QUESTIONS WE ASK BEFORE TAKING ON A WEB DESIGN PROJECT
1. PURPOSE
This is your opportunity to tell us why you need a website and what the website should achieve. The more information you give us here, the better the solution we will be able to provide.
2. FIRST NAME
3. LAST NAME
4. BUSINESS NAME
If in Norway, you should also supply us with the organization number in Brønnøysundregisteret.
5. YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS
6. YOUR PHONE NUMBER
7. WHAT DOES YOUR BUSINESS DO?
What does your company do? What are the products and services you offer?
8. DECISION MAKERS
Who are the decision makers for this project? You? A group of people?
9. WHO IS YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE AND YOU IDEAL CUSTOMER?
Every website, from the smallest blogs to major online retail operations, should have a target audience in mind. Who are they? How old are they? What gender are they? Where do they hang out online? What are their interests? Create a persona for this audience to help shape design elements, from type size to color to imagery. Knowing the audience and users will help us help your design something more functional and usable.
10. ABOUT YOUR BRAND
How do you want people to feel when they interact with your brand? Safe and secure, edgy and excited, exclusive and cool?
11. WHAT DO YOU WANT PEOPLE TO DO ON YOUR WEBSITE?
Every website should have conversion goals. What do you want to happen when people get to the website?
Common actions include:
- Click a link to learn something or get information
- Buy a product or service
- Fill out a form
- Play a game
- Click links to view the content (to generate ad revenue)
- Register for an event
- Download an app
- Share something via email or social media
There are lots of things that users can do on a website. Break the goals down into two parts.
The overall goal of the website: If users can only do one thing, what do you want to happen?
Mini goals: Each page should lead to an action. And those smaller actions should build to the overall website goal.
12. WHY DO YOU NEED A NEW WEBSITE?
Give us your main reasons for needing a new website. It’s helpful to set SMART goals as it keeps all of us on the same page and moving i the same direction. SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. With this in mind, what are the top 5 business needs of your new website? (E.g. 20% increase in sales in 6 months, 30% increase in memberships this year reduce admin costs by 15% in 3 months, ….) Is there anything about your current site that serves the business well and if so, what and why?
13. DO YOU HAVE A WEBSITE NOW?
Do you own a domain? If yes, what is the URL? Do you have a server/hosting company?
14. WHAT DO YOU LOVE/HATE ABOUT YOUR CURRENT WEBSITE IF YOU HAVE ONE?
Get out a pen and paper. Divide it into two columns and make lists of things you love and hate about your current website. This exercise can help you plan the new design and figure out what features or visual elements to include (or forego).
15. WHAT MAKES YOU/YOUR COMPANY SPECIAL?
How is your company special? Is there a service or product that’s so awesome that only you can deliver? Please “sell” your company to us, and we’ll help you sell your services to your clients/visitors. This might sound pretty easy, but sometimes it can be tougher than you’d think. Articulating the exact value of something can be tough but give it a try.
16. WHO ARE YOUR COMPETITORS?
Tell us about your competitors. Who else is competing for the attention of your ideal customer and what are they doing that you think is working? Who else has a website in the same “space” as you? Why is this a competitor? Send us links to those websites to see if we can gain additional insight into the project. Are there any other websites in particular that you like the design of and why?
17. WHAT ARE 3 OR MORE WEBSITES YOU REALLY LOVE?
Now for the homework assignment. Make a list of three to five websites that you love. List a bullet item or two about why these websites appeal to you. If you could “steal” one design element or feature from each of these website designs, what would it be?
18. WHAT ARE MUST-HAVE WEBSITE FEATURES?
It can be something as simple as “it must work on my phone” to more trendy design elements such as a gradient header or parallax scrolling on the homepage.
19. DO YOU HAVE CURRENT (GOOGLE) ANALYTICS?
Understanding the current website audience can help you shape how to arrange pages and navigation. Do the things you think are important line up with what users are actually doing on the website? Digging through current analytics can help answer those questions. Consider a full analytics audit. This can be helpful for any project and even more helpful if you cannot quite tell what you are looking for.
20. DO YOU HAVE IMAGERY?
Do you have photos, video or illustrations that will be a part of the design? Show them to us so that we can ensure that they have enough resolution and value to be incorporated into the design. If you don’t have imagery, we’ll talk you though contracting new imagery for the project or working with stock images or video.
21. DO YOU HAVE A COLOR OR TYPOGRAPHY PALETTE?
Do you have colors and fonts that you want to use? Will those same colors and fonts be used on the new website? A new website often comes during a company refresh or rebranding. You want to make sure we are building the design with the new elements if they are going to change. About typography, we might need to look for typeface substitutions if the typography palette doesn’t use commonly available web fonts. Close alternates are commonly used online versus typefaces used for print branding.
22. DO YOU HAVE A BRAND BOOK OR STYLE GUIDE?
The brand is more than just colors and typefaces. If you have a brand guide – new or old – get us a copy. It will provide valuable information about the brand style, tone, and voice. Sometimes a brand guide can include a “persona” for the company. (That can save us a step early in the process if it already exists.)
23. WHAT’S YOUR TIMELINE?
We need to find out if your expectations match what we can do with the design in the time allowed. Is the timeline flexible at all? We want to make sure you have a clear idea of what is expected to make the project flow as smoothly as possible.
24. DO YOU PLAN TO MAKE CHANGES OR UPDATES AFTER LAUNCH?
What happens after we hand the website back over to you? Do you want training and the ability to add content or elements? Or is the website just going to live on its own? The answer can shape how we structure the website, particularly on the back end. It can also help us figure out if you need maintenance or other long-term contract. Designing something from the start that you can use in the way you have imagined the result in more happy clients. Remember, we are building something that you can use and work with for years to come.
25. WHAT IS YOUR BUDGET?
Based on the information you have given us above, what is your budget? Be honest and we’ll tell you what’s realistic and what we can and cannot do.
HOW IT WORKS AND HOW WE WORK WITH YOU
Now that you’ve gone through and answered the initial questions. When we together have settled on a direction, we’ll set up your site on our test server so that you can check in online and see live what your site will look like.
Only after you’ve approved the site will we transfer the site to your server. You’ll have your own login and full access to the various components of the site. This means total independence for you. You can choose to further develop your site yourself, continue using us, or find someone else.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
Half of the payment is required up front. The other half will be required when the site is approved and before we transfer the site to your server.