whether website enquiries reach your inbox
Follow a website enquiry from entry to receipt. Test validation and delivery with authorised data and distinguish email drafts from submitted forms.
How to add an external booking service to a business website
Plan a clear handoff to an external booking provider. Review the destination, mobile journey, location and fallback without making an unintended booking.
How to plan a hosted payment link for a service website
Agree the service and reconcile orders before adding a hosted payment link. Check provider eligibility and separate a return page from payment proof.
How to investigate a slow business website
Investigate slow pages with repeatable evidence. Separate lab and visitor data, identify a bottleneck and verify the customer task after changes.
How to prepare website images without losing useful detail
Prepare suitable crops and image variants while keeping originals. Compare file size, useful detail and loading behaviour in the actual page.
How to plan basic security responsibilities for your website
Assign security responsibilities for accounts, data, updates and recovery. Check the website components instead of treating HTTPS as a full assessment.
How to organise a website redesign from brief to launch
Coordinate a redesign through brief, content, preview, switch and handover. Keep owners, blockers and verification evidence visible at each stage.
How to map old website URLs before a redesign
Prepare an old-to-new URL map and test relevant permanent redirects. Keep removed content, final destinations and updated internal links explicit.
How to change website hosting without overlooking email
Move hosting while preserving related domain services. Prepare a working copy, agree a fallback and verify the public site and relevant email routes.
How to find and fix broken links on a business website
Find broken destinations in menus, content and downloads. Choose a correction that preserves the customer journey and retest from the source page.
How to review a website preview before it goes public
Review preview access, test integrations and production differences. Consolidate feedback against a named version before approving the public launch.
How to give website feedback a developer can act on
Write feedback with a page, observed problem and desired outcome. Resolve conflicting requests and distinguish corrections from additional scope.
How to test a business website before acceptance
Create an acceptance test plan around customer journeys. Record content, interface and feature checks with honest coverage and clear defect reports.
How to check a business website on launch day
Check the actual public domain, content and enquiry route on launch day. Record pass, fail and unperformed checks with ownership and recovery details.
How to check a website handover before closing the project
Verify source files, setup notes, accounts and licensed assets against the quote. Demonstrate a safe update before closing the handover.
How to write a maintenance plan for a small website
Set owners and review tasks for content, renewals, software and recovery. Define the maintenance scope and keep a practical change log.
How to write clear titles for business website pages
Write titles from each page purpose and compare them together. Review visible headings and avoid repeated boilerplate or keyword stuffing.
How to write useful meta descriptions for business pages
Summarise the useful detail of each business page. Check descriptions against visible content and understand why search snippets may differ.
How to turn similar keywords into a sensible page plan
Group related keywords by customer task rather than creating one page per phrase. Check intent and assign a service page or practical guide.
How to connect website guides and service pages
Connect guides, topic hubs and services where readers need the next answer. Use descriptive links and check that important pages are reachable.
How to prepare a sitemap for a small business website
Build a sitemap from preferred public URLs and verify the deployed file. Keep dates accurate and distinguish publication from submission and indexing.
How to check robots.txt and noindex before launch
Inspect crawler and indexing settings before launch. Separate robots.txt, noindex and access protection, then verify the production configuration.
How to review SEO risks before a website redesign
Record useful pages before redesigning and verify the migration. Keep technical changes separate from promises about future search performance.
How to measure website enquiries without confusing clicks with leads
Define suitable enquiries and count completed outcomes. Separate button clicks, drafts and received messages before comparing website performance.
How to review search results before choosing a website keyword
Classify search results by the task they serve. Record market limits and assess customer fit alongside keyword volume and difficulty estimates.
How to review a new website's SEO after launch
Review a new site through publication, discovery, queries and enquiries. Use authorised evidence when available and mark unverified outcomes honestly.
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Use the worksheets
Free CSV worksheets for a brief, content inventory, quote comparison, redirect map and launch checks are included in the relevant guides.