33 Questions to Ask Your Web Designer

Ask your web designer these questions BEFORE giving them the job.

(1) Can I see an online portfolio of websites you've designed?

(2) Do you design in HTML5? Schema.org? Why not?

(3) Do you use templates or custom design from scratch?

(4) Do you create wireframes (sketches of where content will go) before designing the site?

(5) How easy will it be for me to access the admin panel and make changes to the HTML and content, and upload photos and video?

(6) Where did you learn web design?

(7) Will you install Google Analytics on my site?

(8) Do your websites use light gray text on white backgrounds (which is difficult to read)?

(9) Do you do responsive web design (so the site looks good on any device)?

(10) What are the 5 worst mistakes that can be made on a website?

(11) How long will it take you to get my website up and running?

(12) Will you test my website for cross-browser compatibility? (So it looks good in Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari, etc.)

(13) How will you accommodate my business goals for this website?

(14) How will you differentiate my business from my competitors?

(15) How will you implement a strong Call To Action on every page of my site?

(16) What will the top navigation links be?

(17) How will you test my website for usability?

(18) How will I be able to add fresh content to my website?

(19) Where will my website be hosted?

(20) How will you form the URLs for each webpage (should be keyword rich, like www.example.com/products/organic-seeds/pumpkin-seeds and notwww.example.com/1433793)

(21) What kinds of non-stock photos do you need from me and how do you plan to use them on my website?

(22) What kind of Contact form do you plan to use?

(23) Where will you put the business address, phone number, etc.?

(24) How will you implement social sharing links (like, share, plus one, retweet) for my business Facebook page, GooglePlus, Twitter, YouTube, etc.? How will you link to my social media pages?

(25) How will you make my website mobile friendly (mobile optimization)?

(26) What CMS (content management system) will you use? WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, proprietary? NOTE: Proprietary CMS is often used to trap you into a CMS that only the designer understands, so you can't leave. Other times proprietary CMS is created to accommodate a client's non-standard needs.

(27) How will you implement a blog for my website?

(28) Do you plan to use Flash or iFrames? (These are not good for SEO.)

(29) How will you implement a site search functionality (for larger websites)?

(30) How will you implement internal linking?

(31) How will you format content to comply with Google Hummingbird semantic search?

(32) What SEO values (meta tags, H tags, robots protocols, site map, etc.) will you build into my website?

(33) How will I be able to track results from my website, to get an ROI and ensure that it's productive?

NOTE: If you need further explanations of these issues, contact me.


steven.streight@gmail.com

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