What to Have Ready Before You Hire a Web Developer

Why a Little Preparation Goes a Long Way

A five-page site is two weeks of work on our side, and we say so on the pricing page. The smoothest builds we have done all started the same way: the owner turned up with a folder of photos, a page of notes and the login for their domain, and from there the project ran like a train.

None of it is hard. Most of it you already have, or already know, and the rest is a few minutes on the phone. The point of this guide is to hand you the list before the quote, so the build starts the day the deposit lands and you spend the following fortnight approving pages rather than hunting for passwords.

It also makes every quote you receive more accurate, from us or anyone else. A developer who knows what you have can price what you need.

The Checklist

The keys

□Domain name: where it was bought (the registrar) and the login, or the name of the person who has it
□Current hosting or website builder login, if there is a site today
□Google Business Profile: who owns it, so we can be added as a manager
□Google Analytics and Search Console, if they exist, or we set them up fresh
□Email: who provides it (Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, your host) so the switch leaves it untouched
□Any booking, payment or CRM system the site has to talk to, and a login to it

The pictures

□Ten to thirty photos of real jobs, your people and your vehicles or premises
□Original files from the phone or camera, not screenshots or WhatsApp forwards
□Landscape for anything you want across the top of a page; portrait is fine for team shots
□Your logo as the original file (SVG, or a PNG with a transparent background)
□Brand colours if you have them written down; if not, we take them from the logo and the van

The words

□For each page: what you do, who it is for, where you do it, and why you
□Your services as a list, with the ones that make you money at the top
□Prices, if you are willing to publish them (customers prefer it, and it answers the search they typed)
□The five questions customers ask on the phone, with your real answers
□Reviews you are allowed to use, with names: Google reviews can be quoted as they stand
□Opening hours, service area, phone, email, and the address if you want it shown

The decisions

□One person who signs off, so every review round gets a quick yes
□The one thing the site must do: calls, bookings, quote requests or sales
□Which address form enquiries go to, and who answers it
□The pages you need (most small businesses need five to eight, not twenty)
□The domain name, if it is a new business, decided and bought before design starts

The Keys: Five Minutes That Save a Week

Your domain name is the address of your business on the internet, and it is registered with a company (the registrar) in somebody's name. Find out whose. If you bought it yourself, dig out the login and check that the two-step code still goes to a phone you hold. If a previous developer, a nephew or a marketing agency bought it, a quick email asking them to move it into an account that belongs to the business is all it takes. Do this first, because it is the one item that involves someone outside the project.

Your email usually lives on the same domain, and people sometimes worry a new website will disturb it. Done properly it does not. On a recent rebuild for an IT company we changed the two records that point the website and left Microsoft 365 untouched. The switch took four minutes. Knowing in advance who provides your email is what makes that routine.

The rest of the keys are quick. Your Google Business Profile should be owned by you, with the developer added as a manager. Google Analytics and Search Console are either handed over or set up fresh; Search Console is connected on every build we do. And if the site has to talk to a booking system, a payment provider or a CRM, a login to it before the quote lets us price that part properly.

Pixel art of a hand holding a phone with a photo of a tradesperson in a hi-vis vest, and the same photo with his van in the header of a website on a monitor beside it — The photo that converts is the one of your actual van, your actual job and your actual face.

The Pictures: Real Beats Stock, Every Time

You do not need a photographer. You need ten to thirty photos of real work, taken on a phone in daylight, sent as the original files. Not a screenshot, not a forward through WhatsApp (which compresses them), not pulled off your own Facebook page. The originals.

Landscape for anything you want across the top of a page. Portrait is fine for people. Include the things customers actually look for: the van, the workshop, the team, before and after, the finished job. Stock photos of smiling models are on forty other sites in your trade, and customers know. A reverse image search makes it obvious in seconds.

Send the logo as the file the designer gave you, which is usually an SVG or a PNG with a transparent background; it will look crisp at every size. And if you have no usable photos yet, say so at the quote stage. We can brief a set of illustrations in your colours instead, priced up front, and the site will still look like yours.

