Before you redesign your website, ask these five questions.

Your website feels dated. The team has a folder of references. Someone has already mentioned a new font.

There is probably a good project in there. Before you commission it, spend an hour getting clear on what the new website needs to change for your business. That conversation will make your brief more useful and your proposals easier to compare.

Here are five questions we would start with.

1. What is going wrong today?

“The website needs a refresh” describes a feeling. Try to connect that feeling to something you can examine.

Perhaps enquiries keep coming from people who need a service you no longer offer. Perhaps customers call to ask questions that should have been answered on the product page. Perhaps the site looks fine on a laptop, but completing an enquiry on a phone is awkward.

Write down two or three specific problems. Bring examples: recent enquiries, customer questions, a difficult checkout or a page your team avoids sharing. You do not need a complete analytics setup to notice that something is getting in the way.

Keep the parts that are doing their job. A useful page, a recognisable phrase or a straightforward booking process can be worth carrying into the new design.

2. Who needs to make a decision?

A website can have several audiences. It still helps to know which decision matters most.

A first-time buyer may need an explanation of the offer. A returning customer may want pricing, availability or a quick way to reorder. A procurement team may need specifications and evidence before it can shortlist you.

Choose a primary audience for each important page. Then write down what that person already knows, what they need to find out and what could make them hesitate. Those answers are useful material for navigation, copy and page structure.

3. What should happen next?

Decide what a successful visit looks like. An enquiry, a booking, a purchase and an application are different journeys. Each asks for a different level of commitment.

Walk through that journey yourself. If someone wants a quote, can they understand what you offer before filling in the form? If they are booking, can they see the details that make the date worth choosing? If they need to speak with a colleague first, is there enough information to share?

Give each page a clear next step. You can offer a smaller step for people who are still considering the decision, such as exploring a relevant project or reading how the process works.

4. What needs to survive the move?

A redesign also has a practical side. Make an inventory of the things connected to the current website: important URLs, contact forms, email notifications, booking tools, payment systems, analytics and any content that brings in useful visits.

If page URLs will change, include a redirect plan in the scope. Check which forms notify which people. Find out who controls the domain and hosting account before launch week.

Google’s guidance on moving pages to new URLs is a useful reference for the search side of this work. The details should be assigned to someone, with time to test them.

5. Who will look after it?

The website will outlive the launch meeting. Someone will need to change opening hours, add a service, replace a photograph or check that enquiries are arriving.

Ask how those tasks will work. Which changes can your team make? What training is included? What requires technical support? Who handles software updates, and what does ongoing help cost?

It is easier to agree on these responsibilities while the scope is being written.

Turn the answers into a short brief

Bring the five answers together on a page. Add a comfortable investment range, any fixed launch date and the people who need to approve the work.

That is enough to start a useful conversation. A good partner can help you investigate the gaps and decide which changes are worth making.

If you are ready to put it on paper, our guide to writing a website brief gives you a practical starting point. Or tell us what you are working on. A rough brief is welcome.

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