Preparing for Your New Website Build
You’ve decided it’s finally time to make it happen and create a website for your professional brand.
After researching your options, you’ve found a few web designers that interest you, and you’re ready to ask them for a quote to create your site.
It’s good to keep in mind that most will not be able to provide an estimate until they have a clear understanding of what you are looking for, and what you are expecting to achieve with your new website. Do not worry – this is a good sign!
A Few Questions You Should Be Ready For:
1. What is the goal for your new website?
A designer will want to know your current situation, and what you are expecting from the new site. If you currently have a site, they will want to know what you feel needs to be improved, and ultimately, what you hope the project will achieve.
2. Do you have a few examples of sites you like?
This will help them determine the layout and style you are looking for, as well as any functionality that you like, but might not think to ask for specifically.
A designer wants to have a direction in mind for the new design, and asking this question before jumping into the creation of assets is a great way to achieve this.
3. Do you need help selecting a platform?
No one knows your business like you do, but if you have a set list of requirements in mind for your new website, they should be able to suggest a few options that will support your wish list.
A few examples of platforms:
Wix
WordPress
BigCommerce
Shopify
Squarespace
4. Who is your target audience?
If you can picture your ideal customer (their age, gender, location, etc.), your designer can put together a game plan that will attract that customer.
You’ll want to make this crystal clear on your website, so a visitor knows who your product and service is for right away.
5. How should visitors perceive the new site?
Try to put yourself in your customer’s shoes, and imagine what you would like to see when shopping for your product or service.
Simplicity is your friend. It might be tempting to make your site so custom that the navigation and structure is different, but this can actually harm your engagement and conversions. This is because people want
6. What makes you different from your competitors?
Perhaps they are doing something you do not like, or you have been around longer, and are more knowledgeable – this is something that you can capitalize on.
7. How many pages will the finished website have?
This helps a designer understand how large of a site you intend to have. There is a big difference between a site that has a couple of pages with similar layouts, and a site with 20 unique pages.
8. What specific functionality will the site need?
If you are hoping your site will perform in a certain manner, or you would like to add a feature that is not there natively, be sure to communicate this to your designer, and be willing to walk them through the process.
9. Do you have a deadline or budget you need to meet?
Many people resent this question because they either do not know how much a website typically runs, or they fear the estimate will immediately exceed their max price.
Being aware of a set deadline or budget can help a designer understand your expectations, and helps them put together an approach that is inline with these parameters.
If you are upfront with your designer as to what you are willing to spend, they will be able to make recommendations and steer you towards a solution that supports your budget and target launch date.
10. What do you want a visitor to do next?
This depends on your process and how you’d like a potential client or customer to proceed.
If you have an online store, it would probably be for them to complete a purchase, but those who have service based businesses, you’ll want to make sure this is planned out and simplified as much as possible.
A few examples of next steps to connect with visitors:
Submit a message in your contact form
Call you directly
Schedule a call through a booking app
Sign up for a lead magnet
Email newsletter sign up
Follow you on social media
The sites that see the most success with engagement and increasing conversions are those who integrate these next steps as much as possible throughout their site.
10 Questions a Web Designer Should Ask – Putting It All Together
Starting the conversation with some prepared questions will help you feel more confident. You will also help expedite the process of getting your new site online!
Working with Border7
At Border7, we offer done-with-you programs to help you get online quickly with consistent business through your site.
We ask these questions and more during our strategy session and project on-boarding to ensure we build the site your brand needs to grow!
For those who want a website ASAP, we have our Website in a Day Program. Where we (you guessed it) build your Wix or WordPress site in 1 day.
We understand that some folks would like more time with the build, might want a marketing engine as well to help them drive consistent business to the site, or would like training so they can learn how to update and market their website themselves.
If that sounds like you, you can learn more about these options, by clicking this link here.
Interested in working with us, or have questions for the Border7 Team?
