Landing your first client for web design is always exciting. However, that excitement can quickly turn into a nightmare if you don’t get a proper brief from your client. Ultimately resulting in mockups they aren’t pleased with and a lot of back and forth between you and the client.
Web design is very subjective and while most clients will say they are open to ideas; they generally are not. They know what they want but aren’t always sure of how to tell you exactly what that is. But you no longer have to worry, we have 7 questions that every web design firm should ask their clients to ensure they have a deeper insight into their client’s needs.
Can you briefly tell us about your business?
According to an expert at Cactimedia Web Design Dubai, This is a given, you need to know about the business before you can start on the web design. Yes, half of the time the company’s name gives away the type of business it is but don’t make any assumptions. Ask them to briefly describe their business and how they differ from their competition, what makes them unique. This will give you some ideas on how their site can also differ and stand-out compared to their competition.
Who are your competitors?
At times, your client’s competition can provide you more information about the industry and design elements to employ more than the client. Chances are their competitors already have a website and you can use that as a guideline of sorts. You can look at the various elements of their site and see what works well and what doesn’t. This is so you can figure out the failures and successes of their competitor’s site and build upon them ensuring your client has a better website overall.
What are your goals they have set for the website?
To determine your approach to the site along with functionalities required, you are going to need to know what the client is looking to accomplish from the site. Are they just looking to get information out about their services, do they want to generate leads, or will they be selling services and products online? All these are vital information for you to know exactly what the client wants from the site. They also enable you to pitch different functionalities for the site to ensure all their goals are accomplished.
How will you plan to measure the success of the site?
While it is obvious that most clients will answer, with the money it generates, that isn’t the only thing that will measure the success of the site. Based on your client’s goals, a lot of them will be looking to generate leads or traffic, maybe even just to gain a readership in case of a blog. Knowing exactly what success means to your client will help you design a website that is catered around it. This will lead to a lasting relationship with you and the client.
Who is the website targeting?
While the design is subjective, by knowing the audience the website will target, you can design something that is appealing for the specific audience. For a website to be user-friendly for an audience it is important you are aware of who you are targeting. You want to get as much insight on the audience as you can from demographics to psychographics. The more information you can dig up on the audience, the better the design.
Are there any particular features you want on the website?
While you will have the bigger functionalities covered through the question about the site’s goal, you still want to know if there are other smaller features the client would want within the site. While features such as social media integration and e-mail sign up have become a staple in website design, features such as blogs and videos aren’t as common. Both blogs and videos can have a huge impact on their marketing tactics. Be sure to ask them or pitch additional features to them that may help them accomplish the goals they have set for their website.
What is your scope of the project?
The scope of the project will determine many different aspects of it from the timeline to the budget that need to be accomplished before it is complete. Therefore, it is important that you are aware of the timeline your client has set for the project. This lets you work backward and devise an overall timeline of your own, setting milestones along the way of how to approach the project. The budget is equally important as the timeline. You will come across many clients who will ask for the world but have a low budget which would make working with them a hassle for you.
