Good website feedback says where the problem is, what you can see, what you expected instead and how much it matters. If a developer can read your note and fix the right thing without asking you a single question, you have done it properly.

You do not need any technical language. This guide is for the person reviewing a website someone else is building: the client, the marketing manager, the managing director who has been asked to "have a look". At the end there is a short guide agencies can copy and send to their own clients.

The four things every comment needs

Every useful piece of feedback answers four questions.

Question	What to write	Example
Where is it?	The page, and which part of the page	Contact page, the form at the bottom
What do you see?	What happens now, as plainly as you can	The Send button does nothing when I click it
What did you expect?	What should happen instead	It should send the form and show a thank you message
How much does it matter?	Whether it should hold up launch	We cannot launch without this

Put together, it reads as a couple of plain sentences:

On the contact page, the Send button in the form at the bottom does nothing when I click it. I expected a thank you message. We cannot launch without this.

If the problem only happens on one device, add that too. "Only on my iPhone" saves a lot of guessing, because a site can behave differently from one screen or browser to the next.

Good and bad examples

These examples are made up, for a fictional coffee shop website. The left column is the kind of comment that stalls a project. The right column says the same thing in a way someone can act on.

Comment that stalls	Why it stalls	Comment that gets fixed
The homepage looks off	Off how, and where?	On the homepage, the three boxes under the main image are different heights, so the row looks uneven. Please make them match.
The form is broken	Which form, and what happened?	On the Wholesale page I filled in every field and pressed Submit. A red message said "Something went wrong". I tried twice.
Can the logo pop more?	Nobody knows what pop means to you	The logo gets lost against the dark photo in the header. I would like it to be easier to see at a glance.
The menu doesn't work on my phone	Which phone, and what does it do?	On my iPhone, tapping the three lines at the top right opens the menu, but I cannot scroll down to the last links.
Change the text on the About page	Change it to what?	About page, second paragraph: replace "since 2015" with "since 2014".
The images are blurry	All of them? Where?	The team photos on the About page look fuzzy on my laptop. The shop photo above them looks fine.
Make it more modern	A preference with no direction	The site feels heavy to me. I like the white space on the site linked below. Could we try more space between sections?
The site is slow	Which page, and how slow?	The Menu page takes around 10 seconds to show its photos on my home broadband. Other pages load straight away.

Say which type of comment it is

Each type of comment goes to a different place, so naming it gets it handled faster.

Type	What it means	Example	What usually happens next
Bug	Something does not work, or does not match what was agreed	A link goes to the wrong page	Fixed as part of the project
Content	Words, prices, photos or names	Update the opening hours	Quick, as long as you supply the exact text
Design	How something looks	Spacing, colours, the order of sections	Discussed against the agreed design
New request	Something that was not in the original plan	Add online table booking	May need a quote or a later phase

A new request is a perfectly reasonable thing to ask for. Just say so up front. "I know this was not in the original brief, but could we add..." gets a faster and friendlier answer than a new feature tucked into a list of typos.

You do not need the technical words

Point at it or describe it in your own words. If you would like to match the words your developer uses, these come up most often.

You might say	Your developer might say
The strip across the top	Header or navigation
The strip at the very bottom	Footer
The big picture or banner at the top of the page	Hero
The three lines that open the menu on a phone	Hamburger menu
The box that pops up over the page	Modal or pop-up
The slideshow of pictures	Carousel or slider

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Describe the problem, then suggest a fix if you have one

It is tempting to give an instruction such as "make the button red". That is fine if red is what you want. Saying why gives the designer room to find a better answer: "I missed the button because it blends into the background" could be solved with colour, size or position.

It also helps to separate your own taste from what your customers need. "I don't like blue" is a valid opinion, and it is your website. Tell your agency whether it is a preference or something you think will confuse customers, because they will treat those two comments differently.

