As with any project you start, gathering essential information upfront is not only beneficial to a successful deliverable but will also save you and your client plenty of headaches throughout the process and pave the way to a lasting and trusting relationship. The more information you have equals the smoother the project goes — which in turn sets the tone for a good designer/client relationship.
Some of the questions below can be applied to more then just website design so I broke them down into sections for better functionality for your clients.
Company-related questions
- Do you currently have a website? What is the URL?
- Describe the products/services you sell.
- Who are your main competitors? How do you differ?
- What are your top 3 frustrations with your current website?
- What do you like most about your current website?
- What do your current competitors website have that you aspire to?
- Age range of your target client base
Project-related questions
- Technical skill level of your client base. Have a scale ranging from zero to ten with zero being the least technologically skilled and ten being the best.
- Will your visitors require any special needs? Mobile version of site, multiple language support, larger type for easier reading, etc.)
- Imagine your website in 5 years from now. Complete the sentence: I know my website works because…
- Name 3 things that are most important about the design of your new website.
- Name 3 things that is least important in the design of your new website.
- Do you have any color preferences, existing brand colors, and/or colors you do/not wish to include?
- What are some existing websites that appeal to you? Provide links if possible.
- Deadline, timing or exact date of completion for your website
- Do you have a budget you are trying to meet?
Additional questions
- Do you need to be able to update the website on your own? (ie: CMS)
- Will this be an e-commerce website? Will you be selling any products or taking payments on your website?
- Do you need a copywriter? If you are using existing copy on your current website, will it need to be modified in any way?
- Is your logo and other imagery web ready?
- Do you have all images that you would like to be included in your website or would you like the designer to use imagery where appropriate?
- How will you be updating the site in the future (if they are not using a CMS)?
- Will you be needing an additional SEO help (registering with search engines, adding businesses to Google Business Center, Analytic setup, etc.)
- Do you already have a domain and host setup for your new website? If so, do you have the FTP and host log in information accessible?
- Any specific features you would like included? Log in ability, calendars, forums, blog, subscription services (RSS, email or newsletters)?
As with my logo questionnaire, I also like to leave my clients with a field or extra room at the end where they can provide additional details and comments.
Also next to each question that may not be so obvious what you are asking them I like to provided additional explanation, examples or notes. For example, when asking them if the need their site to be built on a CMS, I ask if they will be frequently updating (daily or weekly) or only updating once every 6 months or so. Speaking in terms that clients understand will also help to build trust — nothing is worse then spending your money on something you have no idea what you are getting. In short, save the nerd talk.
It’s always important to remember that being a graphic designer means you are a problem solver. You cannot solve a problem without knowing what the problem is – ask questions.
Great list of questions when starting a new website project!
I just disagree slightly on how much design input you should take from your client upfront.
It’s best to stay away from questions that are based too much on the client’s personal preferences and not necessarily related to how customers will respond to a site.
For example, questions about what the client likes about their current site, things that are important about the design of the new site, and existing websites that appeal to the client might be better answered by you, the designer, after learning about the client’s market. The designer should learn more about what the client’s customers like, want, and need.
Remember that the designer has been hired for his or her expertise, which is far more important to the client’s business in the long run than his or her personal biases and preferences.
Anyway, thanks for the nice resource!
Kirsti,
I disagree actually. No one knows their business and their market like the client does. You’d be surprised by asking the client “Why do you want a website?” how many can’t answer. If they do answer, figuring out what is most important to the client, such as buying a certain product, or highlight important information is information you will receive from the client. Designing is not about what only looks good… it’s visual problem solving and without knowing the problem, the designer cannot help to get to the best solution.
This is a great list of questions for “professional”, e-commerce or marketing-oriented sites.
What questions would you ask for a web application that emphasizes function as strongly as it does form? I’m coming from a more technical angle. So, when designing and building a site that is more for internal use within a company as opposed to a site that’s more between a company and its customers, what additional questions would you ask then?
Thanks.
Awesom, thank you!
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Excellent set of questions, always worth going in prepared, nothing worse than sitting in front of a client and the mind going blank.
I send it to some of mine and ask them to have a read through first, at least gets them thinking even if they don’t know what they want at the time.
Great post!
Regardless if the client wants to update the site every day or every 6 months, I think it is best to build it on a CMS. It’s easier to update and even the client could update if for any reason you don’t want to revisit that particular project.
This article gives the light in which we can observe the reality.
This is very nice one and gives in depth information.
Thanks for this nice article Good post…..Valuable information for all.
I will recommend my friends to read this for sure.
Great list of questions i agree. But i believe we should not ask the client the design related questions because the client sometimes have already a design in his mind and this design wont fit in the type of project and we will end up something not nice. Design something for him then ask him what he likes and what he dont and do we need to change the color scheme etc at the time of first demo of the layout.
Great list of questions to create a proposal and website both.
Thank u
a very good resource for anyone starting a web design business! Cheers
hi…mr brian….thank you for this information…it helps me a lot in my project in designing a website for my client