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By TJ SoftUpdated:

Your First Website – How to Prepare Well for Working with a Developer

Twoja pierwsza strona internetowa – jak się dobrze przygotować do współpracy z wykonawcą

Creating a website is the moment when your company—regardless of whether you have been running it for a decade or have only just launched—gains its digital face. But it is also a process that can go quickly and smoothly… or drag on for weeks and months if specifics are lacking.

At TJ Soft, we guide the client through the entire process, gathering the necessary information about the company, its goals, etc. during our conversations. So you don’t have to do it yourself, but if you want to prepare before ordering a website, this article is for you.

In this guide, I’ll show you step by step what it’s worth preparing before commissioning a website—so you don’t overpay, stress out, or wait forever for the results. Because if you prepare well, an agency (or freelancer) will be able to do more for the same price or complete the project faster and more accurately. And best of all: most of the materials you prepare will also come in handy beyond your website—on social media, in catalogs, presentations, and advertising materials. It’s worth treating this as an investment.

Where do the savings come from? You already have information about your company and industry, either in the form of materials or in your head. So if you provide it to the people creating the website, they will not have to spend additional time obtaining it and will be able to start working right away.

And of course, if you employ people, you can delegate the preparation of some of the materials to your employees.

Table of Contents

Summary

Before sending your first brief to an agency or freelancer, gather all the materials you already have in one folder: business cards, flyers, catalogs, PDF/Word offers, social media descriptions, and photos (ideally 10–40 carefully selected ones, plus a separate folder containing all the rest for the contractor to choose from).

Determine right away which photos must be included on the website and which serve only as illustrations. At the same time, divide the texts into internal (company history, target audience, mission, challenges) and external (ready-made service descriptions, “About Us,” values, contact details), and store everything in the cloud as well (Google Drive, Dropbox).

Once you have a foundation, you can use AI (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini) to improve and structure texts, and even prototype the layout (headings, leads, paragraphs)—for example, in Gamma.app or Canva (whiteboard). If you don’t want to write, record a conversation and transcribe it in Google AI Studio or Fireflies.ai, then rework it using artificial intelligence.

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Finally, prepare an initial website draft – a simple outline showing the layout and scope of the content. Although many people put everything into a single document, a much better approach is to divide the content into subpages: create an automatic table of contents in which each subpage has its own heading, so it is immediately clear what the main menu will look like. You can also prepare separate files for key sections (Services, Contact, FAQ, etc.) or make a quick visual sketch in Canva (whiteboard) or even on paper.

Optionally, it is useful to collect 3–5 inspiring websites and initially determine whether your website is meant to serve as a showcase or a customer acquisition tool – this preliminary outline will help the developer quickly understand your vision and significantly speed up the subsequent work.

The project you create does not have to be perfect. Most likely, the person creating the website will redo it from scratch, but having a starting base will enable them to create a new project faster and better.

General tips:

  • The path of least resistance – if you encounter a problem or obstacle somewhere, don’t worry; you don’t have to handle it on your own – the contractor’s role is to relieve you of these tasks.
  • Clearly distinguish guidelines (what must be included) from inspiration (what you like) – the more guidelines there are, the more complex and costly the project becomes.

Introduction

Why Is It Worth Preparing in Advance?

It’s not just about having “everything off your mind.” The better you prepare for working with your website developer, the more:

  • fewer misunderstandings along the way (and therefore fewer revisions and frustrations),
  • lower final cost – because the graphic designer and developer won’t have to “guess” or create trial versions.
  • a greater chance that you’ll be delighted with the final result,
  • the website will be completed faster, because work won’t have to be interrupted while waiting for missing materials.

I describe in more detail what creating a simple WordPress website looks like in this article. With this knowledge, you will be able to estimate the cost of a website more easily.

And most importantly: even if, for some reason, you change contractors midway through, you don’t start from scratch. You have everything ready. So let’s get down to specifics.

Practical Approach

Creating a website is one of those tasks that, although important, we often put off until later. While we know that a website is now every company’s digital business card, the preparation process itself can be discouraging—especially at the beginning.

Before the graphic design begins, before the colors, photos, and first versions of the website appear, a great deal of work needs to be done whose effects are not immediately visible. And that is precisely why many people feel discouraged right from the start. Questions arise: do I even know what I need?, should the website attract customers from the internet, or merely confirm that the company exists?, do I need an online store, a blog, and contact forms?

