Website redesign brief for Australian service businesses

Business.gov.au recommends planning around business goals and customer tasks. The ten fields below are Branding Tatva's briefing checklist. Short answers are enough; give each open decision an owner and a date.

Access to the page editor tells only part of the story. Keep an account register beside the brief, with the provider, authorised owner, renewal contact and person responsible for each change. Record where secure access will be arranged; keep passwords outside the brief.

For a .au domain, auDA distinguishes the registrant holding the licence from the registrar or reseller providing registration services. Changing the registrant and changing the provider are separate processes. A domain transfer authorisation code also differs from the provider account password.

Business Victoria recommends asking about ownership, portability and exit costs before engaging a developer. Translate the answers into agreed handover items, including content exports and any third party licence conditions.

This fictional example illustrates the method. A Perth maintenance business serves commercial property managers. Its proposed journey is: find the relevant service, confirm the service area, describe the property and request a callback about planned maintenance.

The brief asks for a service page explaining the work accepted, an enquiry form collecting the site postcode and contact preference, and a confirmation explaining the next step. The operations manager supplies service details; the owner approves the wording; the developer connects the form; the nominated coordinator confirms receipt.

Acceptance follows that journey. A test enquiry reaches the agreed inbox with the selected service intact, and the coordinator can identify the next action. This is a fictional acceptance scenario, with results to establish during the project.

Create a URL record with four fields: existing address, decision, destination and check result. Retain useful addresses where the page keeps its purpose. For a combined page, record why the destination answers the earlier visitor need. Review retired pages individually. Where content is removed without an equivalent replacement, record the intended 404 or 410 response.

Google recommends mapping changed URLs to relevant destinations and using permanent server redirects where possible, including 301 or 308. Redirect directly to the destination and avoid sending unrelated pages to the homepage. Update internal links, canonical references and the search sitemap. Google generally recommends keeping redirects for at least a year; search visibility can fluctuate during a move.

A visual page map explains navigation to the project team. An XML sitemap supplies URL information to search engines. Put both in the brief where needed, with a named owner for each.

These three rows continue the fictional Perth maintenance brief. Before launch, the operations manager checks that each page still serves the right customer need. The developer records the expected response and checks the live result after launch.

Write acceptance as an observable task with an approver and a retained result. A screenshot can show a layout; enquiry delivery needs a completed submission and receipt. Separate an issue that blocks launch from an agreed later improvement.

W3C recommends assigning accessibility responsibilities across the team and checking agency work against the agreed accessibility level. Record the target, evaluation scope, reviewer, findings and retesting responsibility. Specialist assessment needs its own agreed scope.

In the fictional Perth rehearsal, the mobile form shows a confirmation, but the enquiry lands in a mailbox the coordinator cannot access. The owner holds launch. After the developer corrects the destination, the coordinator checks that a labelled test arrives with the selected service and postcode. Keep the received enquiry and the confirmation screen with the approval record.

Request an operating record: account owners, editing instructions, backup location, renewal dates and the support route. Agree the steps for an urgent fault and the boundary between a repair and additional work.

List recurring charges separately from the project fee. Record the payer and renewal terms for hosting, domains, software, booking tools and maintenance. Include any export or transfer costs disclosed by the supplier. A handover review should let the business identify the responsible person for each bill and each routine change.

Delivery can be arranged fully remotely from India. Suman Sharma leads strategy, messaging and coordination. Australian website work receives a separate scope and USD quote, with commercial terms shared privately in the written proposal. Any brand strategy work has its own agreed deliverables and responsibilities.

Agree review windows using the client's city and time zone, with a named approver and launch contact. Record hosting, data location, privacy and regulated content requirements confirmed by the client and its advisers. Assign any specialist work before the proposal is accepted.