What to have ready before you brief a web designer

Most delays on web projects are not caused by designers. They are caused by the things nobody thought to prepare before the project started.

Arriving at your first meeting with a web designer prepared is one of the most genuinely useful things you can do for a project. Not because designers are impatient, but because every day spent waiting for missing information is a day added to your timeline and occasionally to your bill. Here is what to have ready before that first conversation.

A clear idea of what the site needs to do

Not a list of pages. Not a wish list of features. A single clear answer to the question: what should someone be able to do on this website that they cannot do now?

For a charity, the answer might be: find out about our services and get in touch with us. For a small business, it might be: book an appointment online without having to ring us. The clearer you are on the outcome, the easier it is to design a site that achieves it.

Examples of sites you like

Gathering three to five websites you find visually appealing is one of the most useful things you can bring to a first briefing. They do not need to be in your sector. They just need to illustrate what kind of look and feel resonates with you.

Be specific about what you like. Not just the site as a whole, but particular elements. The navigation. The use of photography. The way a form works. The more specific you are, the better.

It is just as useful to share sites you dislike and explain why. Knowing what to avoid is as valuable as knowing what to aim for.

Your content

This is the one that catches most clients off guard. A web designer can design and build your site, but they cannot write your content for you unless you have agreed and budgeted for that separately.

Content means: the text for every page, your logo and brand files, photographs of your team or premises, and any specific imagery you want to use. Getting content together before the project starts is genuinely the most powerful thing you can do to keep a project on time.

If you are not sure what content you need, ask your designer to share a content plan before work begins. Most will include this as part of the discovery process.

Your technical setup

Before you brief a designer, try to find out the following: who owns your domain name, who hosts your current website if you have one, and whether you have the login details for either. These sound like small details but tracking them down mid-project can cause significant delays.

If you are not sure who holds any of this information, your IT contact or the person who originally set up your website should be able to help.

A realistic budget

You do not need to know the exact figure. But having a range in mind before the conversation saves time for everyone. A designer who knows your budget is a designer who can immediately tell you what is realistic, what needs to be phased, and what might need to be left out.

If you are not sure what web projects cost, our article on what a digital project actually costs is a useful place to start before any conversations.

A decision-maker

This is the one most people do not think about. Before the project starts, identify who has the final say. Who approves the design? Who signs off the content? If more than one person needs to approve things, agree in advance how that will work.

The most common cause of web projects going over budget is a sign-off process that was not agreed before work started. Establishing it upfront costs nothing and saves a great deal later.