Website planning guide
Plan a website that earns its place in your business.
A practical brief for companies and independent professionals choosing a simple branding website, a bilingual site or custom functionality. Start with the decisions that affect your content, cost and customer journey.
Discuss your website brief1. Define one useful action
Decide what a visitor should do after understanding your offer: request a quote, discuss a project, book a call or view your work. A company profile and a personal portfolio can share the same goal while needing different evidence. Write down your main audience, the problem you solve and the action you want. This gives the design a clear purpose.
2. Choose one page or several
A single page is a sensible starting point for one focused service, a short introduction and a contact form. A consultant introducing one offer is a typical example. Separate pages become useful when each service has different questions, examples and buying considerations. A company offering website design, ongoing care and custom software may need distinct explanations. These are illustrative scopes, not fixed packages.
3. Plan English and Traditional Chinese together
List every page and decide which languages it needs. Bilingual work includes headings, navigation, forms, validation messages, privacy information and search descriptions as well as the main copy. Agree who supplies and approves each translation. Separate language URLs and a visible language switch help people reach and share the correct version; avoid translating only the homepage while leaving the enquiry journey unfinished.
4. Understand what changes the quote
The amount of content, number of page layouts, translation work, supplied assets, review rounds and integrations all affect the work. Five pages using one agreed layout differ from five bespoke interactive pages. Ask the quote to identify deliverables, revisions, responsibilities, launch checks and ongoing costs. Domain renewals, paid platforms, advertising and optional monthly care should be identifiable before you commit.
5. Separate presentation from functionality
A branding site explains your offer and invites contact. Bookings, customer accounts, payments, quotation tools or warehouse workflows introduce additional requirements. Describe who will use the function, what information they enter, who can access it and what should happen when something fails. Functional development needs a separate scope, quote and acceptance checks; a visually complete screen is only part of that work.
6. Prepare evidence and content
Gather your approved logo, business description, service details, contact information and images you have permission to use. For portfolio work, include the starting need, your contribution and evidence of the result. Use measurable outcomes only when records support them. If you are just starting out, a clear explanation of your process and relevant experience is more useful than invented testimonials or claims.
7. Agree how enquiries and discovery will work
Confirm the receiving inbox and the information a contact form really needs. Before launch, agree how enquiry delivery will be checked. Search foundations include readable service copy, mobile usability, page titles, language links and a sitemap. Search Console helps monitor discovery; consented Analytics helps assess visitor actions. Neither installation nor a new page guarantees a ranking or AI recommendation.
8. Send a short starting brief
Tell me what you do, who you want to reach, your main services, preferred languages and the action visitors should take. Include an existing website, useful examples, a target date and any budget range you are comfortable sharing. Flag required functions separately. We can review the scope remotely across time zones; in-person meetings depend on location and availability.