What to Have Ready Before You Hire a Web Designer
Hiring a web designer is one of the best investments you can make for your business. It's also an experience that can go very smoothly or drag on for months, depending on one thing: how prepared you are going in.
I've worked with clients who had everything organized and ready to go, and we launched ahead of schedule. I've also worked with clients who showed up to our kickoff call with a folder of random screenshots and a vague sense that they want their site to feel "clean but also warm." Those projects take longer, cost more in revision rounds, and create stress for everyone involved.
Here's exactly what I recommend having ready before your first call with any web designer.
1. A Clear Picture of Your Goals
Before you talk about design at all, get clear on what you actually want your website to do. Is the goal to book more discovery calls? Sell a product? Build your email list? Establish credibility before networking events? Generate local search traffic?
The more specific you can be, the better equipped your designer will be to build something that works. "I want a beautiful website" is very different from "I want a site that books two consults per week from local search traffic in Greenville." One of those gives your designer something real to design toward.
2. Your Brand Foundation
You don't need a full brand guide, but you should have a sense of your colors, your fonts (or at least a few websites you find visually appealing), and your logo. If you don't have a logo yet, be upfront about that from the start. Some designers offer brand plus website packages. Others can point you to a designer who can help with the branding piece first.
Going into a website project with a half-finished or temporary logo will create extra revision rounds later. Better to address it before the project starts.
3. Your Copy (or a Budget for Copywriting)
This is the one that surprises most people. Many web designers, myself included, do not write your website copy for you by default. They design around your words. If you show up to a project without copy, it will stall while you try to write it under pressure, often after you've already paid a deposit and are eager to launch.
You have two options: write your own copy before the project begins (or during a clearly defined content phase), or hire a copywriter as part of your package. Either is a completely fine approach. Just don't assume your designer is also your writer unless that's been explicitly discussed and scoped.
4. Your Photos
Strong photography makes a good design great. Inconsistent or low-quality photos make even great design look mediocre. If you have professional brand photos, gather them into a shared folder before your project starts. If you don't have them yet, talk to your designer about timeline and whether stock photography is a reasonable placeholder while you book a shoot.
5. Your Page List
Know what pages you want on your site. A basic small business website might include: Home, About, Services, Portfolio, and Contact. But you might also want a blog, a booking page, a separate FAQ page, or a resources section. Having a clear list helps your designer scope the project accurately and helps you avoid scope creep once the project is underway.
6. Websites You Love (and Websites You Hate)
Collect three to five websites that you think look beautiful or feel aligned with your vision for your own brand. Also useful: one or two sites that feel completely wrong for reasons you can put into words. "I don't want it to feel cluttered" or "I don't want it to look too corporate or too trendy" gives your designer real creative direction to work with.
Pinterest boards, Instagram saves, and screenshots all work for this. The goal is to give your designer a starting point for your aesthetic rather than asking them to read your mind.
7. Your Launch Timeline
Do you have a hard deadline? A speaking event coming up, a product launch on the calendar, a busy season starting? Tell your designer before the project begins, not halfway through it. Rushing a website project is possible but it almost always costs more and produces a less polished result. The earlier you start, the better.
The Bottom Line
Walking into a web design project prepared makes the entire experience smoother, faster, and honestly more enjoyable for everyone involved. You'll spend less time in revision rounds, your designer can do their best work without chasing you for information, and you'll launch on time with a site you're genuinely proud of.
If you're not sure where to start or what you actually need, that's exactly what discovery calls are for. Book one with me and we'll figure out where you are and map out the right path forward.