5 Things to Prepare Before Hiring a Website Designer
Your website often serves as the front door to your business, greeting potential clients with a hub of information about who you are and what you offer. It’s crucial that your digital space represents the best of your brand, as it only takes 0.05 seconds to make a first impression.
However, if you don’t have a website yet or you’re considering a redesign and working with a website designer is on your wishlist (oh hey, it’s me!), diving into the process without preparation can lead to misalignment with your business goals and missed opportunities to make the most of your project. Honestly, there’s no better feeling than a client who is prepared and thinking one step ahead!
Investing in a website designer can save you a lot of time and overwhelm learning how to DIY a website, but some work is required from you to help streamline the design process and get your website launched efficiently.
In this post, I’ll be talking about the five items to have ready for your website designer (and trust me, they’ll want to give you the biggest of hugs if you send these over before they even ask for them…I know I would!)
1. A defined service or product
Before you start thinking about building a website, choosing colour palettes, typography or writing copy, it’s important to know precisely what you’re offering.
Understanding the ins and outs of your service—its market demand, pricing, process, and the problems it solves—will benefit you tenfold. Going beyond the basics will ensure your website can align with your business vision and customer needs.
It’s also worthwhile knowing if it’s a service people need. Do you have evidence of it being a service worth pursuing? Is it a service you’ve seen people ask for or have struggled with? Here are some questions to help you define your services:
Do you know what processes you want in place?
Have you outlined what’s included?
Who is it for?
What are the benefits of the service?
How much does it cost?
What is your capacity to run it, and how many people can you work with?
If you’re unclear on any of the questions above, this is the time to gain clarity on those details before moving forward with outsourcing. Without this clarity, even the most skilled website designer can’t translate your business vision into a compelling web presence effectively.
YOU are the visionary in your business, not your web designer or copywriter. It’s not their job to outline your services and processes for you, so definitely spend some time getting to know your stuff really well.
2. Clear website goals
Knowing the purpose of your website will act as your North Star, influencing every design and content decision. There’s no use jumping straight into making a pretty website if you don’t have a grasp of the why behind everything and what you’re aiming for, so defining your website goals is an essential part of the process and is where I start with all of my website clients.
Whether you aim to increase sales, establish authority in your field, or improve customer engagement and interaction, these objectives will help prioritise the platform, systems, and functionality you need and the ideal structure of your site. They will also help you understand how your website fits into the bigger picture of your business ecosystem.
By taking a strategy-first, design-second approach, you’ll ensure that the final website not only looks good but also effectively serves your business.
3. Knowledge of your ideal clients
Understanding who your website is for is just as important as knowing what your goals are for it. Knowledge of your ideal clients comes before writing any copy, creating any branding, or designing your website. All the pieces are built on top of each other to ensure that your online presence is functional and not just a pretty facade.
Having a clear idea of your ideal clients means thinking deeper than surface-level information like their income, where they live, and what food they buy at their local supermarket. You want to explore their psychographics—their needs, challenges, aspirations, and how your service solves their problems.
With any website, you want to speak directly to the people you aim to attract and resonate with them on a personal level, so doing the research into their needs and desires will benefit you in the long run when it comes to figuring out how your branding and website could be used to attract them into your world.
4. Well-crafted website copy
Writing your own website copy is always a bigger undertaking than people think it is! The words on your website play a pivotal role in engaging visitors and attracting them to complete an action.
Whilst business owners can write their copy themselves, working with a professional copywriter can often produce stronger results, as they understand the nuances of writing for your ideal clients in a compelling and clear way that aligns with your brand voice. You also won’t be left riddled with anxiety about whether your writing is “right” to the point where you don’t share your website!
The copy is also usually the piece that delays website projects, and many web designers won’t start any design work until it's completed (me included, with a cut-off date for when it needs to be done to fulfil your project timeline).
If you prefer to write your own website copy, invest time learning how to communicate your message effectively. But if you feel insecure about your writing skills, budgeting for a copywriter would be my #1 recommendation before hiring a website designer.
If you’d like guidance on what to write for your website, my Tools and Resources page has recommendations for website copy templates and copywriters.
5. Brand photography and/or videography
Despite the adage not to judge a book by its cover, first impressions do matter when it comes to your website.
While creating a well-designed website with only typography is possible, for most service-based businesses (especially coaches and wellness providers), images are the piece of the website puzzle that will help you build trust and connection with your ideal clients. The visuals should reflect the essence of your brand and the person/people behind it, embodying the authenticity and professionalism of your business.
As the saying goes, people buy from people, and the last thing we’d want is for your website to feel disconnected from the impactful work you do. Having on-brand photography (and/or videography) can make or break a potential sale and can make for a happy designer if you have great images ready to go!
If you’re stuck deciding between paying for a brand photoshoot and a website, I would highly suggest the brand photoshoot first.
Honourable Mentions
Legal Statements
When creating a website, many people overlook the need for a privacy policy, terms and conditions, and disclaimer. These legal statements are essential if you’re collecting personal data like names and email addresses in contact forms, and are important for protecting your business and website content. You don’t want to wait until the last minute before your launch to get these sorted!
There are a few ways you can gather these statements in preparation for your website:
Purchase a template
There are a few great websites where you can buy templates or use a paid generator to create them for you. One I recommend is Termaggedon, as it’s an affordable solution for service-based businesses who might struggle with keeping the legal statements up-to-date when future privacy laws come in. Termageddon* takes care of that for you, with their policies automatically updating whenever the laws change.
You can learn more about the generator and get 10% off your first-year payment with my affiliate link! Get 10% off Termageddon →
Hire a legal professional to write them for you
Hiring someone to write these for you ensures your business is completely covered for any specific requirements you need. This is the best way to get something completely custom for your business.
Download a free generic statement online
While there are platforms that offer free privacy policy statements, I wouldn’t recommend these for long-term use as they may not cover all of your business needs as the first two options will.
Marketing Platform Integrations & Links
Before launching your website, you’ll want to ensure you’ve set up your marketing and CRM accounts so your website can be linked to them immediately. The platforms I require integrations or URLs for on nearly every website I create are:
Social Media: Consider all the platforms you’ll want to use and keep your profile links handy as you create them. e.g. Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, Pinterest, TikTok etc.
Email Marketing: If building an email list is a priority for your business, you’ll need to set up your email marketing account pre-website launch. Ideally, you’ll have a landing page where people can sign up for your emails, plus a lead magnet if you want to offer a freebie to new subscribers.
CRM/Scheduling Software: If you plan on using a scheduling tool to book calls like Calendly or TidyCal, and a CRM to manage your client projects like Dubsado* , you’ll need to set up your accounts before hiring your website designer. They’ll likely need to embed code from those tools in order to integrate them seamlessly into your website.
Before working with a website designer - be prepared!
Preparation is 100% key to crafting a website that truly represents your business and attracts your ideal clients.
By having a clear understanding of your product or service, well-prepared content, clarity on your ideal clients, professional visuals and defined website goals, you set the stage for a collaborative design process that is fruitful, focused and intentionally aligned with your business goals.
Now that you know the five essential things that you’ll need before hiring a website designer, you now have a tangible list to work through so you can feel confident and prepared for your website launch.
