Guide
Plan a business website before choosing a layout
Start with the customer, the decision they need to make and the action you want them to take. Then list the pages, evidence, contact process and person responsible for updates. A useful website brief describes those requirements clearly enough that you can evaluate a draft against them. It does not need to specify every color or paragraph before you begin.
From brief to launch
A practical sequence for a small business marketing site.
- 1
Define the customer
Audience, offer and service area.
- 2
Plan the pages
Questions, evidence and primary action.
- 3
Review the draft
Accuracy, mobile layout and inquiry test.
- 4
Assign ownership
Approval, publication and future updates.
Write a one-page brief with observable requirements
A brief should tell a builder or designer what the business offers and what the website must help a visitor do. Replace “make it modern” with a requirement you can check: “A homeowner can find our service area and request an installation estimate from a phone.” Define one primary audience first; add a second only when the offer or contact process genuinely differs.
- Business and offer: what you do, for whom, and where.
- Primary action: request an estimate, ask about availability or follow a booking link.
- Evidence available: real photographs, qualifications, approved quotations and service details.
- Constraints: existing domain, required integrations, launch date and who approves the copy.
Map questions to pages
List the questions a prospective customer asks before making contact. Assign each important question a place on the site. For a small service business, Home can establish fit, Services can explain scope, About can identify the people, and Contact can explain the next step. Add a separate service page when its audience needs materially different information. A navigation label is not a reason to create another page.
Use a concrete example brief
Illustrative brief: “We provide recurring residential cleaning within our stated service area. The website should compare recurring, deep and move-out cleaning, show what each excludes and collect an estimate request. The owner replies during published business hours. We have permissioned team photographs but no approved testimonials.” This gives the first draft a service structure, an inquiry process and a clear boundary on evidence. Replace every example detail with your own facts.
Decide what can wait
A launch page needs accurate content and a working next step. It does not need a large blog archive, a different page for every neighborhood or decorative animation. Keep a separate list of improvements that depend on future photographs, case studies or a new service. A missing nonessential asset should not cause you to invent evidence; use an honest description until the real material exists.
Evaluate the first draft against the brief
Read the draft as a customer. Can you identify the service, understand the limits and find the contact action? Check on mobile, submit a labeled test inquiry and confirm where it arrives. In Workroom, provide the brief, review the generated pages and request specific edits. If you need original brand strategy or a complex interaction design, involve a designer and use the same brief to agree scope.