Posted by Courtney Fappiano on July 29th, 2025When you know you need a website, whether it’s your first or your fifth, you may not know or remember what you need to get the ball rolling. That’s why we’ve put together this quick guide to help you understand what WE need from YOU in order to embark on your optimal website development project.
1. Domain and Hosting: The Foundation
Before anything else, you need a domain (yourwebsite.com) and a hosting plan (the service that stores your site and makes it accessible online). These are non-negotiable. If you don’t already have them, we can help you choose and set them up, but they’re essential first steps. Hosting can be monthly or yearly and comes in many shapes—shared, VPS, managed WordPress, etc.
For you first-timers, don’t stress this step. We will help you figure out what makes the most sense, based on your budget and business needs. All we need from you is an understanding of what these things are and why they matter. Say it with us — “Step one: domain + hosting = website ready for action.”
2. Logo and Branding: Your Visual Identity
Next up: branding. This means your logo, your color palette, fonts, and any existing brand guidelines. If you have these already, amazing—we’ll use them to inform the site’s look and feel. If not, that’s a whole other conversation (and process), because having clear visual identity will affect everything from the site layout to your images and tone of voice.
Check out our recent brand transformation story featuring Summit Path Blooms. After all, who can resist a “chonky bumblebee?”
3. Choosing a Theme: It’s Not Just About Looks
For WordPress sites especially, choosing a theme is like choosing a blueprint. It sets the tone for structure, flexibility, layout, and functionality. At hasOptimization, we help clients pick a theme based on what they need their site to do—not just what looks good. A great theme should support your goals, work well on mobile, and be easy to update.
Need some inspiration? Peep some of our latest site launches and get excited about what the hasOpt team can make happen for your brand!
4. Content: Don’t Sleep on It
One of the biggest things that holds up website projects is missing content. You’d be surprised how often design is done and ready to go, but the site can’t launch because we’re waiting on page copy, bios, or service descriptions. Content matters just as much, if not more, than the design itself. It drives SEO, user experience, and helps visitors understand who you are and what you offer. If you’re not ready with content, that delays design, which then delays the build, and it turns into a domino effect. As our copywriter, Amanda, explains: “Without well-written content, your website is nothing more than a sharply dressed skeleton. Interesting to look at, but incapable of doing, well, anything. Flesh it out!”
5. Photos: Real > Stock (but Stock is Better Than Nothing)
Finally, images. Real photos of your team, your location, your work—these make a huge difference in how trustworthy and authentic your site feels. The truth is, people want to work with people they identify with and like.
Making every effort to share photos of what makes your business tick and the folks behind its success can go a long way to establishing trust, authority, and a loyal fan following.
If that’s not possible, then high-quality stock images are the next best thing. We can help with sourcing, but blurry or generic visuals will drag your site down fast.
Build a better website with help from hasOptimization
Starting a website project doesn’t have to feel like a huge undertaking but the more prepared you are with the essentials, the smoother (and faster) it’ll go.
Just ask Liz Legere, owner of The Positive Pet Parent & Alexandria Pet Care:
“DRAMA-FREE SUCCESS!! This is how website design, development, and support should be: simple and successful. The stellar small team of web experts give attentive client service and great recommendations for tech and design. I wasted too much money with big name hosting companies for zero help and abysmal customer service as I tried to DIY my own WordPress design, plug-ins, blogs, email lists and lead generation. We’ve moved two websites to the hasOptimization team so far, and now we’re getting started on marketing projects with them in support of our small business. Now I know who I’m working with and have their full support. Highly recommend.”
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