Updated · Andreia Cirne
What a service business website needs before the design
Before colours and templates, five decisions shape whether your website brings in enquiries. A practical guide to making them first.
A beautiful website nobody understands is still a website that brings in no enquiries. Before you pick colours, fonts or a template, you need to know five things: who it is for, what people come to solve, what you want them to do, why they should trust you and how you will know it is working.
The design comes afterwards, to make all of that visible.
Why people start at the end
Design is the part you can see, so it is the easiest to discuss. You like this blue, you do not like that photo. The hard questions get pushed back, and later is when the site is already built and the copy has to fit into boxes someone drew without knowing what would go in them.
The five decisions
In this order, because each one depends on the one before:
- Who it is for. Not "everyone". Which kind of client, in which situation. If you work with two very different audiences, you probably need two paths through the site.
- What people come to solve. Write the question in your client's words, not yours. Nobody searches for "integrated solutions". They search for "an accountant who actually replies".
- What you want them to do. One main action: call, send a message, ask for a quote, book. If the site asks for five different things, people do none of them.
- Why they should trust you. Real testimonials, examples of work, who is behind it, how the first step works. With a service, people are buying something they have not seen yet.
- How you will know it works. Which enquiries count, where they come from and how many become clients. If this is not decided up front, nobody measures it later.
What to prepare before talking to whoever builds the site
With this in hand, the first meeting stops being about taste:
- One sentence on what you do and for whom, that a client understands straight away.
- The five or six questions clients always ask you.
- Your services, in order of importance to the business.
- Proof: named testimonials, examples, real photos.
- The main action, and where enquiries will land: email, WhatsApp or a spreadsheet.
Signs you are starting with the design
If two or more sound familiar, it is worth stepping back:
- The first meeting was about reference sites you like.
- The copy was left for "when the site is ready".
- Nobody can say which button on the homepage matters most.
- The old site is being replaced, but nobody knows what it brought in or failed to.
What deciding this first costs
Time, more than money. And it saves the most expensive part: redoing pages, copy and structure once the site is live.
An example
Pine Cliffs, a luxury resort in the Algarve, had a strong brand. What was failing sat behind it: each audience followed a different path and there was no shared definition of a promising enquiry. The brand attracted people, but it was not enough to convert them. Once the paths and the role of each channel were clear, qualified demand went up and conversion became more consistent. I managed the website project as Digital Project Manager at Dengun.
See the Pine Cliffs caseCommon questions
- Can I build the site on a template and decide this later?
- You can, but you will end up fitting the business to the template. Deciding first lets you choose the right template, or realise you do not need one.
- Who should write the website copy?
- Whoever knows the clients best, often you. A professional can help organise and sharpen it, but the raw material has to come from the business.
- How many pages does a service business website need?
- As many as it takes to answer your clients' questions. For many businesses, a clear homepage, one page per main service, an about page and a contact page are enough to start.
- What should I measure on a new website?
- Enquiries: phone and WhatsApp clicks, form submissions and where they come from. Visits without enquiries tell you little.
Who writes this
Andreia Cirne
I'm a marketing consultant and certified trainer (CCP) based in Faro. I spent almost six years at a digital agency managing marketing and website projects, and saw a lot of money spent on things nobody knew were working. Today I work directly with service businesses: I help decide what to do first and teach teams to do it without depending on anyone. Not even me.
Read about my pathIf you are about to build or rebuild your website and want to walk into the first meeting with this decided, the diagnostic is a good place to start.
Talk to me