“Can you update the services page?” sounds clear until someone starts the work. Which section? What text? Should the layout change too? By when? Most delays on website requests come from a missing detail, not from the work itself.
You don’t need technical language to brief a change well. You need to answer a few questions before sending it.
Start with the goal.
Say why the change is needed. “We’ve added a new service and people keep asking if we offer it” gives the developer context to suggest the right solution — maybe a new section, maybe a new page, maybe a link from the homepage too.
Say exactly where.
Include the full link to the page, and describe the spot: “the second section, under the heading ‘What we do’”. A screenshot with the area circled saves several messages.
Provide the final content.
- Text ready to paste, already approved by whoever needs to approve it.
- Images in good quality, with permission to use them.
- Links, file downloads or form fields the change needs.
If the content isn’t ready yet, say so. Building the structure first and adding content later is fine, as long as everyone knows.
Show an example if you have one.
“Like the pricing table on this site” or “similar to our case study page, but shorter” is often clearer than a long description. Examples are especially helpful for layout and design changes.
Share the deadline — and the reason.
“By Friday, because the campaign email goes out on Monday” helps the developer plan and tells them what matters if something needs to be simplified. If there’s no deadline, say that too.
Agree what “done” means.
Decide how the change will be checked. Does it need your approval on a preview first? Should it be tested on mobile? Does someone else need to sign it off? A clear finish line prevents the “one more small thing” loop.
A short template.
- Goal: why we need this.
- Where: link and location on the page.
- What: the change, with final text and images attached.
- Example: a link or screenshot, if helpful.
- When: deadline and reason.
- Done when: how we’ll check and who approves.
With ongoing care, requests like these go into an agreed backlog with an estimate before work starts, so you always know what fits the month. Maintenance vs ongoing development explains how that allowance usually works — or tell us about your website.
