7 Important Questions to Ask Your Web Designer …

Last Thursday we touched base on the 7 important questions to ask your Virtual Assistant and today I’d like to continue talking about the importance of questions you should ask members who will be joining your team. If you are you on the hunt for a web designer to help with your website or perhaps to just refresh what you currently have going on, this post is for you! Although you will want to ask many questions when interviewing a candidate, these are what I feel are the TOP 7 most important questions to get insight that will help you hire the right person every time and to help avoid major issues during the project.

Good design is as little design as possible. Less, but better – because it concentrates on the essential aspects, and the products are not burdened with non-essentials. Back to purity. Back to simplicity. ~ Dieter Rams, Designer

Question #1:
Do you have a portfolio of other work? Do you offer services apart from web design?

This question is THE MOST IMPORTANT question to ask and should always be the first one you ask. If they don’t have a portfolio to offer you, chances are they don’t have much knowledge//background in the full aspect of everything needed to design your website. This is not always the case but certainly at least 95%. If their portfolio is nil, then start running (politely of course). Or, if they have a whack of examples that they built to learn but none are live then you may want to offer this designer a fair chance. Everyone started with nothing at one point or another.

Having the opportunity to view one’s portfolio (if they DO happen to have one built) will give you an opportunity to asses their style. You’re looking for someone who can build more than just a pretty page!

Question #2:
How many landing pages will be on my website? Can I add additional sub-pages too?

Generically speaking (page-wise not design-wise) most websites today are built around a five-page structure which consists of a homepage, about, services, blog (or lead – depending on services/products offered) and contact. Anything beyond that you will need to specify as it may cost you extra in time and/or funds.

Question #3:
What do you need from me before we get started? Before we launch? Who supplies the images/branded content? Who will write the content?

Nipping this in the butt now will prevent delays as the project progresses. You won’t need to make the designer wait as you scramble to procure passwords, images, logos, written content, images, etc. From the very beginning, the designer should be able to list almost (key word here) everything they will be needing in order to get started. Also, not all website designers have the skills to be graphic designers and/or copyrighters. So, this is a very important question to ask right off the hop. The off chance … You may be lucky enough to find one who is a one-stop-shop!

Question #4:
How many revisions am I allowed? What constitutes “a revision”?

Establishing limitations to revisions is a crucial step in building a website. Especially when it comes to lengthier builds with more than your average amount of pages (usually 5-ish). You will also want to inquire as to WHEN you’ll be allowed to make edits/suggestions (aka. What stage of the process – design or development). As well as how many rounds and what constitutes a round of revisions. Try establishing some checkpoints throughout the project so that neither of you waste any time and resources.

NOTE: Another question you may want to consider here because this may happen … What happens if I don’t like the initial design?

Question #5:
Will my site be responsive so that it works on multiple devices?

In my opinion, especially in today’s technological world, most people view websites on all devices, not just one’s computer anymore so having a website that is fully responsive will keep people from running to check out your competitors. If the answer if yes (and that’s what you want anyways) you’ll also want to know if you’re able to see proofs of those versions too before anything goes live.

Question #6:
What type of support do you offer after my website goes live?

Now that you have majority of your solid answers about the design and design process it’s time to start inquiring about the go-live stages. After you find out about what type of support they offer after the site has been completed and launched, a few other good questions to ask would be regarding maintenance (whether regular or occasional). As well as inquiring about what would happen support-wise if your site got hacked or if something stops working (sometimes this happens after big updates whether them, plug-in or platform related).

Question #7:
Do you perform SEO services? And if so, how do you plan on determining the key words needed for my site?

One thing to always ask is this. You’ll also be needing to see some examples and find out if this costs extra or is within the scope of the quote. Could go either way depending on the package you request.

If you think about it … Having the right keywords on each page of your site is essential. A huge marketing component. That said, a full keyword study is completely outside the scope of most website designs but it’s a highly important factor to consider how these keywords will be used. Once again … depending on your end goal

There are three responses to a piece of design – yes, no, and WOW! Wow is the one to aim for. ~ Milton Glaser, Designer

In the end, your brand spankin’ new website should reflect you and your business goals (strategically placed of course). It’s important that the individuals you bring on to help you build success are completely on board. Taking this time to ask far-reaching, in-depth questions will ensure you retain safety and a results-oriented person (just like yourself) to help you achieve tangible AMAZING RESULTS. You want a measurable return of investment on your project and the design you hire should be willing to get you there!

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Crystal Kordalchuk

Crystal is an artist, a writer, an organizer, a dreamer, a doer, and down-right proud of it NERD!.

Struck with a love for #AllThings creative at a very young age, Crystal dreamed of a life fueled by her passion for creating and bringing the stories and images in her mind into reality.

As she worked toward her dreams, she earned a diploma as a Computer Applications Specialist then another in Graphic Design and from there began to develop her extensive background in multimedia and the arts. She began her worked in the magazine industry as a layout designer and had a succession of design jobs thereafter. It was her role as a graphic/web designer that gave her the first real glimpse of her future. Soon she began a side job as a freelance designer while keeping one foot in the corporate world. A spark was lit! She turned her freelance gig into a full-time business combining design work with her other passion: creating organization from virtual chaos.

Crystal is one of the most organized individuals on the planet. She is by all means a Zen master of her crafts. She excels at helping others become “untangled” and provides her clients with tools to run their businesses smoothly while she takes care of the details behind the scenes. Thus Virtually Untangled was born. A successful business where her work as a top notch creative in graphic and web — with a twist of virtual assistant — married into one amazing place where clients can come with their virtual messes and become magically untangled. Crystal can always make sense of even the most unorganized chaos and offers a virtual detox of order and peace, so her clients can get busy doing the work that they love the most.

7 Important Questions to Ask Your Web Designer …

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Crystal Kordalchuk

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