How to Get a Website Change Approved Properly

A summary is not something you can approve

"Updated the homepage copy" is a status message. It tells the reviewer that something changed, but not what a visitor will now read. If the reviewer replies "looks good", the only thing on record is that they liked a description.

That gap matters because website text makes promises: what you offer, who it is for, what happens after someone fills in a form. Those promises are hard to walk back once they are live, and later nobody can say who agreed to which version.

What an approval request must show

For every change that affects meaning, claims or what a visitor is asked to do, include five things:

1. Page and section. "Contact page, heading above the form", not "the contact page".
2. Current wording. Copied exactly from the live site.
3. Proposed wording. The exact text that will be published.
4. Why it changed. One plain sentence.
5. Decision needed. Approve, revise or keep the current wording.

Here is a hypothetical example:

The reviewer can judge this in seconds. They do not have to open two versions of the site, compare them by eye and guess what you meant.

Keep the text selectable, not pasted into a screenshot. A reviewer who wants to change one phrase should be able to quote it, and a colleague should be able to copy it.

If a section is too long to show in full, mark the excerpt as an excerpt, say what was left out, and link to a readable preview of the whole page. A summary can explain intent, but it should never stand in for the words being approved.

Page / section: [ ]
Current wording: [ ]
Proposed wording: [ ]
Reason: [ ]
Decision: Approve / Revise / Keep
Version: [ ]
Open claim and owner, if any: [ ]
Approver: [ ]
Date: [ ]

Unverified claims get an owner and stay open

Some statements cannot be settled by the designer or the writer: a certification, a number of years in business, a guarantee, a list of supported products. If nobody has checked them, do not let them drift into the published copy because the rest of the page was approved.

Give each one a line in an open-items list. Here is a hypothetical claim:

The claim stays open until the owner confirms it, replaces it or removes it. Until then the page is not fully approved. Say so in the request: "Approved, except the About page claim, which is open with the office manager."

This also stops the usual shortcut of rewording a claim into something vague so it can go live. A vague version of an unchecked statement is still unchecked.

A vague "looks good" is not a record

A useful approval record answers four questions:

• What was approved? Name the version, or attach the exact text.
• Who approved it?
• When?
• What was left out? Open claims, pages not yet reviewed, changes that came back for revision.

Compare these two replies:

• "Looks good."
• "Approved: contact page heading and form intro, version 3. Revise: homepage headline, see my note. Open: the insurance claim, owner is the office manager."

The second one can be filed, searched and used when a question comes up later. The first one, without the exact wording and version in context, is much less useful. If you are the reviewer and only have time for a partial answer, give a partial answer. "Approved except the services page" is more useful than a general nod.

When several people review, resolve their comments into one updated version before asking for sign-off. Otherwise nobody has agreed to a single version.

Order the request like the site

Order it the way a visitor meets the site: homepage, service pages, about page, contact page, then landing pages. Ask for a decision on changes to meaning, claims, audience or the next step a visitor is asked to take. Minor corrections can be listed together, as long as the final wording is visible.

A checklist for the person sending the request

• Every change lists the page and section.
• Current wording is copied from the live site, not remembered.
• Proposed wording is the exact text that will be published.
• Each change has a one-sentence reason.
• Each change ends with approve, revise or keep.
• Excerpts are labelled, with a link to the full page preview.
• Unverified claims are listed with an owner and what would confirm them.
• The reply you need names the version, the approver and the date.

FAQ

Who should approve website changes?

The person who is accountable for what the business says publicly, usually the owner or a manager. Others can review accuracy, tone or legal wording, but one named person should give the final decision.

What if I do not know whether a claim is true?

Do not approve it yet. List it as open, name the person who can confirm it, and say what evidence would settle it. Publish it only after that person has confirmed it, or use wording you can already support.

Can I approve a change by email or chat?

Yes, if the message identifies the exact wording and version and states the decision. A reply of "looks good" to a message that only describes the change does not meet that test.