What you should think about and get ready before site building begins.

In short, the words and pictures that will go in your site. You also need to have a good idea of who your audience is, what you want your site to do, and why. Specifically:

What words will you provide (unless you'll be asking me to write them for you) . They should ideally be in a digital format (ie a Word document, or typed into an email).
The pictures you provide should ideally be in a digital format, but paper photos are OK too. Pictures should look good, so if you're not the best at using a camera, consider hiring a professional photographer. Stock photos are also a good option.
Do you have or need a logo?
Think about what kinds of features you'd like and would be helpful to your users. For example, would having a form to submit feedback be easier for your users than just providing your email address? Here's an article about possible website features and options.
Think about how you want the site to look. Write down a list of adjectives that describe your ideal website.
Find some specific websites you like and write down their URLs (www dot whatever). Write down specifically what you like about the sites. For example, you can write:
123.com: I like the color scheme on this site
abc.com: I like the fonts in the top half of this site
xyz.com: I like the understated look of the registration form
Write down a list of competitor websites, and note what you like and don't like about each of them.
Think about a domain name (an article about choosing a domain name).

Remember that requesting changes to your site in the middle of the site-building process will often add to the final cost, so it's a good idea to have a firm outline of what you want before work begins -- it will definitely help speed things along.

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