Your Pre-Boarding Checklist for a 4-Week Website Project with Drio

If you’re reading this, chances are you’re considering a 4-Week Website Project with us (or you’ve already booked one). You’ve probably meant to revamp your website for too long, and now you’re ready to MAKE. IT. HAPPEN. 👏

We love to see it.

In this blog, you’ll get the full rundown on how to prepare so we can celebrate a successful project together that’s wrapped up in four short weeks. Consider it your pre-boarding checklist for a smooth and enjoyable website journey with Drio Airlines.

Business Goals

“Wait, I thought this was a website design checklist?”

Oh, it is. Your website’s job is to support you in reaching your marketing and business goals, so you must be clear on those before embarking on a journey with us.

Be prepared to brief us on things like:

• Where you’re hoping to take your business in the next few years
• What your offers are
• Who is your ideal client is
• How do you want to position your brand
• How do you expect to generate traffic to your site

If you have questions about any of this, we’re more than happy to give you our expertise. We can help you find clarity as needed and guide you through how we can reflect your goals on your website.

Branding Elements

Visual branding conveys your business’s identity and personality, instills trust, differentiates you, and supports brand recognition. If your website doesn’t reflect your branding, it can feel generic, inconsistent, and less professional. 

In order to provide a beautiful, on-brand website, you’ll need to share the following:

• All versions of your logo
• Brand color palettes
• Wordmarks
• Typefaces
• Any branded graphics

Please provide these elements in SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics), AI (Adobe Illustrator) or EPS (Encapsulated Postscript) files to make sure all visuals are high quality and on-point. 

What if I don’t have branding yet?

If you haven’t created a visual identity for your brand yet, we won’t be able to develop your 4-Week Website. Please let us know if this is the case and we can refer you to some talented brand designers in our network. 

If you’re only missing some of the elements (e.g., just branded graphics or typefaces), we’ll choose something from our stock library to use. But we highly suggest having core brand elements like color palettes and logos sorted out first. 

Website Copy

Website copy is the words on your website. It captures your brand voice, articulates what you do, and explains how you can help your ideal clients.

While often overlooked, it’s a crucial part of the process. We like to say design without copy is like building walls to your house without framing—it establishes the foundation of your website.

To help you tackle this critical piece, you’ll use our Content Guide. These handy forms walk you through writing your website content section by section, page by page, using professionally written Copy Prompts.

The Content Guide helps you beat the blank page and guides you through essential pieces of information we need to gather. You’ll be able to see how your copy will lay out on the site, and we’ll provide examples and character counts to keep you focused.

What if I still really don’t want to write my content?

We totally understand! While the Content Guide makes writing your copy easier, it can still be a heavy lift. That’s why we have several trusted copywriters we can refer you to if you’re not interested in tackling the content yourself.

Simply reach out to us here and we’ll share our top three copywriter options and their pricing. Every copywriter we recommend is familiar with our process and can work within our tight timeline.

Images

Like your branding and copywriting, photos help convey the essence of your business. They bring your brand to life by showcasing the humans behind your business, the humans you help, the products you sell, or the places you conduct your business. They can also play an important role in search engine optimization (SEO) by allowing us to integrate ALT text, which is descriptions of your image that help users find your website on search engines. 

Before starting your project, you’ll need to provide existing high-quality team photos, product photos, or stock photos you love. Then, we’ll show you how to upload them to your client portal so they’re all in a central place. 

If you need extra photos to illustrate something or to add more personality, we’ll help you source stock images as needed. The 4-Week Website package includes up to 10 Stock Images from our internal photo library.

A willingness to lead with your brand values

At Drio, our specialty is helping small businesses stand out online by leading with the ways they’re making a bigger impact. 

That’s why Value-Based Marketing Guidance is integral to your 4-Week Website project. Throughout every step, we’ll help you bring your values and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts to the surface.

To do so, we need you to show up with a mindset open to uncovering and clarifying these things. 

If you’re unsure how to communicate your values or worried that the efforts your business is making “aren’t worth talking about,” don’t worry. Through our calls and Strategic Writing Prompts, we’ll guide you through the process to help you hone in on these things. In addition, we’ll provide reassurance about what should be showcased and help you distill it into a memorable message that shines on your website.

Ready to board?

If you have a plan for all the elements above, you’re ready for a smooth take-off into a whole new airspace of opportunity for your business. 

Still need to book in? What are you waiting for?! Schedule a call to get started.