Six Things I Need Before I Can Begin Designing A Website
Congrats on taking the first step to improving your presence online.
Hiring a web designer or developer is a big deal, even for a small site if that’s your starting point. But there’s no denying it - building a website is a major TASK and it can be really confusing and overwhelming to try to figure out where to start.
So after you’ve hired the designer or hired the developer, what do you do next? What does that person need to know or what do they need to receive from you to begin your project? I can’t speak for all designers out there, but here’s a quick rundown of 6 items I know I’m going to ask for, for each new project I start:
Access to your Domain
Whether you already own a domain or are planning to purchase a new one, it’s important that I’m able to access your DNS in order to help you with connecting your domain to your new website. With Squarespace you can purchase a domain directly through the platform when you begin your website subscription or you can connect or transfer an existing domain, depending on your what is best for your business. And if you’re not sure, we will discuss this before getting started.
Email Marketing and/or CRM
If you have an existing email marketing provider for list building, I’ll need to be able to access this in order to connect your sign up forms and popups to your website. Best places and most commonly connected email platforms that I have experience with are: Flodesk, ConvertKit, Constant Contact, MailChimp, and MailerLite. Squarespace also offers an add-on subscription for email campaigns which would be built in directly on platform. I am always happy to discuss which platforms are best for your specific needs if you are just getting started with an email list.
Brand assets
When you hire me to build your website you’re allowed to bring your own brand! I don’t mind if you have already collaborated with a brand designer to create brand guidelines, logos, patterns, or other graphics to be used for web. All I ask is that you have these items organized and easily accessible via shared Google Drive, Dropbox, or WeTransfer - all are acceptable avenues for file sharing.
Photography
Photography is of the utmost importance for your website. High quality, high resolution, professional photography is and always will be my number one recommendation for a website. In fact, I believe that a website with a horrible design can still look professional with the right photography. If your images are low quality, your website will look low quality as well - even if you spent thousands of dollars to have someone else build it. Have your images prepared, edited, and in the proper image formats for web (PNG, JPEG, JPG) prior to getting started.
Copywriting
Many times, especially when a project is not scratch made, clients come with their copywriting prepared. What is copywriting? Copy is just what we (designers) call all the words for your website. So if you choose to hire a copywriter or prefer to take a stab at it yourself and DIY your copy, it is occasionally helpful to have that on hand as I design your site. Having access to the copywriting before the design can help guide the structure of each section and length of your pages. What if you don’t have any copywriting prepared and have no clue where to start? Don’t fret! I can provide prompts within the first draft of your website with helpful suggestions on what to write where, most of my clients who choose to go this route find the prompts to be EXTREMELY helpful.
Inspiration Sites
I’m a professional website designer and developer, not a mind reader! Without knowing a few things you like or dislike about websites, design, your industry etc. it can be really hard for me to guess at what direction I should take the design of your website. Just to be sure we take off on the right foot, plan to provide 3-5 websites that you like or like aspects of so that I can truly understand the aesthetic of your brand and what kind of a vibe we’re going for. I don’t have a niche and I think that’s a really great quality to look for in a designer if you want your website to stand out in a saturated market. Which, to be fair, most markets are saturated - but we still need to be creative and we still need to stand out and look original. Even if you have NO IDEA what looks “good” or what looks “bad” when it comes to website design, you definitely know what you like or dislike and that information is incredibly helpful for me know.
Looking for a squarespace designer to help you with your next project?
Let’s collaborate! My books are always open - you can get started with a free 15 minutes consult call or dive right into booking your project by filling out an inquiry here.
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