How to Get What You Want in Your Website

How to Get What You Want in Your Website

Your website represents who you are, what you believe in, who you want to help, and what you have to contribute to this world. As such, the last thing either you or you web designer want is to feel disappointed with the results of a design. However, without a background in design yourself, it can be difficult to communicate your vision, leaving your designer with too much guesswork to do on their own. To close this gap, here are a few key things you can do to ensure everyone is on the same page — and that you get the website of your dreams.

1. Know the Different Types of Designers

Too often, customers fall prey to the “any kind of designer will do” fallacy. But a graphic designer, no matter how talented, isn’t likely to know the many ins and outs of web design like a dedicated web designer can — just like a great web designer won’t necessarily have the experience to tackle every graphic design challenge out there. It’s not that they’re mutually exclusive; in fact, many times, these two disciplines do go hand in hand. But a web designer is more likely to know many different technical approaches to solve the unique challenges your website presents, while a graphic designer may only know the one method they’ve tried before when tinkering with a passion project. The web designer’s knowledge comes from years of experience and a complete immersion in the subject, which imbues them with a much more diverse toolbox.

By all means, go with a graphic designer if you think they’re the perfect person for you. Just make sure to take a browse through their portfolio to ensure they can go deeper than the surface level designs.

2. Ask Questions

Web design is changing all the time, and your designer won’t expect you to know everything that they do. After all, that’s why you’ve gone to them! However, they can’t know what you don’t know unless you voice any questions. If you don’t, you may discover too late that the term you didn’t understand referred to a design element you’re definitely not that into. So speak up, asking questions about jargon, strategies and any trends you’ve spotted out there that you do or do not like. Additionally, if this is your first time working with this designer, ask questions about who will be creating the content and what the process will look like. After all, this is your site, and you should definitely have a good grasp of what’s going on!

3. Come Prepared

Like any business project, the best outcomes arise from clarity of vision and goals. Before you even reach out to a web designer, ask yourself why you’re redesigning your site. Is it to update the look? Or is it to add more legitimacy and credibility to your business? Alternatively, are you looking to add a more interactive component to your website? Are you looking to feature an important functionality, like online client scheduling? Do you want your visitors to do something, like fill out a form, or pick up the phone and call you?

Think hard not only about what you want, but also about what your customers seek when they visit your site, and then organize these goals into a prioritized list so your web designer is fully on board.

4. Do a Little Research

Oftentimes, seeing is understanding. Before you meet with your web designer, surf the web and bookmark sites that you like, or do so as you go about your normal business and stumble upon something inspiring. Look not just for overall design but also for smaller features, like an easy to use contact us form, or a unique way of displaying business photos. Having a list of the sites you admire will help your designer understand your aesthetic. Combined with the work you’ve done to clarify your goals, they’ll now have a solid base from which to get creative while still staying within your vision. Believe us, this will prove much more effective than simply telling your designer you want your site to be “modern” or “clean,” as there’s a lot less room for varied interpretations.

5. Trust Your Designer

Once you’ve done your homework both in terms of what you’ve brought to your initial meetings and in hunting down a designer whose aesthetic really matches yours, then it’s time to sit back and listen to your designer. They have, after all, worked on far more sites than you and are an expert in their area. As such, they know both the limitations and the potential of what you’re asking, as well as what additional information they need from you in order to give you the product you want. It’s important not to see any of this as pushback, but instead to let your designer lead the process and do their job. Having too many cooks in the kitchen — one of whom doesn’t seem to trust the other cook — is never a recipe for success.

6. Get it in Writing

A professional web designer (read: the kind you want to work with) should be able to tell you what to expect throughout the process, right from the beginning. They should provide you with exact deliverables, a project timeframe, a clear budget, and a payment schedule, so you know precisely what to expect. In fact, even subtle things should be clear, like how many rounds of revisions you can expect before having to pay an additional fee, and how often your designer will be in touch. Refer back to this document as you go to clarify any questions.

7. Consolidate Requests

Good communication is essential to successful design, but it’s a two-way street. Sending 20 emails with 20 different comments or requests will almost always result in confusion or something falling through the cracks. It may also inadvertently overwhelm and frustrate your designer, which doesn’t make for a good dynamic. As you communicate, keep in mind that design is a process, and you may want to hold off on some comments until a certain level of functionality has been reached (though don’t let this stop you from voicing objections when they’re well-thought out).

In the same vein, it’s best to designate one point of contact at your company who has the final decision making ability. While it’s a good idea to get feedback from multiple people, giving them all your designer’s email address will only mean the designer will receive conflicting messages about what has or hasn’t been approved, and they’ll have trouble discerning which new requests are urgent as opposed general brainstorming. It’s best instead to keep these discussion internal, and then have one person be the communicator.

8. Don’t Move the Finish Line

It’s inevitable that you’ll have a great idea about your site in the middle of the project, and that’s something you should definitely communicate to your designer (though be prepared to pay more, especially if the added ask or redirection requires a fair amount of labor). However, it’s not okay to change the goal or purpose completely — at least, not without allowing your designer to offer you a new package with a new price point, and begin the project completely anew. Again, this is why it’s so important to clarify your goals ahead of time.

9. Provide Easy to Understand Feedback

Feedback is crucial to the design process, but it has to be clear, helpful and actionable in order for it to be of use. Just saying, “I don’t like this” or “I’m not feeling it” won’t help your designer create a design you do like. After all, your designer made that design choice because they felt like it was the best way to go, and if it doesn’t match what you had in mind, they have to know specifically why that is. So, think about this carefully and offer more in-depth feedback. It can also be useful to tell your designer what you are liking about the site so far so that they can do more of that and less of what you’re not liking.

10. Say Thank You

Of course, your designer should be equally appreciative of your business, but saying thank you really will foster a good relationship — and it’s always good to have that on hand as you manage your website and look towards further designs down the road.

The Takeaway

Your ideal website is definitely within your reach, just as long as you do your homework, and operate as a team with your web designer, rather than just expecting them to know through osmosis what you want. You’ll be thankful you did the work when everyone is complimenting you on your amazing site!