Before you press send

Refresh the page. Your browser may be showing an old copy. On a computer, hold Shift and click refresh. On a phone, close the tab and open the page again.
Try it a second time. If it happened once and never again, say so. That is useful too.
Check it is not already on the list. Duplicates take time to spot and merge.
Check that part is meant to be finished. Placeholder text and photos are normal during a build. If you are not sure, ask.
Read it as someone who cannot see your screen. "This", "here" and "it" mean nothing to the person reading your note next week.

Common mistakes

Sending feedback to several places. A text, an email and a remark on a call are three chances for something to get lost. Use the one place your agency asked you to use.
Drip-feeding comments. A few notes every day means your developer can never finish anything. Many agencies work in agreed revision rounds, so send one complete batch.
Everyone replying separately. If five people at your company are reviewing, one person should gather the comments and settle any disagreements first. Otherwise the developer receives "make it bigger" and "make it smaller" about the same heading.
Putting several issues in one comment. One issue per comment means each one can be ticked off.
Rewriting long copy in a comment. Longer text changes belong in a document with the page name at the top.
Saving it all for the end. Changing something early is nearly always cheaper than changing it the week before launch.

If your agency gives you a feedback tool

Your agency may send you a link to a feedback tool rather than asking for an email. The tool handles the "where" for you: you click the thing that is wrong, type your comment, and it records the page and the element you meant.

Client feedback through QualityHive, which is our own product, works this way. You open the link your agency sends, with no login or install, and click on the part of the site you want to comment on. A screenshot and your browser and screen size are attached automatically, so you can concentrate on what is wrong and what you expected.

For a page-by-page approach to the review itself, read how to review a website.

A client feedback guide your agency can copy

Agencies: paste this into your kick-off pack or review email, then swap the parts in square brackets. For the emails that go around it, use these website feedback email templates.

HOW TO GIVE FEEDBACK ON YOUR NEW WEBSITEThanks for reviewing [project name]. A few minutes of care here will get your changes made faster.WHERE TO SEND ITPlease add all feedback at [link or tool]. Please don't send it by text or in separate emails, because things get missed.WHO SENDS IT[Client contact name] is our single point of contact. If several people are reviewing, please agree your comments together and have [name] send them.WHENPlease send everything by [day and date]. This is round [1] of [2].WHAT TO INCLUDE IN EACH COMMENT1. Where: the page, and which part of it2. What you can see now3. What you expected instead4. How much it matters: must fix before launch, should fix, or nice to haveGOOD EXAMPLE"Contact page, form at the bottom. When I press Send nothing happens. I expected a thank you message. Must fix before launch."NOT SO USEFUL"The contact page doesn't work."WHAT TO LOOK AT IN THIS ROUND[For example: spelling and facts, links, forms, how it looks on your phone.]WHAT NOT TO WORRY ABOUT YET[For example: placeholder images on the Team page, blog posts.]NEW IDEASNew ideas are welcome. Please mark them "New idea" so we can look at them separately and let you know if they need a quote.Any questions, call or email [name] on [phone or email].

Revolutionise your QA processes

Frequently asked questions

How much feedback should I send at once?

Send everything for that round in one batch, by the date your agency gave you. If you spot something urgent, such as wrong prices on a live site, flag that straight away. Everything else can wait for the batch.

Can I just send my feedback by email?

Yes, if your agency is happy with that. Number your points, cover one issue per number, and include the page and what you expected. Attach a screenshot where words fall short.

What if people at my company disagree?

Settle it before you send, and have one person make the final call. If you are stuck, ask your agency for a recommendation and the reason behind it.

What if I do not like something but cannot explain why?

Say exactly that, and share how it makes you feel or an example of something you do like. "This feels too formal for us, and we like the tone of this other site" is enough for a designer to start with.

Should I comment on things that look unfinished?

Ask your agency which parts are ready for review before you start. If something looks wrong and it is not on their list of unfinished items, comment on it. A duplicate is better than a miss.