15 Most Important Things To Do Before Hiring A Web Designer

James Cookson
Fairway - Web Design Lead
Published:

January 26, 2025

15 min
 read

If you’ve stumbled upon this article, it’s possible you’re a business owner or marketing representative whose recognized it’s time to address your outdated, broken, misaligned or poorly performing website. Or worse yet, your company has no website at all. In either case, hiring a web designer is your next move - and that’s great! But first, it’s imperative that these 15 items listed below are addressed before hiring a web designer!

A freelancer or web design agency will ask you a number of questions in order to give you a proposal for their work. This will likely include a projected timeline, a list of deliverables, and of course, a cost estimate. Your level of preparation to provide the accurate answers to these questions can dramatically affect what you get, when you get it, and how much you’re going to pay for it.  

Simply put, if you’re not prepared with all 15 things you need to do before hiring a web designer, you’ll pay for it in terms of quality, speed, and cost.  

Furthermore, choosing “the right web designer”, is imperative as your relationship with your freelancer or agency will more than likely be for the long haul. A website is an investment of both time and money that in an ideal scenario, continues harmoniously for years to come. Without the proper preparation, you’ll be going in blind as to how to effectively vet your potential candidates, ultimately putting your investment at risk.

Let’s get down to it.

Table Of Contents For: 15 Most Important Things To Do Before Hiring A Web Designer  

  1. Define Your Website Goals
  2. Outline Your Target Audience
  3. Prepare Your Text and Images (Client-Provided Assets)
  4. Assemble Your Branding Materials
  5. Audit Your Current Website
  6. Decide on a Budget Range
  7. List the Features You Need
  8. Research Competitor Websites
  9. Plan for SEO
  10. Map Out a Site Structure
  11. Get Familiar with Your CMS Options
  12. Gather Testimonials and Case Studies (Social Proofing)
  13. Make Mobile Responsiveness a Priority
  14. Select Domain and Hosting Options
  15. Set Expectations for Post-Launch Support

1. Define Your Website Goals

First and foremost, you need to thoroughly define what your desired outcome is with your new website. Each industry/business can leverage their online presence in different ways, so it’s important to understand how your site can work for you!  

Here are a list of some of the more common goals of a high-performing website:

  • Highlight your brand: Showcase your mission, values, and unique identity.
  • Build trust: Display testimonials, case studies, and certifications.
  • Generate leads: Encourage actions like filling out forms or signing up for newsletters.
  • Drive sales: Guide users to purchase products or book services easily.
  • Educate your audience: Share blogs, videos, or FAQs to demonstrate expertise.
  • Enhance customer service: Add live chat, support systems, or self-help resources.
  • Boost online visibility: Optimize for search engines and mobile visitors.

2. Outline Your Target Audience  

Identifying who your website is for is as important as having one in the first place. From targeting your SEO efforts to aligning your user experience, your website should be tailored to who you’re intending to attract and ultimately sell to.

Though it may seem at first glance like all websites serve the same or similar purpose, this is far from the truth. Understanding your audience allows you to communicate to your web designer what factors are most important.  

For instance, for a B2B service business, your web designer may focus on creating a professional design with a specific focus on a clear navigation to highlight services, case studies, and testimonials (aka, social proofing). They might include detailed service descriptions, lead capture forms, and calls to action like “Schedule a Consultation” to drive inquiries.

On the other hand, a B2C e-commerce business should focus on a design that highlights visuals, ease of use, and a convenient purchasing process to eliminate purchase barriers and target better conversion rates. Features like customer reviews (focusing on specific wording and abundance), promotions, and personalized recommendations are also essential for converting casual visitors into loyal customers.

Not only does outlining your target audience help your web designer build a more intentional design from the get-go, but it should also assist you in understanding what areas to focus on as you continue to grow your website.

3. Prepare Your Text and Images (Client-Provided Assets)  

One of the most common missteps when you’re looking to either build new, or rebuild your existing website is not preparing your content ahead of time.

