Before You Build: Your Website Planning Worksheet

Before You Build
Your Website Planning Worksheet
Step 2

Before I built a website for a client, I didn’t start by picking colors, installing WordPress, or shopping for a theme.

I started by talking to them.

I wanted to understand their business, what made them different, who their customers were, and what they wanted people to know when they found them online.

That’s what this worksheet is designed to do.

Don’t worry about writing perfect answers. Jot down thoughts, phrases, ideas and even half-finished sentences. You’re going to use these answers later when you start putting your website together.

1. Think About Your Business

What does your business do?
Write it the way you would explain it to someone you just met.

_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

What products or services do you offer?

Who are your customers?
Think about the people who usually buy from you or the people you’d like to reach.

2. What Do You Want People to Know?

Imagine someone has never heard of your business before and they land on your website.

What are the three most important things you want them to know?

1. _____________________________________________________________________
2. _____________________________________________________________________
3. _____________________________________________________________________

What makes your business different from your competitors?

Why do your customers choose you?

Is there something customers frequently misunderstand about your business?

3. What Do You Want Visitors to Do?

When someone visits your website, what would you most like them to do?

☐ Call me
☐ Email me
☐ Visit my business
☐ Request a quote
☐ Make an appointment
☐ Buy something
☐ Learn about my services
☐ View my work
☐ Join a mailing list
☐ Something else: _______________________________

What is the MOST important action?

_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

That answer will become important when we build your homepage.

4. Go Window Shopping

Before you decide what your website should look like, spend a little time looking around.

Search for businesses like yours. They don’t have to be local businesses or even direct competitors.

You’re not looking for a website to copy.

You’re looking for things that make you say: “I like that.”

Collect Ideas

As you look around, pay attention to individual pieces—not just entire websites.

You might like the colors on one site, the menu on another, and the way a third site displays its services.

Website #1

Website/business: ___________________________________

What did you like?

What didn’t you like?

Website #2

Website/business: ___________________________________

What did you like?

What didn’t you like?

Website #3

Website/business: ___________________________________

What did you like?

What didn’t you like?

Colors I like:

_______________________________________________________________________

Colors I DON’T want:

_______________________________________________________________________

Website styles I like:

☐ Clean and simple
☐ Warm and friendly
☐ Professional
☐ Bold
☐ Traditional
☐ Modern
☐ Fun
☐ Elegant
☐ Rustic
☐ Other: ___________________________

Things I saw on other websites that I liked:

5. Gather What You Already Have

Don’t create anything yet. Just figure out what you’ve already got.

☐ Business logo
☐ Business name
☐ Tagline
☐ Phone number
☐ Business email
☐ Business address
☐ Hours
☐ Product photos
☐ Photos of my business
☐ Photos of my work
☐ Staff/team photos
☐ Product or service descriptions
☐ Price list
☐ Testimonials/reviews
☐ Facebook page
☐ Instagram account
☐ Other social media accounts
☐ Google Business Profile

Things I still need to get or create:

6. Describe Your Business in One Sentence

Don’t make this complicated.

If someone asked, “So, what do you do?” what would you say?

Don’t worry if it isn’t clever.

Clear beats clever.

We’ll polish it later.

Keep This Worksheet

You’re going to come back to these answers throughout this guide.

When it’s time to choose a domain, you’ll know what your website represents.

When it’s time to choose colors and a design, you’ll already have some direction.

When it’s time to write your homepage, you won’t be staring at a blank screen wondering what to say.

You’ve already done the hardest part:

You’ve figured out what you want your website to tell the world.