Website Design Client Questionnaire
The intention of my checklist is to establish a common understanding of the website you want and the steps involved in achieving this. Don’t worry if you don’t know the answer to all the questions, but the more information you are able to give me the better.
- What is the name of your business?
The business name you choose is important when considering domain names. It also helps with SEO if your business name contains keywords related to your trade/business.
- How long have you been trading or is this a new business?
This is useful to know to understand how best to launch and promote your web site. New business require a different approach to established business get them started and begin to attract visitors to the site. Some new sites require specific marketing campaigns as part of their launch process.
- Please briefly describe your business, what services you offer, how and where you operate and who your customers are.
I need to know about your business to build a website for it. Each service you offer will typically have its own page(s) on your website. It is also helpful to know what your unique selling points are and why potential customers should choose you over your competitors.
- How you currently advertise/attract new customers?
A new website is a fantastic advertising tool in its self but it will also compliment and be complimented by any other advertising you do. Understanding your current advertising will help us know where we are pitching your website.
- Do you have a logo and/or established image and branding guidelines e.g. fonts, colour schemes etc?
A consistent image is important for a business. If you already have a logo and style then these will inform the design of your website. If you do not then they can be designed as part of the web design process.
Simon Atherley offers a comprehensive design service to create a consistent image for your business. - Please list your top (up to 5) competitors (and their websites if applicable)
With knowledge of your competitors and their websites we can identify niches in the market for your website to target and ensure that where it does compete head-to-head, it has an advantage.
- Please briefly explain why you want a new website and how it will benefit your business.
A website can serve any of a number of purposes and fulfil a multitude of functions depending on the nature of your business and what it offers. We need to agree what the aim of your website will be, in order to build it to achieve its goals.
- What is your budget for your new website?
Budget can be a sensitive area and we respect that costs should be kept as low as possible while achieving what is required. However, an idea of budget will enable me to steer you towards the most appropriate type of website for your business.
- What is your deadline for getting the new website live?
This gives me a target to work towards and helps me prioritise your work.
- If you were looking for your business in a search engine (e.g. Google) what words/phrases would you search for?
Identifying the right key words and phrases is important as these will form the basis of the search engine optimisation of your website. I use SEO to get your site to help your customers find your website. Let me know the most important words and phrases (in order).Simon Atherley offers a keyword research service where I help you identify the most appropriate words and phrases for the SEO of your website based upon actual search data.
- Do you have a domain name in mind or already registered?
A domain name is important for a number of reasons. It should be short, memorable and both easy to type and say. It should also be relevant to your business name and the services you offer. Many of my clients already have a domain name registered, but for those who don’t, I can offer a domain name research and registration service to help you secure the best domain for your website.
- Do you already have an idea of what you want your website to look like – can you provide images/examples?
If you have any design ideas or general guidelines/pointers you want me to follow or even a completed website layout design you want to use then I would be happy to base the design of your website around them.
- Please list 5 websites that you like (or would like your website to look something like).
It is helpful to know what sort of websites you like and what you like about them so that we can ensure that we design you a website that you will also like.
- What different web pages do you want to have on your site and what different features do you want to include on these pages?
This is possibly the most important question in determining the nature of your website. I need details of each page and the key points of information and functionality that they will cover and as much detail as possible – e.g. if you want an image gallery then state (roughly) how many images, categories etc and how you want it to function and give examples.
- Are you able to provide all the content (text and images etc.) for the different pages of your site?
Normally my clients are responsible for delivering all content for the pages of their website including headings, text, images (and other media) etc. and I would ideally not start work on a website until this had been provided. We would then perform a degree of SEO on the content as we add it to the website. I can offer a basic website copywriting service for clients who are not sure what they want to say or how to say it.
- Are you able to provide me with high quality images to be used on your website and do you have permission to use these images?
The more fantastic images of your business and the services it provides the better from a web design point of view. These images need to be high quality to get the best out of them on your website. Simon Atherley has access to thousands of stock images and I can also arrange a website image photography service to capture the right images for your website.
- Do you want to include any links/feeds from social networking sites?
Social Networking is an important way of generating interest in your business, connecting with its customers and driving traffic to your website. Having a feed on your website can act as a news stream and help website visitors have a way to get in touch.
- Do you want me to setup any social networking pages for you?
Simon Atherley offers a social media design service for Facebook and Twitter. We get your pages setup and ready to go so that you can concentrate on dealing will all the new customers you will have. We can also setup blogs too.
- Do you want to include share/like buttons for the popular social networking pages on each page of your site?
Social bookmarks are a powerful tool in marketing your website by allowing 1-click linking to your site for your visitors.
- Please let me know anything that you specifically do not want to have on your website.
This can help ensure we only design what you want for your website.
- Do you want any specific different versions/styles of your site e.g. a mobile optimised version, high contrast or accessible versions etc.?
I design all websites to be accessible and to work on all browsers and platforms including mobile phones and tablets. However, some clients prefer to have different ‘skins’ or styles for their website available for different types of visitor such as a mobile version or a desktop version.
- How often will your site be updated and do you need to be able to make frequent updates yourself?
Simon Atherley offers a complete website maintenance and updating service for all my web design clients. I will make any updates that you require for your website at the design and build phase and after this I recommend using a open-source CMS if you want to be able to do content updates for yourself. For this reason, most of my websites are built with a Content Management System (CMS) to allow authorised users a secure way of adding and updating content with no web design knowledge.
- Do you have (or wish to organise) you own website hosting?
Simon Atherley offer cost-effective web hosting solutions for all my web design clients. We are happy to upload your site to another host if you prefer to arrange your own hosting.
- Please list any email addresses you want me to setup with your website and indicate which one(s) to publish on the website and use for any contact forms etc.
When transferring email accounts that are already in use there can be a delay of up to 48hrs before everything is up and running so we normally like to keep the original service running as well in this time and forward emails to a third party email provider for a few days to ensure no email is lost.