In order to build a truly brand-driven website, it’s imperative that your freelancer or web design agency has the necessary client-provided assets including text, media (photos and videos), and branding materials (more on this one below) readily available come design time.  

Though it’s not uncommon that a client doesn’t have these items prepared, this often leaves the designer to assemble "dummy” assets as a placeholder until you’ve prepared the content yourself, or hired a content writer, photographer, etc., to give you and your designer the required items. The problem with this approach is that a proper website design should be driven by the content itself, not the other way around.  

For a premium level, high-converting and brand-first website (which is what you should be receiving if you’re seeking the help of a web developer), the order of operations should be that the designer establishes a design around your messaging, rather than copy and pasting your information into a theme or template.

4. Assemble Your Branding Materials  

Similar to text and images, the other major client-provided assets you should have prepared ahead of your website’s design are your branding materials. This refers to:

  • Logo files: High-resolution versions of your logo in multiple formats (e.g., PNG, SVG, AI, or EPS). Make sure to provide vector files for your logo such as SVG for the best resolution.
  • Color palette: Your brand’s official colors with hex, RGB, or CMYK codes. (aka, not just “red and black”)
  • Typography: Your chosen fonts, including typefaces, and usage guidelines.
  • Brand guidelines: A document outlining your brand's visual identity, tone, and rules for consistent application.
  • Imagery style: Examples or descriptions of preferred photography or illustration styles.
  • Taglines or slogans: Any official phrases associated with your brand.
  • Icons or graphic elements: Custom icons, patterns, or symbols used in your branding.
  • Mission and vision statements: A summary of your brand’s purpose and goals for context.

Without the proper branding assets, even the best web designers will struggle to put together a site that doesn’t look inherently generic. Your website alone is not “your brand”, it should instead operate as one of the best instances of showcasing your brand, where everything from your colours and imagery to messaging and mission are on full display.

As you’ll see many times throughout this article, a website is an investment. Don’t cut your brand (and money) short by looking generic.

5. Audit Your Current Website  

For businesses that have a website that’s ready for a makeover (or complete overhaul), it’s important to identify what went wrong with what you have; and in the world of web design, the reasons for a rebuild are endless:

  • Outdated design
  • Poor mobile responsiveness
  • Slow load times
  • Confusing navigation
  • Rebranding needs
  • Services or products have changed
  • Missing key features
  • Can’t support business growth
  • Low search engine rankings
  • Built on outdated technology
  • Broken links or forms
  • Lacks proper security (SSL certificates a are common one)
  • Competitors have better websites
  • Doesn’t meet legal or accessibility standards
  • No performance tracking tools

Understanding which of these (or more) apply to you will help bring to light what areas need fixing on your new website along with measures you can put in place to get the most out of your website for the long haul.  

During this auditing process, you’ll more than likely discover more areas you’d like addressed in your conversation with your web developers.

It typically starts with design:

Hey, my website looks old, doesn’t look great on mobile and still has our old logo, etc.”

After a deeper dive, you may discover that your website doesn’t rank for any of the search terms it should for your industry, location, etc, putting an emphasis on the need for better SEO. Or perhaps, further digging may help you find that certain links to important resources have been broken for some time now.

The list goes on.

Auditing your current website is arguably the most beneficial, yet most forgotten part of starting fresh. If your mentality is simply, “Yeah, I know the one I have is bad.”, you’re missing opportunities to achieve an even better glow-up.

Worried you won’t know what to look for? No problem. Our development team offers website and SEO auditing services free of charge.

If you'd prefer to perform a site audit yourself, check out free auditing tools from Ahrefs to find out what areas you can improve!

Optimal SEO Audit Scores via ahrefs.com

6. Decide on a Budget Range

The worst thing you can tell a web designer is,

“I don’t know what this stuff costs.”

