A new website often begins with a visual wish list: a different colour, a bigger headline, more movement. Those ideas can be useful. But the strongest starting point is a clear understanding of the business and the people it serves.
Start with the visitor. Who are they, what brought them here, and what do they need to understand before taking the next step? A potential customer comparing suppliers needs different information from someone who already knows your brand and wants to get in touch.
Next, define the action that matters. A website cannot give everything equal priority. Choose a primary goal for each key page, then make the content, layout, and navigation work together to support it. Secondary actions can still have a place without competing for attention.
Look at what you already know. Customer questions, sales conversations, support requests, and existing analytics can reveal where people get stuck. They offer a practical foundation for design decisions and help separate genuine needs from internal assumptions.
Finally, agree on what success will look like and how you will check it. That might mean better-qualified enquiries, easier access to product information, or a simpler publishing process for your team. Make the goal specific enough to guide the work.
The output of this stage does not have to be an enormous document. A short, shared brief that names the audience, the goal, the essential content, and the constraints is often enough to give the project a solid foundation.