The Ultimate Guide to Website Design Questionnaire

Successfully you have hired a freelance web designer Singapore for your website design and development. Your website designer has requested a few answers from you for a set of questions, normally known as a website design questionnaire. As a business person you only know that you need a website which could help you bring in leads but not sure of how to answer the questions your web designer is requesting for. Not many freelancers are ready to help you with a step by step process or guide you through the technical aspects of a website. Few of the website designers are not even ready to heed ears to your requirements and just pass their questionnaires to you to fill. This article will help you in detailing the key factors you need to know as a website owner before approaching a freelance web designer in Singapore.

What is a Website Design Questionnaire?

You are a business owner and you want to hire a freelance web designer or a web design agency in Singapore. You have approached your web designer with a requirement of developing your website but you are not sure what are the inputs you need to provide to your web designer. Likewise, as a freelance web designer you are being approached by a client for a web design project, a professional freelancer before accepting the project will first analyse the requirements, brainstorm the website requirements with the client and provide the best solution and costing. To make this process simple web designers have a set of questions to be answered by the client. This set of questions also called web design questionnaires are given to clients for their input is important. This questionnaire will help your freelance web designer to understand your requirements as well as for the clients to know what they will have as an output of their web design and their business requirements. This questionnaire is either in pdf or word document or some has online forms to be filled.

Why should you use a Website Design Questionnaire?

Your client has approached you for a website design project and you want to be on the same page as your clients, some of your clients or as a web designer you might feel this is unnecessary as you have all the information when you discuss. What if during the course of the project you have missed some of the key information and nearing completion of the website, this creates unnecessary confusion in the project delivery and leads to an unhealthy relationship with your client. Inorder to avoid this sort of miscommunication you need to be on same page as the client, this questionnaire is also a documentation of the requirements of your project. 

Some of the website design questionnaires also help to gather information like final deliverable, scope of the project, budget of the project etc. however gathering the necessary information is essential rather than extending the questionnaire with too many questions. This website design questionnaire comes in picture to document all the requirements of the project.

Looking for a website design questionnaire to download. You can download here

Essential Web Design Questions

So what are the questions should you ask your clients or as a client what are the inputs you should provide your website designer. Let’s go through each of the questions that should be asked before starting a project and the answers the client should give for the web design questions.

1. Please tell me about your company

Every web design project starts with an understanding of the business background, when you understand the business domain clearly then you can analyse the target audience more. The general information which your web designer or your Freelance WordPress Designer requires are the following.

• Business Name
•  Business Domain
•  Target Audience ( Websites are intended for generating leads, it is important to learn about your target audience, for eg. if you are into fashion industry are you targeting kids or ladies or men or is it for all)
•  What does your company do ( A general information about your services or product ranges if any will help to understand more about your company)

2. Approximate number of pages for the website

This information is essential for your web designer to estimate the working hours or to be more precise calculate the timeline of the project and also some of the web designers will have this number of pages to estimate the cost for the project.

3. Do you currently have a website? Please provide the URL.

If  you are hiring a freelance web designer for redesigning your website or a complete revamp of your website then it is necessary to provide the existing website url for the analysis. This information will help your freelancer to learn about why your old website didn’t help to satisfy your requirements.

4. Do you have the site map or list of pages/tabs ready?

Sitemap is nothing but the list of pages that you want in your website. If you are unsure of what are the pages your website should likely have then you can discuss with your freelance web designer to come up with the list of pages based on your business domain. I have listed below the common pages which every informational website should have irrespective of the domain.

List of Pages for a Informational Websites

• Home Page
• About Us Page
• Service Page
• Gallery/Portfolio Page
• Contact Us Page
• FAQ Page
• Terms and Conditions Page
• Privacy Policy Page
• News Page
• Blog Page

You can choose from the above list of pages based on your preference. If you are going to develop an eCommerce Website Design for your products with an online shopping cart then the list of pages would vary. I have also provided below the list of pages an eCommerce Website should have and also some of the special pages based on some business domains.

