Decision made — you want a new website. Great! Before you contact a web developer or design studio, it's worth preparing a few basics. This will help the project start faster, cost less and deliver a better result.
1. Domain Name
A domain is your website's address — e.g. yourcompany.com. If you don't have one yet, you need to register it before the project starts (or alongside it).
- Choose a short, memorable name
- Avoid hyphens and numbers — they make it harder to share verbally
- Register multiple extensions: .com and your country TLD (e.g. .ie, .co.uk)
- Check availability on domain registrars like GoDaddy, Namecheap or Google Domains
Cost of a .com domain: approx. €10–15/year. A basic but essential investment.
2. Hosting
Hosting is the server where your website "lives". Without hosting, a domain is like an address for an empty plot of land.
- Shared hosting — cheapest (€30–100/year), good for small brochure sites
- VPS — more expensive (€20–100/month), essential for e-commerce stores
- Managed hosting — hosting optimised for specific CMS (e.g. WordPress)
Not sure what to choose? Tell us about your plans and we'll recommend the right solution.
3. Logo and Brand Identity
The website needs to match your brand. Prepare:
- Logo in vector format (AI, SVG, EPS) — not JPG or PNG
- Brand colours (HEX codes or CMYK/RGB values)
- Fonts used in your marketing materials (if you know them)
- Examples of websites you like — visual references
Don't have a logo yet? We can combine both — we'll design your brand identity and website as one project.
4. Content (Text)
This is the element clients most often underestimate — and it's what causes the most delays. A website needs text for:
- Homepage (tagline, company overview)
- "About us" section
- Services or product descriptions
- Contact information
- Optionally: blog, FAQ, testimonials
Missing content is the most common reason for project delays. Ready-made copy at the start = project finished 2x faster.
We can help — Kavik Studio also offers SEO copywriting, i.e. texts optimised for search engines.
5. Photos and Images
A good website needs good photos. Your options:
- Your own photos — best for authenticity (brand photoshoot, product photos)
- Stock photos — paid (Shutterstock, Adobe Stock) or free (Unsplash, Pexels)
- Images should be min. 1920px wide for backgrounds, 800px for content
Avoid low-resolution images — a blurry website looks unprofessional.
6. Project Brief
The more you know about what you want, the better the outcome. Useful information includes:
- Who is the website for? (target audience, industry)
- What is the main goal? (lead generation, sales, information)
- What pages/sections should be included?
- Do you need a form, shop, gallery, blog?
- Sites whose style you like + what you definitely don't want
- Deadline
Checklist
| Element | Ready? | Priority |
|---|---|---|
| Domain | ✓ / ✗ | Essential |
| Hosting | ✓ / ✗ | Essential |
| Logo (vector) | ✓ / ✗ | High |
| Brand colours | ✓ / ✗ | High |
| Text content | ✓ / ✗ | High |
| Photos | ✓ / ✗ | High |
| Visual references | ✓ / ✗ | Medium |
| Project brief | ✓ / ✗ | Medium |
You don't need everything ready before the first conversation — that's exactly what we're here for. But the more you prepare, the smoother the project will run.