The web design industry is one of the most confusing and radically priced industries out there. You can get quotes for web design work that range dramatically (talking thousands of dollars) for virtually the exact same project.

Trust us, we hear the quotes that some clients receive for their projects, it’s laughable.

Simply being misinformed can cost you greatly. Luckily you don’t have to be. Discover what a website should cost in 2025.

Sometimes designers charge on an hourly basis, others choose a tiered pricing model. In either case, your end quote will rely on a number of factors. Check out what goes into determining the price of a website for a better idea.

When deciding on a budget, coming in too small will leave you with deliverables that aren’t worth the investment. Whereas setting the bar too high will attract quotes that have more zeroes on them than it’s realistically worth.  

A good starting point is to budget 5–10% of your annual revenue for marketing, with about half of that going toward your website. So, if your business makes $100,000 a year, you might set aside $5,000-$10,000 for marketing, and $2,500-$5,000 of that for your website.

This is just a simple guideline though, because your actual budget will depend on your website goals, your site’s complexity, and how important your website is to your business.

Factors That Affect Your Website Budget

  • The Purpose of Your Website
  • Custom vs. Template Design
  • Size of Your Business
  • The Return on Investment (ROI)
  • Ongoing Costs

The "Under the Table" Truth

Here’s the part many people don’t talk about.  

A lot of website budgets go wrong because people don’t think about the long-term plan. Sure, it’s plenty possible you can get a cheap website for $500, but if it looks outdated, doesn’t rank on Google, or doesn’t have the functionality your customers need, you may as well stick with what you have or rely on referral business.

Instead of looking for the cheapest option, focus on the value your website will bring to your business. Sitting down with a reliable and transparent web design agency can help you figure out what features you actually need and create a site that grows with you.

So, How Much Should You Spend On Your Website?

As a rough guide:

$500-$2,000: DIY or template-based websites (great for small startups or hobby sites).

$2,500-$10,000: Professionally designed websites with some custom features (ideal for small businesses).

$10,000-$50,000+: Fully custom websites with advanced functionality (best for mid-size to large businesses or those with complex site requirements).

At the end of the day, your website budget should reflect your business goals. Think of it as, (here I go with this word again), an investment. Spending wisely now can save you time, money, and frustration in the future.

7. List the Features You Need  

Not including the proper feature set, and simply “having a website to have a website” is the quickest way to flush thousands of dollars away. For many businesses, however, this is where they stand. Luckily for you, you’re 7 steps into a 15-point article on how to avoid just that... so it’s safe to say you’re not a part of that crowd.

Recognizing what features your website requires is critical to get the most out of each site visitor. In fact, you should lead with consideration for your visitors UX (user-experience) when deciding what features your site should include. Here are a quick list of potential website features and some businesses that may take advantage of them:

  • E-commerce Functionality: Online shopping cart and checkout system. (Retail stores, fashion brands, food delivery services)
  • Booking System: Schedule appointments or reservations online. (Spas, salons, healthcare providers)
  • Membership Area: Restricted access for premium content or perks. (Fitness trainers, coaches, online educators)
  • Portfolio Showcase: Visually display your work and projects. (Photographers, designers, creative agencies)
  • Interactive Map: Highlight physical locations with directions. (Real estate, retail chains, event venues)
  • Customer Reviews Section: Showcase testimonials or star ratings. (Service providers, restaurants, contractors)
  • Live Chat: Real-time support for visitors’ questions. (Tech support, SaaS companies, online stores)
  • Online Donation System: Collect funds securely through your website. (Charities, nonprofits, crowdfunding campaigns)
  • Blog or News Section: Share updates, tips, or industry insights. (Thought leaders, bloggers, content creators)
  • Event Calendar: List upcoming events or workshops. (Community centers, event planners, training providers)

8. Research Competitor Websites  

Whether you’re searching for design inspiration or looking to get a leg up on the competition, researching other websites in your industry is a great way to familiarize yourself with what others are doing and how to stand out.

