Keep a to-do list for your website

Website jobs pile up: a typo a customer mentioned, a price that needs changing, a photo you meant to replace. Kept in your head or scattered across emails, they get forgotten. This guide helps you set up one simple list, write each job so anyone could do it, and work through it without anything falling through the cracks.

Before you start

• Somewhere to keep the list. A notes app, a spreadsheet, or a simple task app like Trello all work.
• Ten minutes to gather the website jobs you already know about from emails, notes, and memory.

Want to do it yourself?

Difficulty

2 out of 10

Estimated completion time

20–40 minutes to set up

Skills you’ll need: Write clear, reproducible tasks and prioritize a short list. A shared document or simple task board is enough.

I’ll do it myselfI’d rather get help

How this helps your brand

One clear list keeps customer-reported website problems and important updates from being forgotten. Writing the location, expected result, and reason makes each job easier to hand to a helper and verify.

1. 1

   Step 1: Pick one place for the list

   The best list is the one you’ll actually open. Pick a single place, and make it the only place website jobs go. If someone else helps with your site, make sure they can see it too.

   • Just you, small site: a note on your phone is enough.
   • Several people, or lots of jobs: a shared spreadsheet or a simple task app like Trello.
   • Your site’s code is on GitHub: GitHub has a built-in to-do list called Issues. GitHub is a service that stores a website’s code. If whoever built your site uses it, ask them to show you.
2. 2

   Step 2: Write each job so anyone could do it

   “Fix contact page” is a reminder only you understand, and you may not remember what you meant in a month. Write each job with enough detail that someone else, or an AI tool, could do it without asking you.

   For each job, write:

   • Where: the page, and the spot on the page.
   • What it is now, and what it should be.
   • Why it matters, in a few words. For example, “a customer couldn’t find our phone number”.
   • Who noticed it, and the date.

   Tip: If it’s a problem, add a screenshot. If a customer reported it, note how to contact them so you can tell them it’s fixed.

   Illustrated exampleTurn a reminder into a job someone can do

   Too vague“Fix contact page”

   Give the next person the details

   Website job · 014Show the phone number near the top

   Where Contact page, just below the heading

   Now

   The phone number is only at the bottom of the page.

   Should be

   Also show 01632 960 014 below the heading, with a link that calls when tapped.

   Why

   A customer couldn’t find a way to call us.

   One clear job, ready to give to a helper or AI tool.

3. 3

   Step 3: Keep it to one job per item

   If an item says “update prices and fix the gallery and add the new team photo”, split it into three. Small, separate items are easier to finish, easier to hand to an AI tool one at a time, and satisfying to tick off.

4. 4

   Step 4: Sort it into three groups

   Not everything is urgent. Put each item into one of three groups:

   • Broken: something stops customers contacting you, booking, or buying. Fix these first, and soon.
   • Wrong: out-of-date prices, hours, or details. Fix these this week.
   • Nice to have: new photos, better wording, new sections. Do these when you have time.

   Illustrated examplePut blocked customers at the top of the list

   One website listCustomer impact decides the order

   1. 1
      BrokenRepair the booking form

      Customers tap “Send”, but their booking never arrives.

      Fix first
   2. 2
      WrongCorrect the Sunday hours

      The site says “Open”. The business is closed on Sundays.

      This week
   3. 3
      Nice to haveReplace the team photo

      A newer photo is ready. The current one still works.

      When there’s time

5. 5

   Step 5: Work through it and tick things off

   Take the top item, do it, check it on your phone, and mark it done with the date. Don’t delete finished items. Move them to a “Done” section. That record helps when you wonder later when or why something changed.

   Set a regular time to look at the list, like ten minutes on a Monday morning. Add anything new, re-sort, and pick what to do that week.

   Tip: When you hand a job to an AI tool, paste the item exactly as you wrote it. If you wrote it well, it makes a good request.

Please help me turn my messy notes into a clear to-do list for my website. I’m not technical, so use plain English.

Here are my notes: [paste everything: emails, customer comments, reminders, half-finished ideas]

For each job:
1. Write a short title.
2. Say where it is on the site, what it is now, and what it should be. If my notes don’t say, mark it [NEED TO CHECK] instead of guessing.
3. Say why it matters, in a few words.
4. Put it in one of three groups: Broken (stops customers contacting, booking, or buying), Wrong (out-of-date details), or Nice to have.

Split any item that’s really several jobs. Sort the list with Broken first. Don’t invent any jobs or details that aren’t in my notes.