15 Questions to Ask Before Building a Website

Most website problems are planning problems. Answer these questions to ask before building a website and you'll pick the right platform, budget and pages the first time, whether you build it yourself or hire someone.

Purpose

1. Why do we need this website? Leads, sales, bookings, credibility, hiring?
2. What is the one action we want visitors to take?
3. How will we know it works? Pick one number to track.

Audience

1. Who is it for? Describe the main visitor in two lines.
2. What do they need to know before they act? Prices, proof, location, process?
3. Where are they? Phone or desktop, which city, which language?

Content and structure

1. Which pages do we need at launch? Start small: Home, Services, About, Contact.
2. Who writes the text and provides the photos?
3. What proof do we have? Reviews, results, logos, before/after photos.

Features and platform

1. Do we need booking, payments, a shop or a blog?
2. Who will update the site? If it's you, pick an easy editor.
3. Builder, CMS or custom code? See how to build a website.

Budget, time and care

1. What's the budget, including the first year? Domain, hosting, design, content, upkeep.
2. When must it be live?
3. Who maintains it after launch? Updates, backups, edits.

Website planning checklist

For web designers: turn it into a sale

Planning answers are the raw material for a proposal. Turn them into three options with the proposal template, and send the full questionnaire template once the client signs.