A good start would be to think about what your customers might search to find you and take a look at what some of the top listed guys are doing. Higher listed companies organically (not a sponsored ad) are obviously doing something right, whether that’s being a household name in their field, or they’ve struck gold with their SEO strategy (or often both). These websites can help give you an idea of what kind of content succeeds in your niche, along with the look and format that supports it.

If you're simply looking for design inspo to help you communicate with your designer what you do or don't like, check out awwwards.com for some of the latest award winning web design trends!

Design inspiration from awwwards.com

In short, researching competitor websites is a very valuable step as it helps you to understand your industry standards and figure out what works well in your market. You can spot strengths to emulate, gaps to fill, and features to add or avoid.

9. Plan for SEO

In this 2025 era of the internet, SEO cannot be ignored.

If you’re not familiar, SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is the process of improving your website so it shows up higher in search results on Google and other search engines. This helps more people find your site when they’re looking for products, services, or information related to what you offer.

When it comes to website design, a qualified and forward-thinking web design agency should be helping you discover, plan and in many cases, build-out your web design and SEO strategy.

Much of the meat and potatoes of what makes your website rank has to do with how it’s developed, starting with the platform it’s built on and content you feature, to how the site is structured in combination with its speed, performance, and accessibility.  

Sounds like a lot? That’s because it is.  

SEO plays a major role in the visibility and growth of your business online. Both you and your web designer should come to the table with ideas regarding how to establish, maintain, and grow your SEO.

6 Simple SEO Topics to Discuss with Your Web Designer

  1. Who Your Customers Are: The audience you want to attract to your site.
  2. What They’ll Search For: Words/phrases your customers might type into Google.
  3. Improve Local SEO: Whether your business prioritizes local search results.
  4. Making the Site Fast: Your site needs to load quickly for your visitors.
  5. Making It Work on Phones: Making sure the site looks great on mobile devices.
  6. Adding Helpful Content: Sharing blogs or updates to bring in more visitors over time.

10. Map Out a Site Structure  

When clients are in a rush to get started, or they value cost above all, they say things like “I just need something simple to start”, or they take a general estimate and say, “my site will probably need like 5-6 pages”.

Phrases like these cost you money and likely your time as well.

Taking the time to establish a list of topics your website will cover will help you determine what pages your site will need to feature.  

In many circumstances, for a “simple website”, a client will generally request the same 4 pages: Home, About, Services, Contact. However, in about 80% of cases like these, the client chooses to add more pages either before or immediately after development as they realize they have more to say than they originally anticipated.

Most businesses offer more than one service. Or perhaps variations of the same service. The best website practices both in terms of user-engagement as well as SEO, have you featuring a page for each of those services or variations to properly define what that service is, who it’s for, what pricing for that service may look like, etc.

Beyond service pages, perhaps your business works in several different sectors or industries. To target industry-specific visitors, many conversion-targeting websites will feature a page discussing each industry they serve.

What about blogs, news centers, and galleries? How else are you going to continue to keep your visitors engaged with new content and updates about your business?  

Don’t forget case studies, testimonials and even FAQs. These reputation building pages help show your credibility and can often be the make or break of whether a client chooses you over a competitor!

As you can see, the pages add up.

From what was once a 4-page site, could instead be well over 10 pages in no time when you really break it down. Now this doesn’t necessarily mean you need to start with all of this info (as the more pages you include come with a larger bill in most cases). But it does mean you should be putting together a site structure (or sitemap) ahead of time to properly communicate to your web development team your site needs; this of course saves you from surprise quote changes at the end of the project!

11. Get Familiar with Your CMS Options  

Once your website is live to the world, it won’t be long before you notice something you might want to change. Or perhaps you’ve had a great idea for a new blog article to write... but how are you going to edit your website?

The CMS or web platform your website is built with will define how and what you can access within your website.

Platforms like Wix and SquareSpace are powerful website builders that allow “tech-adjacent" business owners the ability to edit many areas of their site including colours, navigation and typography, but may be limiting when it comes to growing outside of the template your website was built through.

