Intake, sitemap and the one action
Twenty minutes with the owner produces the services, the area, the proof and the one thing visitors should do; the sitemap follows from that, three to five pages, no more.
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Full lesson & technical details
Twenty minutes with the owner produces the services, the area, the proof and the one thing visitors should do; the sitemap follows from that, three to five pages, no more.
The one action
Every local site exists to cause one action: call, request an estimate, book. Ask the owner which. It becomes the button on every page and the form on the contact page. Secondary actions (directions, reviews) are links, not buttons.
Intake questions
- “Describe what you do in one sentence to a neighbor.”
- “List your services and what is included in each, and what is not.”
- “Where do you work (towns, radius)?”
- “What do people ask before they hire you?” (FAQ)
- “Why do customers pick you over the other guys?” (proof: years, licenses, team, reviews, guarantees)
- “What photos do you have?” (team, before/after, equipment, trucks; no stock)
- “What should a visitor do first?”
Sitemap
Home (what, for whom, where, proof, the action), Services (one page, sections per service; separate pages only when a service matters for search), About (owner and team with photos, licenses, the story in 100 words), Contact (form, phone, hours, service area, map). Optional fifth: Gallery (before/after) or Reviews. More than five pages is a different product.
Domain and email
Check the domain the owner has (or help them buy one, $12/year); plan the DNS connection in the builder. A business email on the domain (Google Workspace $7/month or the registrar’s email) looks far better than gmail on the site; recommend it, do not require it.
Scope statement
One line in the proposal: pages, builder, what the owner provides (photos, text approval), what is not included (logo design, photography, e-commerce, blog). Scope creep in web work starts with “can we also”.
Worked example
Hero: “Reliable home cleaning in Navarre, Gulf Breeze and Mary Esther” + subhead on the team and background checks + button “Get a free estimate” + phone button. Services strip: three cards (recurring, vacation-rental turnovers, deep/move-out) with “from” prices. Proof band: licensed and insured, background-checked team, 38 five-star recommendations, 5.0 on Google. Before/after row: four owner photos. How it works: three steps. Reviews: three quotes with first names. Final CTA: estimate form link + phone.
Instructions you can copy (prompts)
Copy the instructions, replace the words inside {braces} with your details, and paste them into your AI tool. Check and edit the answer.
From these intake notes for {business} ({type}, serving {area}): {paste notes}. Decide the one action and the button label. Propose a 3–5 page sitemap with a one-line purpose per page, then a page brief per page: sections in order, what each section must say, the proof it uses, the CTA, the image needed from the owner’s photos (never stock) and the alt text pattern. List what must be confirmed with the owner as ASK, and write the one-line scope statement.
Run the intake for Bright Nest Cleaning (capstone page) or a real local business and produce the sitemap and page briefs. Paste the one action, the sitemap and the Home brief.
Done when: A sitemap of 3–5 pages with briefs and a scope statement.. Sign up to save your work to your account.
Quick knowledge check
3 questions, 60% passes. Checkpoints, the certification exam (three versions) and the reviewed final project are unlocked with a free account.
- Every local site exists to cause:
- A site over five pages is:
- Photos come from: