Content is the reason website projects run late. Not design, not development. Waiting for copy, photographs and logos is what turns a six-week project into a four-month one, and it is almost entirely within your control.

Projects where the client arrives with content ready routinely finish two to three weeks earlier than identical projects where it is gathered along the way.

The checklist

Item	Detail
Copy for every page	300 to 800 words per service page
Logo	Vector file (.ai, .eps or .svg), not a JPEG
Photographs	Premises, team, completed work, products
Services list	Each one with what it includes and a price or range
Team details	Names, roles, qualifications, photographs
Testimonials	With names and written permission
Contact details	Address, hours, phone, WhatsApp, email
Accreditations	Memberships, certifications, registration number
Logins	Domain registrar, hosting, existing site, analytics

Writing the copy without a copywriter

The blank page is the obstacle, so do not start with one. Answer these questions per service page and you will have most of a page:

What is this service, in one sentence a customer would use? Who is it for? What does it include? What does it cost, or what is the range and what moves it? How long does it take? What happens after someone enquires? What do people usually ask about it? Why should they choose you rather than the next quote?

Write your answers plainly, as you would explain it on the phone. That is genuinely better copy than most attempts at marketing language, and it matches the words customers actually search for.

If writing it yourself is not realistic, most agencies offer copywriting at roughly R800 to R2,500 per page in South Africa. It is usually money well spent, because thin copy limits what the site can achieve for years.

All figures exclude VAT. Advertising spend is billed separately by the platform and is never marked up by Juicy Designs.

Photographs

Send originals. Not images pulled from Facebook or forwarded on WhatsApp, both of which compress heavily and cannot be recovered. Aim for at least 2,000 pixels on the long edge.

Shoot what matters: your premises inside and out, your team, work in progress, finished work, your vehicles if they are branded, and your products from several angles.

Real beats polished. For a South African local business, a decent phone camera in good daylight beats stock photography every time. Stock images of glass-fronted offices are recognised instantly and they cost you credibility rather than building it.

Get permission for photographs that include clients, staff or client premises. This matters under POPIA and it avoids awkward conversations later.

The logo

You need the vector file, not a JPEG lifted off your old site. Vector scales to any size without going soft and can be recoloured for dark backgrounds.

If nobody can find it, ask whoever designed it originally. If it genuinely does not exist, budget for a redraw, which is a small job and worth doing once.

While you are at it, note your brand colours as hex codes and your fonts, so the site matches your printed material.

The logins nobody thinks about

Domain registrar. Hosting control panel. Existing website admin. Google Analytics and Search Console. Google Business Profile. Any email platform or booking system that needs connecting.

Gathering these before the project starts avoids the classic two-week delay at launch, when it turns out the domain is held by a developer nobody has spoken to since 2019.

A realistic order

Week one: gather logins, find the logo, list your services with prices.

Week two: take photographs, collect testimonials and permissions.

Week three: write the copy, one page a day rather than all at once.

Three weeks of preparation before the build starts will take more than three weeks off the project, because none of it happens while a designer waits.

Juicy Designs sends a content pack at kick-off and offers copywriting where it helps. See web design or get a quote. Related: writing a design brief and how long a build takes.

Frequently asked questions

What do I need to prepare before my website build starts?

Copy for every page, a vector logo, photographs of your work and premises, staff names and roles, your services with prices or ranges, testimonials with permission, and your login details for the domain and hosting. Having these ready is the single biggest thing you control in the timeline.

Why does content cause so many delays?

Because writing about your own business is genuinely hard and it competes with running the business. Design cannot be finalised around content that does not exist, so the project stops and waits.

What format should photographs be in?

Original full-size files, not images pulled off Facebook or WhatsApp, both of which compress heavily. Aim for at least 2,000 pixels on the long edge so they can be cropped and resized without going soft.

Do I have to write the copy myself?

No. Most agencies offer copywriting, typically R800 to R2,500 per page in South Africa. If you do write it yourself, write plainly and answer the questions customers actually ask.

What if I do not have professional photographs?

A recent phone camera in good daylight beats stock photography for a local business. Real premises, real team and real completed work build more trust than a polished stock image of an office that is not yours.