And this brings us to the first, very important thought: defining the purpose of the website is a crucial step. But it is also often the most difficult one. That is precisely why it is worth not doing it alone. The opinions of experienced website creators, graphic designers, or consultants can save you weeks of unnecessary dilemmas—because you do not need to have everything “right away.” What is more, it is worth knowing that a website focused on acquiring customers from the internet (e.g., through SEO, advertising, or lead generation) is a completely different project from a simple company brochure website—and its implementation costs more. Understanding these differences can have a real impact on your decisions.

But instead of starting with concepts, layouts, and business goal analyses, I suggest starting with a simple, concrete action: gathering materials. Why? Because it’s the best way to unblock the project and take the first step. It doesn’t require specialized knowledge, yet it delivers real value.

Start with what you already have

You don’t need to reinvent everything. Most companies already have content and materials scattered around that can serve as an excellent foundation for creating a website:

  • old business cards, flyers, catalogues,
  • content from Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn,
  • files containing commercial offers (PDFs, Word documents, slides),
  • photos of products, completed projects, and the team—even if taken with a phone,
  • price lists, regulations, and email texts for customers.

It is worth gathering all of this in one folder—physically or digitally (e.g., on Google Drive, Dropbox, or in a separate directory on your computer). This will be your “company file,” from which you can draw content for the website. Even if some of the materials need to be improved later, it is still better to start with something than from scratch.

Selecting photos. Authentic photos are worth their weight in gold. Even if they’re taken quickly with a phone.

If you have nothing, say so openly. A good contractor will suggest alternatives: stock photos, infographic visuals, AI-generated graphics. They may also suggest a photo shoot.

However, genuine, authentic photos of your business have a major advantage over stock photos. This advantage comes from their authenticity. Google and other search engines promote unique content on a website. Additionally, in many cases, your customers will appreciate seeing real photos of your company on the website. In some industries, using your own photos on a website is mandatory—for example, a hotel website must contain photos of that specific hotel, and using photos from other locations would be misleading. Even in this case, though, illustrative photos, such as suitcases or pictures showing happy people, can come from stock libraries. But if you can take them at your own hotel, it is better to do so.

But even where a company’s product is not something that can be photographed, and where the customer does not base their decision primarily on visual assessment (e.g. in the case of various courses), genuine, unique photos are a significant advantage.

So make sure to prepare at least the basic materials:

  • logo – preferably in a vector format (SVG, PDF, AI),
  • photos of the team, office, and products (even phone photos – they can be improved later),
  • company graphics – brochures, icons, colors.

Divide the photos into those that must appear on the website and those that can assist the website creators. If you have a large number of photos, it is useful to divide the materials into one folder containing 10–40 of the highest-quality photos and other folders containing up to several hundred files each.

“I don’t know how to take photos; I don’t have good-quality photos.”

It doesn’t matter at all. In such a case, a mix of your photos, stock photos, and optionally graphics generated by artificial intelligence is used.

Texts – the core of your website

Prepare basic information about the company

This is the most versatile set of content, useful not only for your website, but also for LinkedIn, marketing materials, and… when a journalist asks you for an interview. What is worth preparing?

Above all, the company description is crucial. Specific topics include, for example:

  • Business description (what you do, since when, what sets you apart),
  • Mission and values – even if it sounds lofty, it is worth writing them down,
  • Team description – names, positions, short bios, photos,
  • Company history – how it was founded and what were the important turning points.

You don’t need to write an elaborate essay. One or two pages in Word will be enough. But if the developer receives this, they will be able to build a website with soul rather than an empty template.

Prepare an offer – the more specific, the better

The offer does not always have to be published on the website. But in every case, it will allow you to create better texts for the website.

  • list of services or products,
  • for each item – a brief description, who it is for, and what value it offers,
  • optionally – a price list, if you want to display it on the website,
  • the most frequently asked questions from customers and your answers (ideal for the FAQ section).

If you have offers in PDF format—great. If you only have them in your head, it’s worth writing them down. This will also help you organize your entire communication strategy.

It sounds trivial, but many websites still don’t have them. And they are among the most frequently visited sections of a website. Prepare:

  • company address (if it is to be provided),
  • telephone number, email address,
  • links to Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Google Maps,
  • opening hours, if they are fixed.

Most people creating websites will certainly ask for contact details to include on the site, so if you prepare and send them with the initial design, you will significantly speed up the website creation process.