• Products Page
• Shipping Page
• Add to Cart Page
• Cart Details Page
• Product Detail Page
• Book an Appointment Page
• Schedule Page
• Login Page
• Sign Up Page

Above are the most commonly used pages for a website design, however if there are any special requirements then you would have those specific pages which you can identify with the help of your web designer.

5. Name 3 things that are most important about the design of your new website.

This question helps to understand the design preferences of your client and also the purpose of this website. This question will help you understand why the client wants to build the new website and what are the most important things he wants to create with this website. If the client wants to create brand awareness and create contact information in the website, contact forms, modern sleek look, minimal graphics.

 6. Name 3 things that are least important in the design of your new website.

Some clients need an online website to showcase their business, such clients do not post more frequently and in such scenarios Newsletter subscription, gathering visitor information, few clients do not prefer to have much images on the website, infographic style images, too much animations etc.

7. Do you have any color preferences; existing brand colors, and/or colors you wish to include?

It is good to stick to your brand colors, however if your brand colors are too soft, it is good to introduce a complementary color which helps to distinguish the Call to Action buttons and key information to the clients. Your website should be based on the brand colors and you cannot deviate much from your original colors. If you have too many colors in your logo, choosing a primary color is important. Your web designer would help you with the best choice of colors from your logo during the design phase.

8. Colors you do not wish to include in your website.

Although this question is not required when you stick to your brand colors, some of the business owners would like to stick to some primary colors and do not wish to include some complimentary colors and have some color choice.

9. What are some existing websites that appeal to you? Provide links if possible.

This question helps to understand the clients design preferences, you can know what are the features that look appealing in the website url they give. For example I have provided some of the websites below as an example for clients to understand how to answer these questions

10. What are some existing websites that don’t appeal to you? Provide links if possible.

Some of the websites will be old fashioned, for example your competitor might have a website which has a boxed layout, however you prefer the websites to be spread out edge to edge. You may feel some websites are too crowded with animations or no clear visibility to content. A poor user interface and usage of fonts or an old fashioned style. This question helps your web designer to avoid the layouts which you feel are not comfortable to have in the new website design.

11. Will this be an e-commerce website? Will you be selling any products or taking payments on your website?

This information is vital to plan the website layout. Also your web designer will use this information to provide you the web design quote. If you are going to accept payments via a website then you need to discuss the best payment methods that are available in your country. Some payment methods have processing charges which are not suitable for a small ecommerce website, your freelance web designer will advise on these payment methods.

12. Is your logo and images ready?

As a web designer it is important to check whether your client has a proper logo to be used in the website. Logo design is the first step to be made for a digital presence. If you are not ready with a logo then it is must to get started with the logo identity before doing the website design. Your website colors are based on your brand identity. Hire a professional logo designer in Singapore for your logo or you can also go for one stop solution provider for your digital needs.

Apart from logo design your website must also have good quality relevant images. If you are not a product based business then you can opt for royalty free stock images to be used in the website based on the services. These images should be relevant to your website and not just some images based on your liking. If you do not wish to use the royalty free stock images then you can opt for a photo shoot. Some of the freelance web designers provide these royalty free images as a complimentary package with the website design, few of the web designers prefer to provide it at an additional cost as their web design prices are already cheap. If you do not wish to spend money on stock images then you can go for free images available from some of the free websites which are marked as licensed to reuse with or without arbitration. 

13. Do you have all write-ups that you would like to be included in your website or do you need any content writing support?

Website Content is the king for any search engines as well as pulling in customers. As a business owner you need to make sure the writeups are ready and are relevant based on the sitemap which you have provided to your freelance web designer. Quality and unique contents are important for your website to be listed in search engines. If you have the writeups ready, provide a soft copy to your web designer. Make sure to provide it in pdf format so your web designer can copy. A scanned writeup is difficult for your web designer to copy the content and there could be mistakes while typing the copy and most web designers do not have time to type your contents.

If you are not ready with your content, speak to your freelance web designer for SEO content writing support, before you do so let them know more about you, why you started this business, what are the services you provide, what is the speciality of your business, how do you differ from your competitors. These information are important for your content writers to write quality content for your website.

