What to do BEFORE You Make Your Website

Wondering what to do before you make your website? Grab a cup of coffee and take a seat in that cozy office chair, friend. You’ve come to the right place.

Let’s walk through a scenario for a sec.

— Buys website template
— Gets really excited and immediately spends hours playing around with it
— Realizes they uploaded their images so quickly and none of them are optimized 🤦🏻‍♀️
— Uploads logos
— Oops logos are fuzzy, time to re-export them to look better
— Oh I should probably create an opt in for my website to build my email list spends hours [read: days] creating campaigns & freebies
— Hmm probably should set up a lead form in a CRM so I can manage my leads coming from my website
— Eek I should probably ask past clients for testimonials to showcase
— I don’t know what to say here, I’ll come back to the copy another day
— looks at the mobile version 😧😳😩😭

Andddd a year later… 🦗 🦗 🦗 …still no website

Sound familiar?? I hear this story way too often. Sad, but true – this is honestly most people with their first website. It all seems fun until it’s not, right? 🤪

But here’s the deal: I’m going to help you set up everything BEFORE you make your website, so that:

• You know what to look for in the perfect website template for your unique needs.
• Customizing your website is FUN (not exhausting and all-consuming)
• You feel confident that you’re doing it the right way: a way that is strategic and will pay off in the long run

The following checklist is my proven step-by-step process for preparing everything you need prior to designing a website. In fact, it’s actually the same process my clients go through when we work together. My process has evolved a LOT since I started designing websites in 2017, and now that I have found the perfect recipe for success, I’m excited to share it with you! I want nothing more than to see you succeed –– a level of success that is defined not only by how amazing your website looks, but also how well it performs and how much fun you had putting it together!

Follow these steps to make sure you cross your t’s and dot your i’s prior to diving into your website!

1. Get to know your ideal client better w/IG polls
2. Nail down your color palette
3. Define your font suite
4. Shot list & getting that brand shoot on the calendar
5. Gather your testimonials into one place
6. Brain dump day
7. Prep your email opt-in forms
8. Prep your contact form
9. Write your website copy
10. Prep your logo files
11. Resize and optimize your photos for web
12. Purchase your domain
13. Select your designer or website template

For the full list, be sure to download the free Website Homework Checklist where you’ll get more in depth details to complete each one. And for a more comprehensive guide and fill-as-you-go workbook, download the full Pre-Website Homework Roadmap.

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