Many people are involved in the process of creating a website. The list is endless and includes designers, developers, usability specialists, content creators, and hosting businesses. Even though a website owner frequently hires a web design firm to manage many of these responsibilities, the customer will eventually get involved. Owners of websites frequently need internal approval for designs, content, budgets, and many other project components. And that’s where they need to know certain things about the project.
In other words, the customer will still need to somehow manage the project even if it is contracted out to an agency. For them to have optimum insights, they need to ask key questions including
- Will you be responsible for loading the initial content?
- Who is responsible for the creation of the initial content?
- Where can I locate your office?
- How much will it cost to make changes to the website?
- How much fees do I pay annually for the website?
- When will the website be delivered?
- Does the cost include domain and hosting services?
- Can I see your previous projects?
Can I edit the content on my own?
Can I contact your office by phone?
A white-boarding session or discovery process may be beneficial, depending on the size of your project. Email can be used for a lot of things, but unless you’re more organized than most customers and have a complete project board and set of wireframes ready to go, it’s definitely best to meet in person or engage with the Agency before, during and fater the project.
For Designers it is a welcome gesture to meet with Owners about their desires, even if they are comfortable with their working knowledge of them. It takes a lot more than merely reading a written description to develop someone else’s vision so such meetings do help explain a lot of things and assure clarity.
