A web design client questionnaire guarantees quality service, ensures the designer has clear instructions and saves time for both you and your client. Being on the same page with the client ensures web designers get critical information about the project to meet client's requirements fast.
Here are some of the most important questions to have on your website questionnaire. These questions will help you pick the client's mind on their web design project regardless of your web design strategy. From clarifying things like timelines, budget, and expectations... you'll gather all the information you need to guarantee a smooth, successful project.
Note: If you are a web designer, try Bonsai's client questionnaire form builder to create these professional documents. You'd also get access to our other proposal, contract and invoice templates for web designers. Try a 14-day free trial today.
Specific and purposeful questions to ask web design clients in a web design questionnaire
Here are a list of questions you should include in your questionnaire.
1. Why do you need the website?
There are different reasons for setting up a website including boosting a business' credibility, brand positioning, increasing online presence, generating leads, marketing and selling products and services, improving customer experience, building organic traffic to a site, and so on.
Knowing the intended purpose for a site will not only help you meet the client's goal but also give you a rough idea of the resources, time and skills you need to build the site.
2. What's the purpose of the website?
The craze for printed materials died down. Now, we have ad campaigns everywhere, because everyone is keen on ranking on the first page of Google to increase organic traffic to their new or redesigned site.
To achieve this, you need to use various SEO techniques as you develop the site. If this critical information comes late, you'll have to redo some things. Find out if it's an e commerce website, a content marketing site or niche site, etc. Ask on the design questionnaire.
3. Do you have web content?
This seems like a straightforward question but some clients are usually looking to get everything from under one roof.
They come to you with basic details hoping you have copywriters to craft website content, SEO gurus, coders, and other web professionals.
4. Tell us about your company...
From business name to describing the business, ask questions on your website design client questionnaire that will get clients to share all the basic information. They can share links too.
A clear background of the business will help you resonate with the target audience. If you can get the client to briefly describe the business, good for you!
5. Do you have existing brand colors?
You will meet all sorts of clients, from those who want a new website and are yet to settle on brand colors to established brands with a palette of brand colors they use to represent their company. And, it might not just be any blue or orange, but a specific shade. Ask on your website design client questionnaire.
6. Are you looking to create a website from scratch or to redesign?
The client's answer will tell you whether they need a complete redesign of a site or you’re starting from scratch. From this, you'll know how much time, work and resources will go into the project.
While redesigning an existing website might only require you to do some updates, building one from the ground up might be time consuming and will require more resources.
7. Do you have anything on your current website that you would like to transfer to the new site?
Some of the things that a client might want to retain from their site could include pictures, widgets (email webform), the content, interactivity of the current site, and their user interface (UI).
Having this question on your website design client questionnaire helps you know how exactly you’ll design the website to retain those things.
Note: Try Bonsai's questionnaire form builder to create professional looking documents you can send to clients. By signing up, you'd get access to all of Bonsai's contract, invoice, intake form, and web design proposal templates to use for your business. Try a 14-day free trial today.
8. What are you marketing, selling or promoting?
The product or service a client is marketing or selling plays a big part in deciding the kind of site they need.
If it's a site for a new clothesline, the designer will consider the type and number of photos they need, theme, expected traffic, etc. If a web design client wants to market courses on their new website, you'll need video snippets and links to registration portal, etc., while if it's a news channel, you'll focus on it being friendly to the target audience.
9. Who is your target client?
This is the most important question on a website questionnaire and any other client questionnaire. It informs how you approach the general feel of the website. If the target client or audience is kids, the site has to be friendly. If it's corporate but fun, you'll also know what to include.
10. Who are your top competitors?
You'll find this question on every design client questionnaire. It helps designers research competitors.
While you want your client's website to stand out and to up the game, you still want it to keep up with the industry's standard and trends.
11. What's your competitive advantage?
You want your client to put their best foot forward. Ask this question on your website design client questionnaire to know their unique selling proposition.
Highlighting this will go a long way in attracting viewers to the site and getting them interested. Find out what influences their call to action.
For example, some companies have their slogan at the top of the site. They grab visitors' attention by highlighting what the visitor is looking for.
12. What are your must-have features?
A design client might have must-have features which are specific to the products or services they sell.
For a real estate website, that might be a window that gives visitors a virtual tour of the property. An interior design website on the other hand will require an interactive platform where someone can choose furniture, colors, etc., and see in real time what works.
13. Do you have any samples of what you want?
Have this question on your design questionnaire to help you align your thoughts with client's preferences and create a perfect theme. Preferences can include layout, look and feel, colors, usability, the placing of brand elements like logos, etc.
You'll be able to pick these from the sample sites they'd like you to draw inspiration from.
14. Would you like us to source any design resources for you?
This question addresses the elements that go into the project. Find out if they expect you to source for anything on their behalf so that if you have to buy anything, your client is aware.
15. Do you want to optimize your website for SEO?
If a client is keen on ranking, you'll need to do some tagging for the website you're working on to appeal to search engines. From renaming photos and graphics to tagging, your job will involve a lot of SEO work. If they have a team of content creators, you'll need keywords and such from them. Establish how the client intends to go about this.
16. Do you need Content Marketing Services?
Some clients have their own content creators, they just need a web designer to make the content visually appealing. Some need CMS. The answer to this question on your web design client questionnaire will give you an opportunity to upsell.
17. Will you need ongoing support and maintenance?
Having this question on your web design questionnaire presents a chance to upsell web admin services to clients. An e commerce site especially needs ongoing support and maintenance which can only be done by a professional. So, go ahead and slide this question in your website design client questionnaire.
18. What's your budget for the website design project?
You need to know the client's budget. The time that goes into web design does influence the budget. That's besides the features, the scope of work which might include creating a logo and such. A client might also want their website hosted by a given host and you might need to do demos in real time.
The client's answer on the website design client questionnaire will help you know how to go about costing.
19. Timeline and deadline
How much time do you have before the website launch? Find out if the deadline is realistic and know if you'll need extra staff to handle the job. This question will also help you discuss revisions.
Including this question on your design client questionnaire will also help you prioritize what's important. For example, a time consuming feature that would not add or take away too much from the website can be postponed if the job is urgent. You can use pictures if you're not ready to have virtual tour.
20. Do you have a house style?
Some clients have brand guidelines around their logo, business colors, fonts, and style. In short, every aspect of your design will rely on the house style if there's one. Having this question on your web design questionnaire will reveal if a client has such requirements. Some assume you know!
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