Part of Build and Maintain Your First Website.
A visitor’s laptop will not start. They open your website on their phone, see a beautiful photograph and “Welcome to our website”—but cannot tell whether you repair laptops or how to ask for help. They leave.
A website can look finished while leaving visitors unsure what to do. Before choosing a theme, decide which question each page answers and what happens next.
Our fictional neighborhood repair business needs Home, Services, and Contact pages. Its goal is a useful repair inquiry—not a promise that every device can be fixed. This is a practice project, not a customer case study.
Your outcome: a one-page content brief that another person could use to build the site. Bring your provider map from Lesson 1: Map the Website’s Foundations. Allow about 20–30 minutes for this planning exercise; no purchase or WordPress installation is required.
Start with one visitor
Imagine someone whose laptop no longer starts. They want to know whether the business handles laptops, how to ask for help, and what information to provide. They may be using a phone while their computer is broken.
Write your purpose this way: “Help local customers understand the repair services and send an inquiry with enough detail for a reply.” Do not invent prices, turnaround times, credentials, or service guarantees to fill empty space.
Give each page a job
| Page | Question it answers | Next action |
|---|---|---|
| Home | Is this the right kind of business for my problem? | Review services |
| Services | What problems can I ask about? | Start an inquiry |
| Contact | How do I describe the problem and receive a reply? | Submit the form |
Sketch those pages on paper. Put useful information before decoration: service types, service area if confirmed, the inquiry process, and clear contact instructions. Use descriptive headings such as “Laptop repair inquiries,” rather than “Our amazing solutions.”
The journey to sketch: Home → Services → Contact → Received inquiry → Business reply. The first three steps belong on the website; the last two need an owner and a working delivery process.
Turn a vague message into a useful one
For our fictional project, compare these two homepage introductions:
Vague: “Welcome! We offer quality solutions and excellent customer service.”
Useful: “Need help with a laptop that will not start? Review the repair problems we can assess, then send a short description of your device and symptoms.”
The second version identifies a problem, tells the visitor where to go, and explains what to prepare. It does not promise a diagnosis or a successful repair before anyone has examined the device. Use this wording only for the practice business; a real site’s services need approval.
Write the inquiry requirements
For the exercise, request a name, reply email, device type, and brief problem description. Avoid asking for passwords, payment details, or unnecessary personal information. Tell visitors not to include account passwords in their message.
The confirmation should explain that the message was submitted. Only promise a reply window if the business can support it. Record who monitors the inbox; a form cannot create a response process by itself.
Separate facts from placeholders
Maintain a short approval list:
- Confirmed: the three-page structure and inquiry goal.
- To confirm: service area, accepted repair types, opening hours, and recipient.
- Practice only: business name, example inquiries, and demonstration images.
On the practice site, label fictional details clearly. Before any real launch, replace them with approved information and obtain permission for images and testimonials.
Your exercise
Copy this template into a document named 02-content-brief and complete each line:
- Visitor and situation: Who needs help, and what are they trying to resolve?
- Website purpose: Help [visitor] understand [service] and complete [action].
- Home: Main question, opening sentence, and next link.
- Services: Approved service details, exclusions, and next link.
- Contact: Required fields, destination inbox, and confirmation wording.
- Reply responsibility: Who checks the inbox, and what happens when they are unavailable?
- Content approvals: Which facts need confirmation, and who approves them?
- Success test: A test inquiry arrives, the business replies, and the sender receives that reply.
Ask someone to look at your Home page sketch and answer three questions: What does this business do? Is it relevant to my problem? What should I do next? If the answers are unclear, revise the wording before building.
Completion check: each page answers a distinct question, each action has a destination, and every business claim has an owner who can approve it.
Next: Lesson 3 will turn this brief into a WordPress practice site. It will be linked from the series hub when published.
Already planning a real business site? Keep this brief beside your provider map when comparing WordPress hosting options. Check that the selected plan supports the platform, delivery method, and recovery arrangements your project needs.