Your website is a major part of your business and when it comes to refreshing your site, picking the right web designer is a key decision in the process. This is the person or teamthat is going to bring your vision to life and you want to know that they understand what you want and can also give you the website of your dreams.
As a web designer myself, I understand how important of an investment this is and know how key it is to find the right designer. After working with so many clients myself, there are certain questions that stand out as the most important ones during the inquiry process to find the right fit. (for both parties ;))
So, as you start your journey of finding the perfect match, here are some of my top questions to ask a web designer before hiring them.
Questions to Ask Your Web Designer
What platforms do you build on? What platform do you think is best for me?
This is the first question because, you may find that some designers only design on specific platforms or just specialize in a few of them. So, when you are looking for a designer, make sure you know what platforms they design on.
But, the platform question doesn’t end there. It can also be very helpful to ask them what platform they think is best for your business. You may have set up your website when you first started your business and just picked the platform that you recognized or that was the cheapest.
However, that doesn’t mean that it is the best platform for your businesses needs. For example, you may have a product-based business and started it on Squarespace. While you can definitely run a product-based business there, Shopify may have more features that make running and maintaining your website easier.
To answer that question for you right now, I design websites on:
- Squarespace
- WordPress (I am an OG WP designer)
- Shopify
- ShowIt
I have been blogging for a while, how can you help to preserve my SEO with the new site?
SEO is a big question on a lot of people’s minds so it’s important that you ask your web designer what they are going to do to help maintain your website’s SEO. If you have been blogging for a long time, for example, you may have built up your SEO presence and want to make sure that is carried over to the new website. Or, maybe you know you rank on your main website pages for a few important keywords.
Now, I want to preface this by saying don’t be concerned if your designer says that you may see a dip in your rankings or traffic right after launching your new site. Especially if you are switching to a new platform, it is totally normal for your rankings to drop slightly as Google recognizes that your website is now in a new spot. Don’t worry though! This shouldn’t be permanent.
But, you can ask questions like, “Do you set up redirects for pages?” “Do you do any on page SEO?” “Do you help migrate my blog posts if I am moving to a new platform?” These are all important questions to make sure that all of the work you have previously done carries over to the new site!
You might follow this up by asking what SEO services your design offers – from after launch blog packages to SEO packed copywriting- they may have partners or options to make sure this is a priority with your website build (depending on your budget) .
Do you help set up any integrations (ie email marketing, schedulers, etc)?
Odds are you have some sort of integrations on your website. Whether this is email marketing with newsletters or freebies, schedulers where clients can book calls or appointments, or even something as basic as Google Analytics, you most likely have at least one integration.
So, when you are thinking about questions to ask a web designer, ask them if they help you set any of these integrations up. You can also ask them how involved they are and if they do provide any additional help or support when it comes to these integrations.
For example, when it comes to email marketing, some designers may help you add the forms to your site, but you need to have them completely built out in your email marketing platform and give them the embed code to use.
Other designers may help you update them to match any new branding or the overall look of the website. And some designers may even help get these set up from scratch for you. There isn’t any right or wrong answer, but it is important to know what is actually included in your package!
What about my product suite? Can you help make sure that is set up properly?
If you are a product-based business, setting up your product suite can be a major part of getting your website up and running. Whether you are a brand new business starting from scratch or if you are updating your current suite, it’s important to ask questions specifically about your products.
For example, if you are on Shopify, will they help add the products themselves to the backend? Do they help set up different categories or tags for your products?
Depending on the designer, this may be something that is included in your package or it may be something that can be added on for any additional investment. Either way, it’s important to know if this is something that is going to be taken care of for you, or if it is something that needs to be on your own radar.
How many rounds of revisions/feedback do I get?
Your website is a major part of your brand presence and it is so important that it not only attracts your ideal clients and customers, but that you also love it. That is where feedback and revisions come in during the design process.
You want to make sure that your voice is heard and that you love the site before it actually goes live so be sure to ask your web designer how many rounds of revisions you get during the process. You can even ask when throughout the process you get to see the designs so that you know exactly what to expect and when you are able to give your feedback.
Will my site be live until the new one launches?
If you currently have a website up, a big question you may have in your mind is if your current site is going to be down while your new one is built. Depending on the website platform and factors like if you are migrating platforms or staying on the same one, you will probably find that at some point you are going to have to have an under construction page up.
But, it’s important to know if this is going to be for a few days to a week or if it is going to be for an extended period of time.
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If you do need your site under construction at any point- you often have the option of having your social media, email, or other ways to contact you listed on the under construction page. You may even be able to have your contact form listed there so people can still reach out and inquire with you while your site is being built!
Is copywriting included? How does that work?
Your copy is a key part of your website’s design and its success. If you didn’t know, that’s the words on the website pages and copywriting is a specific skill set. So, one of the biggest questions to ask a web designer is if copywriting is included in the package. This is an important question to ask so that you know exactly what is needed from you.
In general, most web designers themselves are not going to write your copy simply because it is not their zone of genius. However, that does not mean that they don’t have a copywriter they work with or even one on their team that can write the copy for you.
For example, here at Bethany Works® we have three different options when it comes to your copy:
- We can provide you with a list of SEO researched keywords that you can use to write your own copy. So, if you want to do it on your own, or don’t have the budget for a copywriter, you can write your own copy that considered SEO. .
- You can work with our trusted copywriting partner to have your copy completely written for you and optimized for SEO
- You can work with your own outside copywriter to create the copy for the site and ask to pause between brand design and website design to have this done.
There is no right or wrong answer here, but, you want to make sure that you are informed so that you can make the best decision for yourself and your budget.
What’s the difference between brand messaging and copywriting?
Finally, as you look at copywriting, you may also question what the difference is between brand messaging and copywriting. Both can be really important for your website, but what do they actually mean?
Brand messaging is things like your tagline, slogan, and any repeated phrases you will use throughout your brand. It’s your mission, vision, and values. These are going to be short words or phrases that are used throughout your website. They should be included in your brand strategy if you opt for comprehensive brand design.
Your copy is going to be all of the words on your website. It may include some brand messaging, but it is also going to go further than just those short phrases.
Final Thoughts Questions to Ask a Web Designer
So, hopefully these questions to ask a web designer help you find the perfect fit for you and your business. At the end of the day, you want to make sure that they not only have a design style that you love, but also understand you, your business, and your vision.
If you are still looking for that perfect match designer, I’d love to chat! You can click here to learn more about my design services or head over here to get in touch.
