There is a lot that goes into developing a successful website and creating a positive client relationship. As I venture off on my own looking to take on new clients I am constant adding to and reforming my process for getting that relationship started off on the right foot. As I am learning then so should you… the potential client. What follows is a list of questions I find very helpful during my initial discussion with a potential client. For those of you who are on the client side, take a minute to imagine how you might answer these questions and for those of you in the early stages of your career consider how these questions might help you.

The questions are in no particular order and I do not deem one more important the the next, some of them deal with design and some with development.

Q: What do you hope to accomplish with your website?
A: I plan to offer valuable information dealing with my industry, service and product through articles written by myself and other industry experts.
A: I want to keep my customers informed on company, product and industry news and how it relates to them on a weekly basis.
A: I want to create a catalog of products and give my customer the ability to purchase them online.
A: I want to begin selling my product or service before my client walks through my front door.

Q: What is your target market?
Consider what industries or individuals find your product or service most valuable. How limited is your market area? Citywide, Statewide Nationwide etc. It is important that the look and feel of your website appeals to your market. It is also import to know your potential market when optimizing your website and content for search. Knowing your target market will help us to understand how they might find your website.

Q: There are other companies in your industry with a web presence, what do you feel they are doing well and what are they lacking?
A good web designer will do some research on your particular industry but it is always helpful to get some insight from an industry expert. Since that is you, take some time to have a look at the competition and let us know what you like and don’t like about their websites.

Q:What are a few sites that you like for the design?
I usually ask for a short list of about three website that you enjoy for their design. They don’t necessarily need to be in any way related to your industry or niche but this gives me a good idea of what appeals to you and your business.

Q: Tell me about your companies personality?
Think about what makes up your companies personality. Your vision, your mission statement, the owner and employees. Maybe there is a background story that you would like to convey to your client through the look and feel of your site.

Q: What type of information will you website contain?
Your website can be as simple as a few pages such as the “About Us” and Contact pages or as complex as a full product list with the ability to purchase. The amount of information your site will contain dictates not only how to organize the site structure but how many pages your website will contain.

Q: Do you hope to edit and add to content on your own?
I personally think that this is one of the most important aspects of designing websites today, the ability to edit, update and maintain certain content within your site. Keeping it fresh and updated not only improves search optimization but it lets your client know that you pay attention to how they interact with the site and what they find useful. Might you be interested in having this ability.

Q: What does your logo and company colors mean to you?
Think about the discussions you have had with the people responsible for creating you marketing materials up to this point, we want to convey the same ideals with your website. If that person is you than think back to how you went about creating your image.

This provides a base for us to get started with your project, this will be added to and some of it revised as I consider it a work in progress. Some things for you to think about though when approaching a web designer.

Tags: client relationship, creative discovery, design, usability, Web Design