Alternatively, platforms like WordPress have a more customizable back-end, allowing you to change virtually anything. In this case, you may require a more a tech-friendly mind to navigate them.

Hybrid options like Webflow, Framer or Elementor serve as convenient in-between solutions where less tech-friendly clients can edit content without worrying they’ll ruin their site but also give you the optional tools to develop more deeply should you have the knowhow to do so. These platforms, however, typically come at a higher cost.  

Figuring out what web platform will serve you best requires some research. If you ask a web designer, chances are they’ll pitch you the one they like most. For instance, our agency is a Webflow web design company, meaning all the work we do is with the platform, Webflow. Though it’s an excellent platform for many businesses, in saying that we also recognize that it isn’t the best fit for everyone.  

For an article comparing Webflow to some of the other major platforms, check out Is Webflow Right for Your Business? Comparing Webflow vs Wix Vs Wordpress.

Ultimately, each platform serves a different purpose, weighing different benefits over others for different kinds of businesses and business owners. A simple Google search will help you find what’s out there and most importantly, what’s right for you.

12. Gather Testimonials and Case Studies (Social Proofing)    

Once upon a time, having a fancy, easy to navigate website was enough for website visitors to choose you over your competitors, particularly when your competitors' websites were either outdated or perhaps didn’t even exist.  

In today’s landscape, things are very different.

Because so many companies have adopted newer, cutting-edge and brand-driven websites, how else can you stand out in your field?

Social proofing has become a major part of businesses' ability to establish credibility, ultimately resulting in staggeringly higher conversion rates for both service-based sites, as well as e-commerce stores vs those who skip this step.

Why? Because people want to make sure that others have had a positive experience with your product or service before they’re willing to trust you themselves.

What are good ways to add “social proofing” to your website?

  • Testimonials: Positive, genuine testimonials play a big role in proving you have a solid reputation with your customer base. From the number of testimonials you feature, to what exactly your customers say about you and even where/how they’re displayed on your site play a big role in boosting your reputation and closing the deal.
  • Case Studies: Beyond testimonials, a further deep dive of your client work including photos, background, and milestones achieved can help paint a more complete picture of what new clients can expect when they work with you.
  • Social Links & Feeds: It’s no secret that social media channels like Facebook, Instagram and TikTok have a major influence on the average consumer’s buying habits, what’s relevant and so on. Featuring your active platform links, or even live displays of your social media feed can help align your brand across all mediums.

Needless to say, absolutely make sure that social proofing is a topic you address with your website developers. Prepare your reviews, case-studies if you have them, and social media assets that you’ll look to feature.  

13. Make Mobile Responsiveness a Priority  

Though this should definitely be something your web designer brings up to you (not the other way around), preparing yourself for the conversation of mobile responsiveness is critical if you aren’t already aware of its importance.

Outside of extremely niche circumstances, customers are searching the web from their phone increasingly more than desktop, year after year.

Any web designer in 2025 should be considering your customer’s mobile experience — but a version of the website for mobile customers is a give-in at this point. That said, its relevance next to how it looks and performs on desktop is still overlooked by most freelancers and agencies.

Not only should your website be “accessible” on mobile devices for the inherent SEO and user-experience benefits alone, but your website should be built with a mobile-first mindset. This means, merely stacking horizontal items on top of each other in a mobile environment is not enough.  

Landing pages, media, text, and call-to-actions should be edited, designed and targeted specifically for a mobile audience.  

Websites almost always load slower on mobile devices than desktops, simply because the computing power of phones is not quite to the level of most computers and laptops. In addition, things like Wi-Fi speeds compared to 4/5G internet can play a role in their differing load time.

Why is this relevant?  

Because the average online consumer has a very short window of patience sitting there waiting for your website to load before they move on to the next guy. If your web designers don’t build, test and launch a high-performing mobile experience, your room for error is significantly smaller for customers on the go.

