Websites designed around real customer journeys

How to review a website portfolio

Look at the problem each website needs to solve, not only its visual style. A training provider, a professional practice and an online retailer need different content structures and customer journeys. Review the clarity of the offer, the organization of information and the next step a visitor can take.

Use the selected projects as a starting point for discussing your own requirements. Project needs and ongoing website content can change over time, so a portfolio example is not a promise that the same layout or feature set will suit every business. Tell us what you find useful and which operational requirements your project must support.

Turn the business goal into a clear website brief

Start by naming the action a useful visitor should complete. A service company might need an accurate quotation request, while a training provider needs people to find the correct course and understand its prerequisites. These are different journeys even if both organizations ask for a modern website. Write down the audience, the questions that delay their decision and the information the team needs to respond. This short brief is more useful than choosing a visual style before the problem is understood.

Build the sitemap around those decisions. Separate services when they have different buyers, deliverables or buying questions. Keep closely related information together when splitting it would force readers to jump between thin pages. Agree who supplies photography, approves copy and owns each integration. A project schedule should include these dependencies, because a finished layout cannot compensate for missing product information or an unanswered policy question.

A practical acceptance checklist makes the brief testable. Ask whether a first-time mobile visitor can identify the service, confirm that it is relevant, find supporting evidence and complete the next step. Check the enquiry from submission through to the person responsible for replying. Record anything that requires training or ongoing maintenance before approving launch.