Website Project Management for Non-Technical Stakeholders

Your Role as Project Manager

You've been put in charge of the new website. Maybe you're the marketing director, the office manager, or the business owner. You're smart and capable—but code might as well be ancient Greek. Don't worry. You don't need to understand code to manage a successful web project.

Your job isn't to make technical decisions. It's to clearly communicate what the business needs, make timely decisions, remove obstacles, and ensure the final product serves your users and achieves your goals.

What You're Actually Managing

• Requirements: What the site needs to do and for whom
• Decisions: Making choices when options are presented
• Stakeholders: Keeping internal people informed and aligned
• Timeline: Ensuring the project stays on track
• Budget: Managing costs and approving expenses
• Content: Ensuring you have what's needed for the site

Before the Project Starts

Preparation before kickoff prevents problems during execution:

Clarify Your Goals

Before talking to any developer, answer:

• Why do we need a new/updated website?
• What problems are we solving?
• Who will use this site and what do they need?
• How will we measure success?
• What absolutely must be included? What's nice-to-have?

Gather Internal Requirements

Talk to stakeholders before the project starts:

• What does sales need from the website?
• What does customer service hear people asking for?
• What do executives want to see?
• What frustrates current site users?

Establish Budget and Timeline Reality

Be honest about constraints:

• What's the actual budget (not the "hoping for" number)?
• When does the site truly need to launch?
• What's driving the timeline (event, fiscal year, contract)?
• Is there flexibility if needed?

Working With Your Developer

The relationship with your developer determines project success:

Communication Ground Rules

• Establish preferred channels: Email for documentation, calls for discussion, project management tools for tasks
• Set check-in cadence: Weekly calls? Daily standups? What works for both parties?
• Define response expectations: How quickly should emails be answered?
• Document everything important: Verbal agreements should be followed up in writing

How to Give Effective Feedback

Good feedback is specific and actionable:

• Bad: "I don't like it" or "It doesn't feel right"
• Better: "This doesn't match our brand—we need more blue and less green"
• Best: "The call-to-action isn't prominent enough. Our goal is getting visitors to request a demo. Can we make that button larger and position it above the fold?"

Asking Good Questions

You don't need technical knowledge to ask valuable questions:

• "What problem does this solve?"
• "What are the alternatives and trade-offs?"
• "How does this affect our timeline/budget?"
• "What could go wrong with this approach?"
• "Why is this the recommended solution?"
• "How will our users experience this?"

Understanding the Process

Knowing what to expect at each phase helps you prepare:

Discovery Phase

What happens: Gathering requirements, understanding goals, research

Your role: Provide information, make introductions to stakeholders, share existing materials

Deliverables: Requirements document, project plan, sitemap

Design Phase

What happens: Creating visual concepts and layouts

Your role: Provide brand materials, give feedback on designs, make approval decisions

Deliverables: Wireframes, mockups, design system

Development Phase

What happens: Building the actual site

Your role: Provide content, answer questions, review staging site, report issues

Deliverables: Functional staging site, revisions based on feedback

Testing Phase

What happens: Quality assurance and user acceptance testing

Your role: Test the site yourself, coordinate internal testing, report bugs clearly

Deliverables: Bug reports, sign-off for launch

Launch Phase

What happens: Site goes live

Your role: Final approval, coordinate internal communications, verify everything works

Deliverables: Live website, launch communication

1. Don't skip discovery

   Rushing into design without proper discovery leads to expensive revisions. Invest time upfront to understand requirements.

2. Review early mockups thoroughly

   Changing direction in design is cheap. Changing direction during development is expensive. Give design phase your full attention.

3. Test like a user, not an owner

   During testing, pretend you're a customer who's never seen the site. Can you find what you need? Is anything confusing?

Managing Content

Content is the most common project bottleneck. Plan for it:

Content Realities

• Content takes longer to create than anyone expects
• You probably can't just copy your current site's content
• Someone needs to own content creation (developer won't write it)
• Photos, videos, and graphics need to be gathered or created

Content Planning

For each page, determine:

• Who writes the content?
• Who approves it?
• When is it due?
• What images or media are needed?
• Does it require any special expertise?

The Content Calendar

Create a simple spreadsheet:

• Page name
• Content owner
• Draft due date
• Review due date
• Final due date
• Status (not started, in progress, in review, complete)

Handling Problems

Problems will arise. How you handle them determines outcomes:

Scope Creep

New requirements keep appearing:

• Refer back to original requirements document
• Categorize requests: essential vs. nice-to-have
• Create a "phase 2" list for post-launch features
• Understand impact before agreeing to changes

Timeline Slippage

Things are running behind:

• Identify the cause (your side or theirs?)
• Determine what can be cut to save time
• Communicate proactively with stakeholders
• Adjust expectations rather than quality

Stakeholder Disagreements

Internal people have conflicting opinions:

• Identify who has final decision authority
• Focus on user needs, not personal preferences
• Use data when available to support decisions
• Make decisions and move forward (not deciding is a decision)

Communication Breakdown

You and the developer aren't on the same page:

• Schedule a call instead of more emails
• Ask clarifying questions
• Restate understanding in your own words
• Document agreed interpretations

Testing and Launch

The final phase requires careful attention:

Testing Checklist

• Content accuracy: Read every page. Check phone numbers, addresses, names.
• Links: Click every link. Do they go where expected?
• Forms: Submit test forms. Do you receive the submissions?
• Mobile: Test on actual phones, not just resized browser
• Images: Are all images loading? Correct images in correct places?
• Functionality: Test any interactive features thoroughly

How to Report Issues

Good bug reports include:

• What page/URL the issue is on
• What you expected to happen
• What actually happened
• Screenshot showing the problem
• What device/browser you used

Launch Day Preparation

• Inform internal team of launch timing
• Prepare any external announcements
• Know who to contact if issues arise
• Have a rollback plan if critical problems surface
• Plan to monitor closely for first 24-48 hours

Post-Launch

Launch is the beginning, not the end:

First Week

• Monitor for issues reported by users
• Check analytics for unexpected patterns
• Verify all forms and conversions working
• Address any urgent issues quickly

First Month

• Gather feedback from users and stakeholders
• Review analytics against goals
• Create list of improvements for future work
• Document lessons learned

Ongoing

• Establish content update process
• Plan for regular maintenance and updates
• Monitor security and performance
• Budget for continuous improvement

Keys to Success

Managing a web project successfully comes down to fundamentals:

• Communicate clearly: State expectations, ask questions, document decisions
• Stay engaged: Don't disappear during development; stay involved
• Make decisions: Indecision causes delays; make choices and move forward
• Be realistic: About timeline, budget, and what's achievable
• Focus on users: Every decision should consider end user experience
• Own content: Don't leave content as someone else's problem

You don't need to understand how the website is built to ensure it's built well. Focus on what you do know—your business, your customers, your goals—and partner effectively with technical people who know the rest. That combination produces great websites.