Divide the texts into two groups

All prepared materials—regardless of whether you write them yourself or generate them with the help of AI—are worth organizing into two categories right away:

  • Internal texts – that is, things that will not appear directly on the website but will help design it:

  • company structure description,

  • main target groups,

  • size and scope of operations,

  • customer challenges that you address,

  • phrases and slogans you use in sales conversations.

  • External copy – that is, content that could potentially appear on the website “as is”:

  • product and service descriptions,

  • “About Us” section,

  • team description,

  • mission and values,

  • contact details.

This simple division will help you organize your thinking and make it easier for the agency to create content that is consistent and useful.

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AI can help, but it cannot replace you

If you don’t have ready-made copy, don’t panic. This is one of the most common problems clients come to us with. And the good news is: today, you don’t have to be a copywriter to write useful content. But if you have the right budget, it’s worth using the services of such professionals.

All you need to do is list the basic information about your company in bullet points, and you can prepare the copy together with an agency or… ask AI for help. Tools such as ChatGPT can use your notes to suggest a sensible content structure, and even polish the language and shorten or expand paragraphs.

Of course: AI doesn’t know your company—but if you provide it with good input (e.g., “our customers are affluent individuals and small businesses in the beauty industry”), the result will be good enough to refine later together with the website developer.

How to Prepare an Initial Website Design When Commissioning Its Development?

When commissioning a website, you don’t need to be familiar with technology or design. All you need to do is prepare a simple outline—in the form of a note, drawing, or list—that shows what you need. This preliminary design will help the developer understand your expectations and avoid misunderstandings. The number of subpages is an important factor when pricing the entire website, so it is very important to think this through before placing an order. Although the number of subpages often changes while the website is being developed, it is easier to plan the site structure when you have most of the content ready.

Start by dividing the website into logical sections. Instead of putting everything into one block of text, it is better to list them separately: the home page, offerings, contact, FAQ, and about us. Each of these sections will later become a separate subpage in the menu.

The website menu is not just a collection of links—it is also an important visual element that users see immediately when the page loads.

For each one, briefly add what should be included there—you can use keywords, e.g. “Services – 3 services with descriptions and prices,” “FAQ – 5 questions, e.g. how long the session lasts and how to prepare.” You don’t need to create complete texts; only a general outline is needed.

If you like, you can create a simple page sketch—on paper, in Canva, or in Word. Show what should be at the top (e.g., an image and heading) and what should appear below (text, buttons, contact form). This makes the graphic designer’s work much easier.

The preliminary website project also serves as a kind of backup of the website. In case everything else fails.

Finally, prepare a table of contents that will also serve as a menu outline. List all planned subpages in the order in which you want them to appear on the website.

You can also prepare separate files with the content right away: service descriptions, FAQ questions, contact details, and photos. Anything that can help the contractor will shorten the work time and reduce the risk of errors.

It’s not about building the website yourself—it’s about clearly showing what it should contain. That’s enough for a good developer to create exactly what you need.

Most likely, when creating the website, everything will be reorganized several times anyway. After all, to create a website, it is useful to understand how users behave, what they pay attention to, etc. But it is easier to do this when you already have “building blocks” that you can improve and rearrange.

A complex website design. If you commission its creation, it can be much simpler. For example, you can write a short text and indicate that it should be longer, or vice versa.

AI as Your Assistant – how to use artificial intelligence to create a website while maintaining security principles.

It is also worth mentioning a very practical solution that can speed up and simplify the entire content creation process—namely, the use of artificial intelligence. Today, tools such as ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini can generate quite sensible texts, provided that they are given good input data.

And here we return to the previously mentioned “company dossier.” If you prepare a document describing your company, its activities, target groups, and offering, you can upload it as context to an AI tool. Then, when you ask it to prepare a product description, an “About Us” section, or even an email to a customer, the language model will be able to take your company’s specific characteristics into account: its industry, communication tone, area of operation, size, and even the distinctive phrases you use.

In practice, this means saving time and better-quality texts – because instead of correcting something created “blindly,” you receive material better tailored to your reality.

Of course—we need to exercise common sense here. Do not enter passwords, login credentials, internal recipes, confidential financial assumptions, or customer information into AI.

But if something is going to appear publicly on the website anyway (such as service descriptions, contact details, or team member profiles), there is no real risk in it also being part of the model’s input data.