The Words: You Already Know Them

The words are the item people put off longest, because "write the website" sounds like homework. It is not. You already say these things on the phone every day. For each page we need four answers: what you do, who it is for, where you do it, and why someone should pick you. Bullet points are fine. Voice memos are fine. A rambling email at 11pm is fine. The job of the developer, or the writer, is to tidy it.

Then the list of services with the profitable ones first, prices if you are willing to publish them (customers prefer it, and a page with a price is what someone searching "how much does X cost" is looking for), and the five questions customers ask before they book. Those five questions become the FAQ, and the FAQ is what Google and ChatGPT quote when someone asks the same thing.

Reviews: the ones on your Google Business Profile can be quoted as they stand, with the reviewer's first name. Anything from an email or a text needs the customer's permission, and a name, because an anonymous five-star quote is worth nothing. On our Launch Build you supply the words and we lay them out; on a Starter Build we write them from a conversation with you. Either way, the facts have to come from you, and they are the one thing nobody can do on your behalf.

The Decisions: One Person Who Says Yes

A build moves at the speed of its yeses. Each review round is a look at a private link and a short reply: this is right, change these two things. When one person owns that reply, the rounds take a day each and the fortnight stays a fortnight.

So decide before the build who signs off. One person. If two partners both need to agree, agree between yourselves first and have one of you tell us. Decide the one thing the site must do (make the phone ring, fill the booking calendar, send quote requests), which address the form goes to and who checks it, and which pages you actually need. Most small businesses need five to eight, not twenty.

If it is a new business, buy the domain before anyone designs anything; knowing the name is settled lets the design, the logo and the email all start on day one.

What Happens Next

With the four boxes ticked, here is the ride on our side. You get a fixed quote within two working days. The deposit goes in and the build starts. Inside the first week your home page is on a private link, so you can show it to whoever you like and tell us what to change. Two review rounds follow, each a short list of tweaks rather than a rethink, because the words and pictures were yours from the start.

On launch day we change the two records that point your domain at the new site and leave everything else, your email included, exactly as it was. Search Console is connected, the sitemap is submitted, and the site is live. A Launch Build does all of that in two weeks; a Starter Build in two to four.

The timeline starts when the deposit is paid and the four things are in hand, which is the whole reason to gather them first. Do that, and the build is the easy part.

Key Takeaways

Four things make a build quick: the domain login, your photos, your words, and one person who says yes.
Find out whose name the domain is in first. It is the one item that involves someone outside the project.
Ten to thirty phone photos of real work, as original files, beat any stock library.
The words are four answers per page plus the five questions customers ask you. You already know them.
One person signs off, and each review round becomes a day instead of a week.
Tell the developer who provides your email so the switch leaves it untouched.

FAQ

What do I need to give a web developer before they start?

Four things. Access to your domain name (the login for wherever it was bought, or the name of whoever holds it). Photos of your real work, team and premises, at original size. The words for each page, or at least the facts a writer needs: what you do, who for, where, and what customers ask you on the phone. And one person who says yes. With those four in hand, everything else is the developer's job.

How long does it take to build a small business website?

Two to four weeks once the content is in hand. Our Launch Build ($3,000 NZD) is live in two weeks from your own words and photos; a Starter Build (from $5,000) takes two to four because we write the content with you. Your home page is on a private link inside the first week either way, so you see it taking shape rather than waiting for a reveal.

Do I need professional photos for my website?

No. Phone photos of real jobs, real people and real vehicles beat stock photos every time, because customers can tell the difference and so can Google. What matters is the original file (not a WhatsApp forward), landscape orientation for anything you want across the top of a page, and ten to thirty of them so there is a choice.

What if I do not have the words or photos yet?

Then we start there. On a Starter Build we write the words from a conversation with you, and if you have no usable photos we brief a set of illustrations in your colours instead. The timeline starts when the deposit is paid and the four things are in hand, so the earlier you gather them, the sooner the clock starts. We send you the short list at the quote stage so nothing is a surprise.

My old developer owns my domain. What do I do?

Ask them in writing to transfer it to an account in your name, or to add you as a contact with login rights. Most will, and it takes them a few minutes. If they cannot be reached, the registrar (the company the domain was bought from) can usually move it to the legal owner of the business with proof of identity. Start that conversation early and it is done before anyone needs it.