14. Do you already have a domain and host setup for your new website? If so, do you have the FTP and host login information accessible? or Would you like to purchase from me?

To explain in simple terms a domain is the website address, when you want a website for your business then you need to have the url for the website, for example www.google.com is the url for google, it is also called the domain name. If you already have a domain purchased from hosting service providers then you need to pass the credentials to your freelance web designer or provide the necessary information he requests for your domain. 

Hosting is the space where you will upload your website files. Domain and hosting are 2 different and they both are required for your website to go live. Freelance web designers in Singapore like Subraa provide free hosting and free (.com) domain for 1 year if you sign up for the website design services. 

If your freelance web designer doesn’t give free hosting and domain, then you need to check with the web designer for the prices and then you can subscribe. But make sure to get the credentials once they do.

15. Do you require any search engine optimization (SEO) help?Note: Add On service

There are many businesses popping up every moment so do the website design and development for every business. When you have a website designed you will have a digital presence but do you know it is important to get recognised by the clients and to be recognised you need to be in the top pages of Google. SEO is not an overnight process and do not expect things to happen in a moment or as soon as your website goes live. Reaching to the top pages of Google organically is not a guaranteed aspect, even by top digital marketing agencies. When you optimise your website gradually to the Google features then you get recognised and rank organically.

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is not included during the website design quote by many freelancers as it is recurring on a monthly basis. Subraa, has proven strategies for ranking the businesses on top pages of Google. With very affordable packages you can rank your website on Google.

16. Do you have a horizontal or left-side vertical preference for the main  navigation?

Top horizontal menu bar or the vertical menu bar, which is your preference for the navigation bar. Freelance web designers start working on the web pages with the design phase. You could suggest checking for an option for vertical menu and the other with horizontal menu if you are unsure of which will suit you best.

 17. Would you like to link to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn etc? If so, please provide the links.

Almost every business has social media pages, but it is not mandatory to have accounts in all the social media. If you would like to have social icons integration in your website you need to let the web designer know the social media platforms your business has and the account urls.

18. Do you require Blog Functionality? Note: Add on

Not every business needs a blog and many business owners are not interested to write blogs hence it is not mandatory to have it in all websites and some freelance web designers would have this functionality as Add on services, if you wish to have a blog then let your web designer know about this.

Blogs are important for your SEO agency to boost your website traffic with quality content, hence it is advisable to have a blog if you are planning for SEO.

19. Do you need help updating and maintaining your website? Note: Add on

Websites which are not maintained properly are prone to hacks. WordPress websites should be properly updated to keep the website functioning. Apart from security maintenance, general maintenance services like content update, image update etc are provided by web designers. You can go on hourly or as a package based on your requirements. Some website packages come with 3 month maintenance of the website or upto 1 year as well. Cost varies depending on the months of maintenance. If you are opting for CMS website design then you can do the content update yourself without much programming knowledge.

20. What are the features you would like to have in your website?

If you are very new to website design then this question is difficult to answer, as you are unsure of what a general website should have. For the novice users here is the list of features a website can have.

• Newsletter
• Blog
• Social icon integrations
• Live Chat
• Multi language
• Search
• Image Gallery
• Home page Carousel slider
• Contact Forms
• News Feeds

There are many other features for a website, speak to your web designer to know the available features for your website.

Conclusion

Every project needs both the client and the web designer to be on the same page and it is important to document every requirement of the client. A website design questionnaire duly filled out helps to avoid confusion during development and helps in smooth process flow. A walkthrough of this website design questionnaire with your web designer also helps. If you read through this article then you are a pro in letting your web designer know the requirements.

If you need more advice on website design and development, you could approach Subraa, freelance web designer in Singapore for a friendly consultation. Subraa helps you with the best solutions for your business at a more affordable cost. As a freelance web designer he has helped more than 600+ clients to set up their digital presence. Clients have a friendly conversation with Subraa, his soft nature and friendly support has earned him quite a number of loyal recurring clients. He doesn’t overcharge and does help without any hesitation. You can Call or WhatsApp Subraa at +65 97957890 for services related to website design, logo design, graphic design, ppt slide design or digital marketing.