As a long-time web marketer (since 1998 — that’s similar 160 net years!), I’m a spot of a stickler for things that interaction my online selling efforts. Aside from existent on-page optimization and linking efforts, determination is thing that impacts a site’s show much than the improvement and design.
In fact, a tract with fantabulous on-page optimization and beardown linking volition ever endure nether a poorly coded tract architecture and/or design.
All excessively often, businesses travel to america aft the tract has already been designed and coded. We past complaint the lawsuit hundreds, if not thousands of dollars, to marque the tract hunt motor friendly. Only past tin we commencement optimizing, promoting and selling the site.
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The occupation present is that making the tract hunt motor affable shouldn’t beryllium done after the tract is designed; it should beryllium done while the tract is being designed. It’s the developer’s job. They are coding the damn thing, truthful for the emotion of HTML (and each different web programming languages), bash it right!
While I don’t person immoderate grade successful website plan and I successful nary mode telephone myself a programmer, web selling has taught maine a large woody astir designing websites. I deliberation galore web designers commencement with the extremity of making the tract pretty, oregon making definite it functions arsenic requested. But what they often don’t see is what happens next. They did their job, the remainder is idiosyncratic else’s problem.
Marketing Comes First
Unfortunately, this benignant of plan is shortsighted. All plan should commencement with marketing. It’s selling that determines what looks bully visually. It’s selling that determines the layout of the site. It’s selling that constructs effectual navigation layouts. It’s selling that past takes that tract and turns it into a gross generator for the business.
Sorry, developers. Marketing comes archetypal and foremost; the remainder is built from that!
However, though selling considers the audience’s needs & requirements, it’s astir ever the improvement squad that’s looking astatine champion usability practices. So, selling inactive relies heavy connected developers for support.
In airy of this, we person created a database of questions (over 100!) that we usage to find the scope of immoderate caller web improvement project. By reasoning done these answers early, scope creep is kept to a minimum and ensures that the client’s last merchandise is precisely what they want.
These questions let america to bash the following:
- Get a bully knowing of the business, who their assemblage is and what the lawsuit is looking for;
- Produce a punctuation that is arsenic close arsenic imaginable to the client’s needs and nutrient a website that meets their expectations; and
- Build a tract that is acceptable to beryllium marketed online, staying existent to the business’s halfway principles and vision.
100+ Questions Every Web Developer Should Ask Before They Provide A Web Design Quote
Background Information
- Describe your people audience.
- What is the intent of the website?
- What are your firm halfway values and however bash you explicit them to your visitors?
- What makes you antithetic from your competitors?
- Why should radical bash concern with you alternatively than your competitors?
- Describe the benignant of the website you want.
- Do you person circumstantial institution colors that request to beryllium used?
- Can you supply the HEX oregon RGB values for your institution colors?
- Do you person immoderate different materials that the tract needs to lucifer with successful immoderate mode (brochures, property materials, etc.)?
- What bash you similar astir astir your existent website?
- Is determination immoderate functionality oregon options connected your existent website that you program to support (other than the content)?
- What are your apical 3 frustrations with your existent website?
- What bash your existent competitors’ websites person that you privation to have?
- Are determination immoderate websites with designs that you like?
- What astir those websites would you similar to beryllium incorporated into your website?
- What types of things bash you spot connected different websites that you truly like?
- What types of things bash you spot connected different websites that you truly hate?
- Name the 3 things that are astir important successful the plan of your caller website.
- Name the 3 things that are slightest important successful the plan of your caller website.
- Where is your website hosted?
- Do you person afloat access?
- Can you supply usernames and passwords?
- Who volition beryllium progressive connected your extremity successful the improvement of the website?
- Any different contractors?
- Who oregon however volition you beryllium managing website upkeep?
- Do you person a fund you are trying to meet?
Dig deeper: Why we attraction astir accepted contented absorption systems, the archetypal no-code tool
Scope & Specs
- Does your existent web big conscionable each your caller website’s needs (space, bandwidth, databases, etc.)?
- Do you program connected oregon request to determination to a caller big provider?
- Do you request assistance uncovering the close web host?
- Do you already person a domain you program to use?
- If not, bash you request assistance selecting and registering a bully domain?
- Do you person a logo you program to usage oregon volition 1 request to beryllium created?
- If you person one, tin you supply the archetypal artwork files?
- Will you request a favicon created?
- Do you person a tagline you privation to usage oregon bash you request assistance creating 1 for your site?
- Do you person a completed tract architecture for the caller website oregon volition this beryllium portion of the scope of work?
- How galore pages volition the finished website beryllium (estimated)?
- Do you person immoderate leafage wireframes acceptable oregon volition those request to beryllium produced arsenic portion of the scope of work?
- Do you person the contented for the website oregon volition contented instauration beryllium a portion of the scope of work?
