Start with the jobs you want more of
List your ideal work rather than copying every service a competing decorator advertises. Perhaps you want full-room redecorations within 15 miles, premium wallpaper installation or ongoing maintenance for landlords. Your website should help those customers recognise themselves and discourage enquiries you cannot serve.
Write down where you genuinely travel, any minimum job preferences and whether you have capacity for commercial work. These decisions influence the homepage wording, service pages, navigation and contact form far more than a choice of colours.
Gather proof before deciding on layout
Make a folder of approved project photographs with basic notes: location at a sensible level, surfaces prepared, work completed and any unusual challenges. Choose images that demonstrate different kinds of work instead of uploading twenty nearly identical bedrooms. Get permission before using images that identify a customer home.
Collect the business details customers will look for: preferred contact number, business email, service areas, working approach, genuine testimonials and accurately described qualifications. If the designer has to chase this information after the layout is finished, launch dates may slip.
Write a brief a designer can actually quote against
Give a one-page summary: what the business does, who it serves, which pages are needed, examples of sites you like and the features that matter. Specify whether you want an enquiry form, optional photo uploads, call buttons, galleries, social links or editable pages. Distinguish “essential for launch” from “perhaps later”.
Also ask what the quote includes: responsive layout, copy assistance, domain setup, hosting, maintenance, launch testing and support. A cheap price is difficult to compare when one proposal includes ongoing changes and another covers only the initial build.
Agree the next steps and ownership early
Before a deposit, establish who controls the domain, what happens if you change provider, where enquiries are sent and how the website can be updated. Ask the designer to show the proposed page map and approval stages, not just a polished mock-up.
At launch you should test the phone number, postcode fields, optional file uploads, enquiry confirmation and links on a mobile device. A practical website brief does not need to be long; it just needs to prevent the wrong assumptions.
A one-page website brief you can actually send
A useful brief might say: “We are a two-person decorating team working within roughly 20 miles of Bath. We mainly want whole-room repaints, wallpapering and exterior woodwork jobs. Our customers often ask whether we protect furniture and whether we take on small single-room projects. We have twelve approved project photographs and three genuine reviews. We need customers to send a postcode and describe the surfaces involved.”
Then add what the new site must include: four service pages, a small portfolio, contact details, a mobile-friendly quote form and a way to add more projects later. Ask providers to show which parts of the work are included in the quoted cost, who writes the copy, who manages the domain and what happens if the relationship ends. That brief is concrete enough to price without locking a designer into a particular colour scheme or platform.
- Write the type of jobs you want and jobs you do not take.
- Prepare approved photos and accurate business details.
- Request an itemised scope rather than a vague “website package”.
- Clarify content ownership and support before paying a deposit.
Further reading
Related guide: What Should a Painter and Decorator Website Package Include?
Related guide: How to Choose a Website Designer for Your Decorating Business