1. What should happen on the website?
Describe the main goal as a specific action: a visitor should understand a service, enquire about an appointment or choose a product. “Look more modern” expresses a design preference, but it does not yet describe a task. Next to your goal, list the questions a person needs answered before taking that action.
Give each page a main purpose. A service page explains the offer first; a contact page helps someone make an enquiry. Other routes can remain available, but they should leave the main next step easy to recognise.
2. Is your offer understandable?
Review your key copy without the explanation you would give in a meeting. Does it say who you help, what you offer and how working together begins? Specialist terms can be useful when your audience knows them. Internal department names rarely make helpful navigation labels.
Organise services around your customers’ questions. Separate similar offers only when you can explain the difference. Imagine a furniture maker who restores tables in Winterthur. “Table restoration in Winterthur” names both the craft and the place in words a customer might use to search.
3. What makes your business tangible?
Explain how you work in a way people can follow. This might include a described process, real contact people or work examples you have permission to share. For each project, explain your role and what the images show. A design concept should remain clearly labelled as a concept.
Answer practical questions before an enquiry becomes necessary. Where is the service available? What information do you need at the start? What will be agreed together? Publish details that are accurate and have been checked by the people responsible for them.
4. Can different people use it comfortably?
Review the site on a small screen and with enlarged text. Are headings, contact details and form instructions still readable? Can someone reach links and fields using a keyboard? Are errors explained in words? These questions belong in the design work, with time reserved to address what the review finds.
Choose languages according to the customers you actually serve and the support you can provide. Plan translation, subject review and later updates together. A visible language switch should lead to the matching page.
5. Is the next step simple enough?
Follow a typical enquiry yourself. Is it clear what happens after submission? Does the form request information needed to handle the enquiry? Is there an understandable message when delivery fails? Reservations and purchases also need a clear approach to availability, confirmation and responsibility.
Test the route with realistic content. A form containing three short test words says little about the experience of writing a detailed project description or reading an error message on a phone. Include these cases in your review.
6. Who will keep it current?
Decide who approves copy, receives enquiries and requests technical changes. Record which information should be checked regularly. Opening hours, services, contact routes and forms make a useful starting list. Keep access details and responsibilities organised so that updates do not depend on guesswork.
A manageable website with maintained content is a useful starting point. Add features when their purpose, operation and ownership are clear. This helps the site remain a practical part of your business rather than a collection of unfinished ideas.
The next useful step
Choose one existing page and answer these six questions in a few sentences. Wherever an answer is missing, you have a useful starting point for the next conversation.
The Pact