Is your studio ready for a website project?
Use evidence from your portfolio, inquiry route and accounts to decide what to fix before starting a website project. Includes a worked readiness worksheet.
Before asking for a redesign, check what is ready to publish, whether an inquiry reaches the right person and who controls the site. Bring the evidence to the first conversation with a designer.
Record what you can demonstrate
Open the current site alongside a blank document. For each question below, record an answer, where the evidence lives, and a person responsible for anything unresolved. Use “checked,” “decision needed” or “not tested.” Leave out passwords and private client material.
There is no total score. A missing project caption and an inquiry that never arrives need different responses. The purpose is to choose the next piece of work.
Question: What are we checking?
Evidence: A page, approved file, test result or account record.
Status: Checked, decision needed or not tested.
Next action: Who will do what, and when?
Check four areas before writing the scope
| Area | What to check | What to bring |
|---|---|---|
| Portfolio | Which project supports the work you want next? Does its page identify your role? Which images, credits and details are approved for publication? | A proposed selection, its credits and the location of approval records. List material still awaiting a decision. |
| Inquiry | Can a new visitor find the next step? Does a labelled test reach the person responsible? Does Reply go to the test sender? | The route used, test date, receiving mailbox and result. Record a failed or untested step without treating the success screen as proof. |
| Ownership | Who controls the domain, hosting and connected services? Can the studio obtain access? Who can update and restore the site? | Account owners, renewal contacts, update instructions and the location of a tested backup. Keep credentials elsewhere. |
| Private clients | What must stay off the public page? Can an assistant inquire without disclosing a private address or detailed matter? Who approves sensitive wording? | A list of public and withheld details, the first-contact questions and the person who approves publication. |
For the visitor check, ask someone unfamiliar with the business to find a relevant service and start an inquiry. Let them navigate without coaching. Record the words they use and the page where they hesitate. Their feedback is a lead to investigate, not a measurement of every visitor.
Keep track of your review
Tick an item after you have recorded its evidence. An unticked box means it still needs attention, not that the website has failed. This checklist does not send your choices to dgl or save a copy for you.
Mark the items you have checked.
Decide what belongs in public
A private residence, a custom object or work for a private office may need a different presentation from a public campaign. Agree the permitted images and level of detail before designing the project page. Withholding a name does not, by itself, settle what else may be shown.
A lawyer’s office can replace the portfolio questions with checks on service descriptions, staff details and its approved contact process. Keep the publication decision with the office. This worksheet does not decide what that profession permits it to publish.
For an appointment-led studio or jeweller, write down whether the visitor is requesting a time or confirming one. If someone can inquire on a client’s behalf, ask where the reply should go. Gather additional details through the process you have agreed with the client.
A worked example
Illustrative example: an interiors studio wants more inquiries about private residential work. Its current website looks dated, but the review below finds more specific tasks.
| Evidence found | Decision | Next action |
|---|---|---|
| Two project selections have publication approval. A third is awaiting the client’s reply. | Use the approved work in the first design. Hold the third project. | The studio partner confirms the image list and credits before sending assets. |
| A test inquiry arrives, but Reply points to the form service. | Correct the reply address before inviting inquiries. | The developer fixes it and repeats the test with the studio administrator. |
| The previous builder is the only person with registrar access. | Resolve account control before changing the live website. | The owner confirms the account arrangement and obtains appropriate access. |
| The draft project captions include house addresses that are absent from the approved publication notes. | Leave those addresses out of the draft. | The partner agrees the permitted location wording with each client. |
The studio can now ask for a proposal covering selected project pages and the inquiry repair, with account access and publication decisions identified. It can ask separately whether the existing layout needs replacing.
Choose the next piece of work
- Material is missing: agree the selection, credits and approvals before designing layouts around it.
- Visitors cannot identify the service: revise one service or project page and repeat the visitor check.
- The inquiry route fails: repair and test that route before sending more people to it.
- Account control is unclear: resolve ownership and recovery arrangements before a live migration.
- The evidence is ready: use it to write the pages, responsibilities and acceptance checks into a proposal.
Take the unresolved items into the website brief builder. Ask a designer to propose the work that follows from them, with additional work listed separately.