Short answer: less than you think, and none of it needs to be perfect.
The things we genuinely need
What your business does. A couple of sentences in plain language. “We’re a family-run electrical firm covering Leeds and Wakefield, mostly domestic rewires and consumer unit upgrades” is ideal. You do not need to write it well — that is our job.
Who your customers are. Homeowners? Landlords? Other businesses? This changes the tone of the whole site more than almost anything else you tell us.
How people should contact you. A phone number, an email address, or both. If you have a physical address customers visit, that too.
What you want people to do. Ring you, request a quote, book online, or come to the shop. One primary action, chosen deliberately.
That is the minimum. Everything below improves the result but is not required.
The things that help a lot
Your services, listed out. Even roughly. Six bullet points is fine.
Your service area. “Within 20 miles of Bristol” is more useful than “the South West” and much more useful than nothing.
Opening hours. Particularly if you are a shop, a salon, or anywhere people turn up in person.
Real testimonials. If you have reviews you are proud of, paste them in. We will never invent one, so if you do not supply any, your site simply will not have that section.
A logo. See uploading your logo for formats and what to do if you have not got one.
Photos of your actual work. These make more difference than anything else on this list. See photos for your website.
The things we do not need
- A written page plan. We decide the structure.
- Copy you have drafted yourself. You can supply it, but you do not have to.
- Colour codes or fonts, unless you have a brand you want matched.
- Anything about hosting, domains or technical setup. That is all ours.
What we will never make up
Prices, qualifications, awards, years in business, review quotes, or accreditations. If you do not tell us, it does not appear.
That occasionally frustrates people who expected us to “fill in the gaps”, but it is the only defensible way to build a site that makes claims on your behalf.