Questions to ask a client before you build their website
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Before you build a client's website, ask about their goal, their must-haves, their deadline and who makes the final call. Ask on the first call, before you write a quote. The answers tell you whether the job fits you, and they give you what you'll price from.
What questions should you ask a client before building their website?
Ask questions that show the goal of the site, what it can't launch without, when it has to be live, who decides and what budget is set. Keep the first call to these areas, and save the detailed planning for after the client signs.
The goal
- What should the new site help your business do?
- Once it's live, how will you tell the site is doing its job?
- What made you decide to get a new site now?
The must-haves
- Which pages can't the site go live without?
- Does the site have to take bookings, payments or sign-ups on day one?
- Is there a tool your business already uses that the site has to connect to?
The deadline
- Is there a date the site has to be live by?
- What's behind that date, such as an event or a product launch?
- How quickly can your side send content and feedback to the build team?
Who decides
- Who will approve the design and the finished site?
- Does anyone else get a say before a decision is final?
The budget
- Is there a budget range in mind for this project?
If the answers point to a good fit, the deeper questions come after the yes. For the discovery session after the yes, see website discovery questions.
Once you win the job, the build turns into tasks to hand off. DeskTeam360 gives away a free template for handing work off, and website builds show up among the jobs it covers. To get it, you enter your email.
What do you ask a client about the design of their new site?
Ask about the look they want, the brand they already have, and the sites they like or dislike. These answers set the style before you sketch anything.
- Is there a logo, a set of brand colors and fonts already, or is creating them part of the job?
- Which websites do you like the look of, and what draws you to them?
- Is there a look or a style you'd like the site to stay away from?
- Should the site match your printed materials, or is this a fresh start?
- Does a parent company or franchise set rules for how your brand looks?
Write the client's answers down in their own words. They'll help you scope the work and back up your design choices later. For turning answers into a proposal, see the web design proposal template.
A free template from DeskTeam360 can help you hand off the tasks once the design is agreed, with website builds on its list of uses. You'll get it after you share your email address.
More on Starting a client site build
- Website discovery questions for a new client build
- Web design client onboarding: the steps from yes to kickoff
- How to kick off a website project with a client
- All guides
Sources
- DeskTeam360, Ultimate Task Delegation Template page, start.deskteam360.com/ultimate-task-delegation-template
- DeskTeam360, About page, deskteam360.com/about
What changed
- : Page first published.