So your boss wants a new website: a practical guide for the person who has to make it happen

When your boss says "we need a new website", your first job is not choosing a platform or an agency. It is finding out what problem the new site must solve, how success will be measured, what you can spend and who gets the final say. Get those answers in writing, take stock of what you already have, choose between building it yourself, using a builder or hiring a studio, and run the project in clear stages with one decision-maker. This guide walks you through each step.

Step 1: find out what your boss actually wants

"We need a new website" can mean almost anything: a fresh look, more leads, a site the team can update, a better impression for investors, or simply "the old one embarrasses me." Book thirty minutes and ask:

• Why now? A launch, a rebrand, a competitor's new site, a complaint from a customer?
• What should the new site do that the old one does not? Push for outcomes: more quote requests, online booking, fewer phone calls asking basic questions, easier recruiting.
• How will we know it worked? Leads per month, bookings, calls, time on site, or simply that staff can update it.
• What is the budget range? A range is fine. "No idea" is a signal to bring options back.
• When does it need to be live, and why that date?
• Who approves decisions? Ideally your boss for direction and budget, you for everything else.
• Which websites do you like, and why? Competitors or not. Ask what specifically they like.
• What must not change? Phone numbers, a page customers rely on, the domain, an email address.

Then send a short email summarizing the answers. That email becomes your project brief and protects you later when opinions shift.

Step 2: take stock of what you already have

Before talking to anyone outside the business, collect:

If nobody knows where the domain is registered or who has the logins, solve that first. It is the most common reason website launches stall. Our guide to domains, DNS, SSL and email authentication explains what each piece does.

Step 3: decide how much website you need

Match the project to the goal, not to the most impressive option:

• A credible presence, few pages, little budget: a website builder can be right. Read should your business use a one-click builder.
• Search traffic and leads matter: a platform with room for many pages and good SEO tools, usually WordPress, Webflow or a coded site. See how to choose a website platform.
• Selling online: an ecommerce platform. See choosing an ecommerce platform.
• Integrations, portals or custom tools: a studio build.

Our industry platform guides show what tends to work for businesses like yours.

Step 4: choose who builds it

You have three realistic routes:

1. Use a builder yourself. Fast and cheap, but someone on staff owns it forever.
2. Build it with AI tools like Claude. Low cash cost, high time cost, and you take on security and maintenance. See how to build your own website with Claude.
3. Hire a studio or agency. More cost, less risk and less of your time.

We compare all three in one-click builder, DIY with Claude, or hire a studio. If you hire, browse our web design agency directory for verified agencies in your state, and use our questions to ask and RFP guide to compare them fairly.

Step 5: set a realistic budget

Bosses often picture the build cost and forget everything after it. Present both:

• One-time: design, build, content, photography, migration.
• Recurring: hosting, platform plan, plugin or app licenses, domain, email, maintenance and support. See website platform licensing fees.
• Your time: content, reviews, approvals and training.

Use our website cost calculator to show first-year and three-year totals, and how much a business website costs for typical ranges. A clear total up front is far easier than asking for more money halfway through.

Step 6: plan the content early

Content is where most website projects slip. Somebody has to write or approve every page, gather photos and get sign-off. Decide now:

• Who writes each page? You, a colleague, the agency, or a freelance writer.
• Who approves copy? Ideally one person.
• What existing content carries over? Keep pages that rank and bring in leads.
• Do you need new photography? Real photos of your team and work outperform stock.

Step 7: protect what already works

If the current site gets traffic from Google, a careless rebuild can lose it. Make sure whoever builds the site maps every old URL to a new one and sets up redirects, keeps strong page content, and resubmits the sitemap at launch. Read how to redesign a website without losing SEO and share it with your agency.

Step 8: run the project in stages

Agree on stages with clear approvals, so feedback does not arrive all at once at the end:

Keep the approval group small. Every extra reviewer adds time and pulls the design toward the average.

Step 9: launch and keep it healthy

Before launch, test every form, check the site on phones, confirm analytics and conversion tracking work, and make sure email still works after DNS changes. Our launch checklist applies to any site, not just builder sites, and connecting forms to email or your CRM covers making sure leads actually arrive.

After launch, agree who owns updates, backups and security. See the small business website security checklist.

The short version

Get your boss's goals, budget, deadline and decision-maker in writing. Gather logins and assets, choose the right level of website and the right builder, budget for running costs as well as the build, plan content early, protect your existing search traffic and run the project in stages. If you would like a partner for it, tell us about the project and we will help you scope it, even if you end up building it another way.