A new website goes wrong when you start with colours and templates before you know what the site should do on a normal weekday. This checklist is for the owner who is about to build or renew — not to scare you, but so you do not pay to figure it out mid-project.
Take a piece of paper. Answer briefly. That is enough.
PixelXForge is based in Rødovre, Denmark. We write Danish first. This is the same owner checklist as the Danish original — the first English guide. The other owner guides are still in Danish.
1. Who is the site for?
Not “everyone”. One primary reader.
A carpenter on Amager may do both kitchens and commercial work, but the site should speak to the person you most want this season. An accountant may have both founders and associations; pick who should understand the front page without calling.
Write one sentence: “The site is for [person] in [area] who needs to [job].”
If you also have English-speaking customers, note that — but decide it on purpose. See point 8.
2. Three jobs the site must do
Not fifteen. Three.
Examples you can use and edit:
- Show what you do, and where.
- Make it easy to call, write or book.
- Answer what people ask anyway (price as a range or “we quote”, opening hours, area, process).
A café: menu, hours, a table. A bookkeeper: services, process, contact. A painter: job types, area, an enquiry with photos.
Everything else is nice to have. It is not job 1–3. If a section does not serve one of those three jobs, it can wait.
Trust is part of the job, not an extra theme. The longer walkthrough is still in Danish: Tillid på hjemmesiden.
3. The contact path
What should happen when someone wants something?
- Do they call? Then the number must be correct, visible, and someone must pick up.
- Do they write? Then email or the form must land somewhere you actually read — including Saturday, if you promise that.
- Do they book? Then the link must go to the tool you actually use.
Write the name of the person who replies. If it is “whoever has time”, you get gaps. An apprentice can take the message and pass it on. An agent or a flow can prepare. Someone still has to own the answer.
4. Content you already have
You do not need to wait for the perfect photo session.
Collect in one folder:
- Service texts you already send by email.
- CVR, address, phone, and a logo file if you have one.
- 8–12 phone photos: facade, work, food, team — what you are allowed to show.
- Opening hours, coverage area, booking link.
- Three questions you are tired of answering.
What you lack is a list — not a reason to delay. Empty “text coming” fields on a finished site are worse than a sharp phone photo.
5. What should be automated, and what should not
Write two columns.
May run on its own: form receipt, internal copy, a fixed reminder, a link to Planway, opening hours.
Must not run on its own: quotes, price, a refusal, professional advice, “we have a slot on Monday”, apologies.
If you are unsure, it belongs in the right-hand column. The Danish text Automatisering vs AI-agent helps separate “the same steps every time” from “judgement with a fence”.
6. Domain, DNS and hosting
Someone must be able to answer:
- Where was the domain bought, and who has the login?
- Where does DNS point today?
- Where does the current site live, if there is one?
- Who has access to email on @yourdomain.com?
You do not need to understand DNS. You do need to know who holds the access. Otherwise launch stalls because the confirmation code lands in an inbox nobody reads.
7. Who takes enquiries when the site is live?
The site can be finished and still waste enquiries.
Agree:
- Where the form lands (email, a sheet, both).
- Who looks at it during the day.
- What your normal reply time is — the one you will write on the site, and the one you can keep.
- What happens when that person is off.
This is operations, not design. That is why it belongs before you build.
8. Danish, English, or both?
Most Danish SMEs should be clear in Danish first. English as a second language makes sense if you actually take those customers — tourists in the café, international companies at the accountant, foreign buyers in the housing association.
Two half-finished languages are worse than one finished language. If you choose both, budget the writing, not only the “EN” button.
We follow the same rule here: Danish first, then English when a page is actually needed. That is why this checklist exists in English, and the other five owner guides do not yet.
9. Booking tools you keep
Write the name: Planway, EasyPractice, SimplyBook, phone, Google Calendar, nothing.
Then nobody builds a new system “because the site could”. The café keeps its table tool. The clinic keeps its calendar. The tradesperson may keep no booking at all, only an enquiry.
When the list is filled in, you have a brief. Not a catalogue. That is enough to start from.
If you want someone to walk through the list before you build, write to pixelxforge.service@gmail.com or call reception on +45 52 51 20 25. A short talk, no hard sell.