Curious how your current website holds up on mobile devices? Check out Google’s PageSpeed Insights, type in your websites' domain name and select the mobile tab to view your performance scores. Chances are, you won’t like what you see.

14. Select Domain and Hosting Options  

Domains and hosting often fall under the radar when you’re looking to develop or rebuild your website. In the case of most business owners, it’s the overwhelming part they’d choose to just pay for and look away.

What’s a Domain and Where Do I Get It?

Addressing each individually, a domain if this is your first time building a website, is the title and address of your website that a person would visit to find you, aka, www.yourdomain.com.  

If you haven’t purchased a domain already, your web designer may offer help deciding what your name should be and where to buy it from. For those looking to be ahead of the curve, domain resellers like GoDaddy and Squarespace allow you to purchase and prepare your domain. This will be a yearly charge from whichever provider you choose.

Once your chosen web design agency has built your website for you, they can simply “point” your pre-purchased domain to your website, allowing the public to access your new site!

Deciding on the Best Website Host

Website hosting can be a bit trickier than a domain name. Determining the best web host for your website comes down to a few factors.  

But first, what is website hosting?

Website hosting is the process of “hosting” all your website’s files on the internet so that people all over the world can access your website. A website without hosting is merely a compilation of files sitting on your home/work computer, accessible to only you. Hosting is typically a monthly or yearly charge that can vary heavily depending on the provider.

Now, which host is the best for you?

Website hosting comes in many shapes and sizes so it’s important to understand the difference. To keep things simple, we’re going to break hosting into two categories.  

All-In-One Hosting and DIY Hosting

All-in-One Hosting Solutions – Simplified & Hassle-Free

This category includes platforms like Wix, Webflow, and Squarespace, where hosting is built into the web design service. Users don't need technical knowledge, as everything is managed for them, including updates, security, and server configurations. These platforms are ideal for people who care less about having complete control and would prefer the “big guys” handle things related to their hosting experience.

DIY Hosting Solutions – More Control, More Responsibility

This includes platforms like GoDaddy, Bluehost, or SiteGround, where you set up and manage hosting separately from the website. Users have the flexibility to choose shared or private servers, customize settings, and scale resources as needed. These options provide more hands-on control but often require technical know-how. For those looking for a cheaper monthly cost with the experience to manage a server, this is the way to go.

15. Set Expectations for Post-Launch Support

Lastly, we arrive on post-launch support. In all the exciting conversation of building a new website, it’s easy to forget what your relationship with your web design team will look like once your site is live!

Many web development agencies will offer some degree of post-launch support, offering things like troubleshooting, content-updates, SEO services and more.  

Making sure your website can grow with your business and how your designers will fit into that scenario is a critical part of ensuring a successful site for years to come.

7 Questions to Ask Your Web Designer about Ongoing Support:

  • Who handles updates?
  • Is training included?
  • What about security?
  • Are fixes covered?
  • How is hosting managed?
  • Can I add new features later?
  • What’s the cost of ongoing support?

Preparing For Your Discovery Call with Your Web Designer

If you’ve read to the end of this blog post, chances are you’re a little overwhelmed, and that’s to be expected. The world of web development is not a walk in the park by any means and the info needed to make an informed decision is “plentiful”, to put it lightly.  

With that said, an informed client will see a significant return on investment compared to those that go in blind.

Your website plays a major role in your business’s marketing, reputation, and growth. Though there are many things to consider before hiring a web designer, we looked to address what we believe are the 15 most important items, giving you enough detail with each to feel prepared to hire your web designer!

If you’re looking for an experienced web design team, or perhaps you’d just like to talk to someone who can provide you more information to make an informed decision, our company, Fairway, is a web design agency in Edmonton with over a decade of experience helping clients build their dream website.  

Contact us today if you’d like to discuss the things you need to do before hiring a web designer in greater detail! Good luck!

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