I’m lucky I have wonderful clients and I can say a few of them are just perfect. In as much as someone could have a web designer who gives them a hard time, the case could be the other way round also.
So, what is the perfect web design client like?
Preparations for our first meeting
Please give a brief of
- what your business is about
- what you hope to achieve from your website, eg, increase sales, provide information, etc
- ideas on colour scheme, what are your preferred colours
- ideas on layout, if you have any
- links to websites you like and what do you like about each of those websites
- the look and feel – if it needs to look-feel gentle or if it is vibrant; conservative or trendy.
Be responsive
Please prepare your text and image contents ready and send them to me in a timely manner. Other information needed may be your login to your domain name registration, the info for your mailing list account if you have one, etc.
To me, this is important because
- I need to look through all the materials,
- get a feel for the business,
- think about how it’s going to interpret onto a website,
- think of how to best convey everything in the best layout for looks, strategy and search engine optimization.
Everything has to work together and best done when the enthusiasm, ideas and creativity are running full steam. You and your website will benefit from that. Taking too long a time to submit your website material and information means having to go back to where things were left off and to pick things up again. I believe this is difficult and hard work for both parties.
Trust
While a website can be uniquely customized in looks to represent a particular business, I need to have a critical eye too to make sure that the design suits the business, is appealing to the majority and not just to the client alone. On my part, I have to trust that you know your audience and listen to you.
I have to be mindful of how colours work together. Green text on an orange background (yes, I’ve had a client who wanted that) will not work. I have to arrange text content strategically for effectiveness and for search engines.
To produce the best design for your website, trust that it is the result of –
- continuously learning, researching and updating my knowledge
- looking at many, many websites with a critical eye to see what works and what don’t
- keeping abreast of website trends and requirements.
It is not a good idea to use your website designer as a ‘human mouse’.
Communication
Please say, if something does not appeal to you. As a client, you don’t have to keep quiet and accept everything. If there’s something that you like, please tells me too so I know I’m heading in the right direction. Feedback is important. Yes, communication is a two way traffic so I have to do my part too.
Partnership
We continually work together to keep the website up to date. Feel free to consult me and seek suggestions for improvement or additional functionalities. A website is best in ‘work in progress’ mode, changing with time and needs. It should never be left stagnant or forgotten.
I love it when clients tell me how their website helps their business and share news of their success. I have a genuine interest in their success.
Some of my clients started off with a very simple website and it has now grown to be a big income facilitator. That is fantastic. Of course, I recognise the owner puts in a lot of hard work to promote the business and a website alone cannot accomplish that kind of success.