- How galore pages of contented volition request to beryllium developed?
- Will determination beryllium immoderate cross-promotion of contented wrong the site?
- Please supply details connected contented cross-promotion.
- Will we beryllium importing and formatting your content, oregon bash you program to bash this?
- Do you oregon your squad request grooming for making website updates, contented publishing guidelines, etc.?
- What types of actions bash you privation your visitors to instrumentality connected your website?
- Do you person immoderate circumstantial photos you program to use?
- Do you person afloat rights to those files?
- Can you supply hi-res files to us?
- Will we request to find and/or make immoderate images for the website?
- Will video oregon audio beryllium a portion of the caller website?
- Can you supply america with the due files oregon is instauration of this contented portion of the scope of work?
- How galore videos oregon audio files volition beryllium added and/or created?
- Will immoderate customizations request to beryllium made specified arsenic optimizing for search, adding contented overlays, customized wrappers, etc?
- Do you necessitate online chat features?
- Do you person immoderate different media oregon PDF documents that request to beryllium incorporated, oregon volition immoderate request to beryllium created?
- Will these request to beryllium optimized for search?
- Will your visitors necessitate immoderate peculiar needs (i.e., surface scholar ready, larger fonts)?
- Do you person circumstantial requirements for antithetic viewports (mobile/tablet/desktop)?
- Do you request multi-language support?
- Will you request a buying cart strategy for e-commerce?
- Do you person a strategy you already use?
- Are you successful request of an upgrade?
- Do you request a contented absorption system?
- Do you person a penchant for which CMS to use? (i.e., WordPress, Hubspot, WooCommerce, Drupal, Wix, Shopify, BigCommerce, etc.)
- If not, bash you request assistance selecting the champion CMS for your needs?
- Will you request aggregate levels of access?
- What are the antithetic histrion roles progressive successful your tract (external user, unit user, etc.)?
- What are immoderate illustration usage cases for each histrion role?
- Do you request to beryllium capable to negociate contented publishing support processes?
- Does your tract request a blog oregon a forum?
- Will users request to log successful to your tract for immoderate reason?
- If so, why?
- Do you request immoderate password-protected areas?
- What benignant of contented volition beryllium enactment down password-protected areas?
- How galore web forms does your caller tract need?
- What is the intent of each?
- How bash you privation the submitted info handled? (email, database, etc.)
- Do you request immoderate societal sharing features built successful (tweet, like, share, etc.)?
- Will determination beryllium immoderate third-party applications that volition request to beryllium integrated?
- What are they?
- Will you request an events calendar feature?
- Do you person immoderate subscription services?
- Do you usage a 3rd enactment for immoderate portion of subscription contented transportation and/or payment?
- Do you necessitate printer-friendly options?
- Do you privation to employment immoderate “content-on-demand” features (i.e., hidden elements that are made disposable with definite actions)?
- What accusation indispensable beryllium connected the location page?
- What accusation indispensable ever beryllium visible?
- What features, sections oregon accusation bash you privation emphasized connected the site?
- How would you similar that to beryllium featured?
- Will antithetic sections of your tract necessitate antithetic designs, layouts oregon coloring?
- Will those beryllium provided oregon bash they request to beryllium created?
- Do you request an interior tract hunt feature?
- Do you privation interaction telephone numbers prominently displayed?
- Do you necessitate a database?
- What circumstantial functionality volition it need?
- If you’re offering advertizing connected the site, however should that beryllium implemented?
- Do you usage web analytics software?
- Can you supply america with access?
- How overmuch postulation bash you acquisition now?
- How overmuch postulation are you anticipating?
- Do you person immoderate different specifications oregon request circumstantial functionality that has not been addressed?
- What is your clip framework for full task completion?
- Will you beryllium looking for keyword optimization beyond the design/development scope?
Dig deeper: The outgo of ignoring website accessibility
Avoid The Cost Of Scope Creep And Post-Development Fixes
The worst improvement jobs are those that extremity up with runaway scope creep. That happens erstwhile the lawsuit doesn’t truly cognize what they privation and they support adding to the task arsenic it moves forward.
The outgo of this creep is often saddled connected the developer due to the fact that the scope was ne'er intelligibly defined successful the archetypal place. When your developer poses these questions up front, it helps the lawsuit cautiously deliberation done each of the things they request successful advance, eliminating scope creep astir entirely. And, due to the fact that selling is baked close into the improvement process, there’s nary request to prosecute a full caller bureau to “fix” each the marketing-related blunders perpetrated by the archetypal designer.
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Opinions expressed successful this nonfiction are those of the impermanent writer and not needfully MarTech. Staff authors are listed here.
About The Author
Stoney deGeyter is president of Pole Position Marketing, a starring online selling strategy institution established successful 1998 and presently based successful Canton, Ohio.
