What you need to prepare before hiring a Designer so you don't waste time and money...

April 22, 2008

Before hiring a web designer you will need to take some time to gather content and ideas for your website. Being fully prepared will ensure you get your website on time and on budget.

What you should have ready for your Designer:

All written content for each page including form fields, product descriptions, page titles keywords etc.*
Images of your products*, your logo and other images you want added to the site
Examples of sites you like including competitor sites (this helps your designer understand your vision for the website)
Decide on a domain name, if you have one registered provide your documentation (emails you received when you purchased your domain name and/or hosting account). I recommend speaking with your Designer before signing up for a hosting package.
Detailed list of your requirements ie. Online payment, forms, membership logins, blog, forum, gallery (include number of pictures), product list and images (including different sizes and colours). The more information you provide, the more accurate an estimate you will receive.**
Explain your future goals for the website - if you plan to add on to your website in the future your Designer will need to design a site to accommodate expansion.
Provide any marketing research and materials you have done for your business that you feel will be helpful in designing your website

*note- if you are hiring a web writer, marketer or photographer your Designer should work with them directly.

**note- if you aren't sure what you will need in your site, request a consultation with your Designer to discuss your options.

Don't know where to start? Here are some tips to help you prepare:

Focus on your main product or service

Focus on what you specialize in and gear your writing and pages to that. When someone visits your website it should be very clear what you do. Avoid adding all of your side businesses and projects in your site. If you are a florist and a dog trainer on the side your website should be for one or the other, not both.

Research competitor sites

Researching your competitors will help you come up with ideas for your own site and see what works and what doesn't. To help your business stand out from your competitors, think about what is unique about your product or service and go from there.

What type of website you will need?

Will you just need a brochure site? Will you be taking online payments? Do you want a blog? Member login? Google ads? Do you want a website you can update yourself? It’s important to consider how your site will function and what will work best for you.

Have all content ready in digital format

Unless you are hiring a web writer you will need to write the content yourself. Consider page names, fields you want people to fill in on forms, product descriptions etc. All content for your website should be provided in digital format, if all you have is hard copy content your designer will likely charge a scanning and/or typing fee.

Get professional pictures of your product!

Consider hiring a photographer to take pictures of your product, your business/storefront, head shot of yourself and staff. Any image that goes into your website needs to look polished and professional. Pictures with bad composition and bad lighting will detract from your product or service.

Decide on a launch date

Designing and building a website takes time, smaller brochure sites take around 2-3 weeks, larger sites with programming can take months. You will need to consider this when deciding on a launch date. Contact your Designers ahead of time to ask about their availability and turnaround time.

Decide on a budget and who will you need to hire

Often web designers subcontract out the work they can’t do themselves. Consider your budget and who you will need to hire at first to get the job done right. If you will need a whole team of people including; designer, programmer, writer, photographer and seo/marketer then depending on the size of your site budget around $10,000 to start.

Websites start at around $1,500 for simple brochure sites and go up from there depending upon the size, features and the programming required. Talk to your Designer beforehand to go over your budget and requirements.

Keep it simple

It's easy to get overwhelmed trying to decide what needs to go into your site. Decide what's the most important function your website needs to perform and focus on that, you can always add on to your website later. If you need help figuring out the best approach for your website request a consultation with your Designer to go over your options.