When you decide to commission a corporate website, the first reflex is usually to collect a few sites you like and send them to the agency. That helps, but it is not enough. What really determines how soon and at what quality a site goes live is which information and decisions are ready at the start. In this article we walk you through, step by step, everything you can gather on your side before the first conversation.
What is the site's job, in one sentence?
The first item of preparation is strategic, not technical: what is this site for? "To introduce our company" is too broad. More useful answers look like this: collecting dealer applications, receiving quote requests, reassuring foreign buyers for export, attracting job applicants or getting people to download a catalog.
There can be more than one goal, but one of them should be the main goal, because the layout of the home page, the fields on the contact form and even the menu order are shaped by that decision. Write the goal down and share it with everyone involved in the project.
Make your target audience concrete
Who will visit the site? A purchasing manager, an architect, an end user, a prospective dealer? Each audience looks for different information. A purchaser wants technical data sheets and lead times; an architect wants to see reference projects; a prospective dealer wants to know the terms of working together.
Ask your sales team for the five questions they hear most and note them down. These questions form the skeleton of the site's content. We cover how to derive the page list from them in our article which pages a corporate website should have.
Content inventory: what do you have, and what is missing?
Text and images are what projects wait on most. Listing what you already have in a table before you start saves time for you and for the team.
| Content | Where it will come from | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Company introduction text | Existing catalog, presentation file | Does it need updating? |
| Product / service list | Price list, ERP records | Are the groups clear? |
| Technical documents | Data sheets, copies of certificates | Are the PDFs up to date? |
| Images | Product photos, facility shots | Is the resolution sufficient? |
| References | Project list, logos with permission | Is there permission to publish? |
| Team information | Names, titles, photos | Do people want these shared? |
The texts do not have to be perfect. Raw information is enough; turning it into professional language is part of the process anyway. What matters is that the information is accurate and current.
Gather access details in one place
On the technical side of a corporate website, the biggest time sink is not knowing who holds the access details. Find these in advance:
- Which registrar the domain is with, whose name it is registered under, and its renewal date
- Control panel access for your current hosting service
- Where your DNS records are managed (DNS is the address book that connects your domain to servers)
- Where your business email runs
- Who owns the Google Search Console and analytics accounts
If the domain is registered in someone else's name, that is a risk to resolve regardless of the project. We explain the details in our article on domain ownership and common mistakes. Since email and the website use the same domain, a wrong DNS change can stop your email; that is why business email should be on the list from the start.
Identify the decision maker and the approval path
"Let's just check with the boss" can hold a project up for weeks. Before you start, decide who will give feedback and who will give final approval. Ideally, there is one point of contact and one approver. Giving feedback through a single channel, in batches, is much faster than working through scattered calls and messages.
Take an X-ray of your current site
If you are redesigning, learn from the old site before throwing it away. Which pages get visits, which URLs appear on Google, and where do form submissions end up? This information determines what must be preserved on the new site. If the URL structure is going to change, a list of old URLs is essential; you can find how to handle this in our article on avoiding traffic loss during a redesign.
Preparation checklist
- The site's main goal is written in one sentence
- The target audience and the five most common questions are listed
- A content inventory is done, with gaps marked
- The logo in vector format, brand colors and fonts have been located
- Domain, hosting, DNS and email access details are collected
- The point of contact and the approver are named
- Two or three example sites you like and dislike are noted
- Important URLs and the form flow of the current site are recorded
How we do it at Globya
First contact is by phone. In that call, we look together at which items on the list above are ready; completing the missing ones on your behalf is part of our job. If you like, we can map out the state of your current site and domain settings with a free preliminary analysis. Once preparation is clear, your corporate website is browsable within the first 10 days; your current site is untouched in the meantime, and when the new one is ready the switch happens in one step. Pricing follows in a written proposal once the scope is clear.
Frequently asked questions
Can the project start if our texts are not ready?
Yes. Raw information, an old catalog or a presentation file is a good enough starting point. Editing the texts for the web is part of the process; what matters is that the information is accurate.
Is a professional photo shoot required?
It is not required, but product and facility photos noticeably affect how credible the site looks. We can review your existing images together and decide which ones can be used.
What should we do if we do not know the domain password?
First you need to find out which registrar the domain is with and whose name it is registered under. Access can usually be recovered through your registrar's support line with ownership verification, and we help with this step.
How long does the preparation phase take?
It depends on the material the company has on hand. In most cases, a few days of gathering is enough, and that time saves weeks over the whole project.
The Globya assistant is online 24/7; it answers right away and passes your question to the team if needed.