In our previous blog post, The Importance of Website Planning, we talked about the questions a client might be asked during the discovery phase of a website build or redesign. These questions help the web development team select the right content management system, plan for necessary functionality and site expansion and guide the overall design and structure of the site.
Once discovery is complete and development begins, your team will need access to a number of systems and assets. What they ask for will depend on the goals of your website and your responses during discovery.
Where Is Your Current Site Hosted?
Your hosting provider is what makes your website accessible on the internet. Your site might live on a shared, dedicated, or virtual private server (VPS), and the hosting environment may use different operating systems and configurations.
Hosts offer packages based on performance needs: bandwidth, storage, domain support, and security features. Choosing the right hosting solution is based on how your website is built, what it needs to do, and the amount of traffic you expect.
If you already have a host, your development team will request access to the control panel (often cPanel, Plesk, or a host-provided dashboard). This allows them to evaluate server resources, create staging environments, manage databases, and handle file transfers. Not all hosting plans include control panel access, so it’s important to know what you’re working with. If you don’t yet have hosting, your team can help select a provider that fits your project’s scope and requirements.
Where Is Your Domain Registered?
Your domain, your web address, must be registered through a domain registrar. Some hosting companies also offer domain registration, but your domain doesn’t have to live with your host.
Domain access is critical for launching or moving your site. Your development team will need access to your registrar account to point your domain to the new host and ensure that DNS records are updated correctly. Domains can vary in price and features, and you’re free to shop for the best option from reliable registrars like Namecheap, GoDaddy, or Google Domains.
Where Is Your Email Hosted?
Email can be hosted by your web host or by a separate provider like Google Workspace (formerly G Suite), Microsoft 365, Zoho Mail, or others.
If your email is hosted through your current web provider and you’re changing hosts, those email accounts and forwarding rules must be recreated on the new host. Knowing how your email is set up helps prevent downtime, lost messages, or configuration errors. If you’re already using a third-party email provider, your developer just needs to know where it’s hosted and if any DNS updates are needed.
Who Is Your Email Marketing Provider?
If you plan to grow an email list or offer newsletter sign-ups, your website will need to integrate with your email marketing platform. Your development team will need either an embed code or admin access to services like Mailchimp, Constant Contact, HubSpot, or Klaviyo to create or connect signup forms. If you’re not using a provider yet, your team can help you evaluate options based on your goals and audience.
What Social Media Channels Do You Use?
The level of social media integration you want will determine what access is needed. For basic linking, URLs to your profiles will do. If you want more advanced integrations, such as auto-posting, live social feeds, or share tracking, your development team may need admin-level access to generate credentials and set up APIs through platforms like Meta (Facebook/Instagram), LinkedIn, X (formerly Twitter), or TikTok.
Do You Have Logos and Branding Elements?
Your brand is the foundation of your website’s design. Share your logo (in vector format, if possible), your brand color palette, fonts, and any existing brand guidelines or mood boards. The more cohesive and comprehensive your assets, the better your new site will reflect your brand identity.
Do You Have Photos You Can Provide?
Visuals are powerful. According to current data, content with images still outperforms text-only content by significant margins. Original photography builds trust and conveys authenticity, especially when users are researching your product or service online.
If you don’t have custom photos, stock photography is an option, but should be used with care. Generic stock images can feel impersonal or overused. Whenever possible, customize stock images to better represent your brand, and always check who else is using them through a reverse image search.
The more information and access you can provide early in the process, the more smoothly your project will move from discovery to development. When assets are missing or access is delayed, it can cause bottlenecks, cost overruns, or missed launch dates. Your development team shouldn’t have to become digital detectives just to find your DNS records or guess which email provider you use.
Providing access and assets as early as possible helps to move your website project smoothly from the discovery phase to development by allowing your web team to identify any issues or shortfalls in your hosting environment, connectivity or visual library and address them in a timely manner. This ensures that your project stays on track. Missing information can lead to delays in the project schedule and potential cost overruns if your web team has to do forensic work to find your registrar, get into your email marketing account, or move your hosting to get cpanel access.
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