What’s more, much of a company’s information consists of content that even if it “leaks” a few years from now (i.e., ends up in AI responses as examples) will not pose any threat to you. An example? The company’s operating reach, the fact that you work with individual clients, or that you operate locally in Poznań. This is information that can be shared without concern.

However, if you really want full control—and to process more sensitive data with the help of AI—you may consider running a language model locally on your own computer or server. This is a more technically advanced solution, but it is becoming increasingly accessible—especially with support from someone in IT.

Professional approach.

As I wrote earlier, in theory the most effective approach is to define the vision and, for example, the target groups, at the very beginning of the website design process. This is how web design agencies work. However, if you are doing it for the first time, it can sometimes be confusing, so I recommend gathering information about the company first and then moving on to defining the vision and strategy. Once you have a vision, you can return to gathering information about the company; with a starting point in place, you may decide that it is worth writing an additional text or taking specific photographs.

So, even if you start by gathering all the materials about the website in one place, it is good to keep the full picture in mind.

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Start with a vision – what do you need this website for?

Sounds trivial? And yet it’s the most common question left unanswered. Why do you want to have a website?

  • to present your offer?
  • to sell products online?
  • to build an expert image?
  • to collect contacts (leads)?
  • to have “something” to show on Google?

Each of these goals requires a completely different approach. A “brochure” website will be different from an online store. And a landing page for collecting leads? That’s a whole different story.

Therefore, before sending your first email to the contractor, try to answer one question: what results would I like to see three months after launching this website? And write it down. It will be your compass.

Who will be viewing your website?

The second thing is the target audience. It’s not about age and gender (although they are sometimes important), but about the way your customers think.

  • Are they busy and in need of quick information?
  • Do they need specific arguments before making a decision?
  • Do they buy with their eyes or through logic?
  • Are they familiar with your industry?

A website for young mothers is designed differently than one for management staff. It’s helpful to give the developer a few words about your ideal client. This can be a short paragraph—but it will help a lot.

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Gather inspiration and websites you like

This is the simplest way to show what you expect, even if you can’t put it into words. Make a list of 3–5 websites you like (they can be from completely different industries) and add:

  • what you like about them (e.g. layout, colors, animations, text style),
  • what you would change.

You can send these as links or screenshots. This not only shortens the design process—it reduces the risk of disappointment, because every creative team will have a point of reference.

Consider Additional Features (But Don’t Overdo It)

Not everything has to be included from the start. But it’s a good idea to decide in advance whether the website should include:

  • contact form,
  • blog or news section,
  • newsletter integration,
  • online store,
  • online booking option,
  • foreign languages,
  • Google Map.

Each of these functions requires additional work. If you determine this at the outset, it will be easier to estimate the budget and timeline.

When is it worth using a blog?

First and foremost, if you want to create a blog, there is no point in holding yourself back from taking action. In such a case, you can only benefit from having a blog. What if you don’t feel like doing it? There are a few cases where having a blog on your website is essential.

  • Expanding the content on the website and adding offers. In this case, a blog post serves as a subpage. Such a post is much cheaper to create because a “wall of text” on a blog is not a problem at all.
  • Driving traffic from the web. If you care about SEO (search engine optimization), running a blog is essential.

Plan the website structure (even a sketch on paper works!)

A few blocks are enough:

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Services
  • Projects / Portfolio
  • Blog / News
  • Contact

You can sketch this out on paper or in Excel. The previously mentioned Canva is also very convenient, preferably in Whiteboard mode.

You can also describe in words what you want to appear under each tab. This will serve as a guide for the developer.

Brief – Your Project Map

You can gather all the points above into a single document—call it a brief. It is the foundation of your collaboration with the agency. It doesn’t have to be perfect. It is enough to include:

  • the purpose of the website,
  • the target audience,
  • the key content and elements,
  • sources of inspiration,
  • visual preferences,
  • additional features,
  • the planned structure,
  • the budget and timeline.

An agency or freelancer who reads this will know who they are dealing with. And you will save yourself 5–6 emails or reduce the number of meetings from 5–6 to 1–3, saving a total of several to a dozen or so hours.

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Summary: a website is not a project—it’s a process

Ordering a website should not be a “task to be completed.” It is a collaborative process that can be smooth, enjoyable, and effective—if you prepare properly. Everything I describe above can be done in 1–2 afternoons. And the benefits? Peace of mind, control, and savings.

You don’t need to have everything tied up perfectly. Sometimes an honest conversation and notes from your head are enough. But the more things you think through and prepare, the better website you’ll get.