14 Questions That Will Ensure You Deliver a Winning Website to Your Client
Did you know that there are 1.94 billion active websites in the world today? That’s a lot of websites. All the more reason to ensure you nail every aspect of your website from content to design and everything in between.
So, where do you start when building a website? A tried and true method is with a website questionnaire. A variation of this method could work for someone who is making a website for themselves but it’s an ideal starting point when building a website for a client.
We have put together a versatile client website questionnaire that will surely get your project off on the right foot. This questionnaire is focused on delivering a website that will bring your client’s brand to life and find an accurate price point for the cost of your service. Let’s take a look at the questions and what they should accomplish.
The Website Questionnaire
- What is your mission statement?
- What is a high-level description of what your company does?
- What makes your company unique/makes you stand out?
- Who is your target market?
- Please list your services/products in order from most important to least.
- Please list any additional pages or aspects of the website you want included.
- What is the URL of your current website? (put n/a if we are building from scratch)
- What do you like and dislike about your current website? (put n/a if we are building from scratch)
- Do you have any customer content, reviews or testimonials we can use?
- Please select the level of involvement you want to take in the content creation process
- We write everything with loose direction from the client and the client approves it
- Client is heavily involved in the direction but they do not want to write content
- Client will supply all of the content
- Is there a particular launch date you envision the website being completed by?
- Do you need assistance with security, maintenance or hosting for your website?
- Do you need help marketing your website?
- Please attach the following (if applicable): Logo and brand book or info detailing colors and fonts
Establishing a Purpose
What is your mission statement?
We start the website questionnaire with asking for the mission statement because it’s vital to establish what this company is all about beyond products and services. If your client doesn’t currently have one, this at least forces them to think about one. The mission statement should bleed into the content and design of the website as it’s the backbone of the company’s identity.
If your client needs assistance with their mission statement, they simply need to answer one question; Why does your company exist? If they can answer that, you got the foundation of a good mission statement.
Establishing an Identity
What is a high-level description of what your company does?
What makes your company unique/makes you stand out?
Who is your target market?
These are crucial questions when building foundational content. And what we mean by “foundational content” is copy that establishes what your client does, who they do for it and why they do it better than anyone else – giving you a foundation to build more content on.
It’s important for your client to answer these foundational questions within the website questionnaire because you want to put users on a logical journey through the website. According to a Demand Gen Report study, 47% of buyers view 3-5 pieces of content before engaging with a sales rep. Confirming the idea that you need to take the user through a cohesive and progressive journey as they explore the website and not assume a simple homepage will get the job done.
Navigation and Design
Please list your services/products in order from most important to least.
Please list any additional pages or aspects of the website you want included.
Continuing with the theme of layering your website with valuable content that builds a logical journey, this section of the website questionnaire will give you direction on how to build the navigation and design around that content. Clearly, you’ll want to highlight products/services in the client’s vision as they are the people who should know their company and industry best.
The client providing direction on what additional pages or features they want included in the website will go a long way in picking a template or design style. If the client wants to highlight their Meet The Team page or add some type of feature involving numbers, you’ll know what sections or widgets need to be included on the homepage.
According to a Social Media Today study, 94% of people say bad design is the main reason they don’t trust certain websites. So I’d say nailing the right tone and style of the website’s design is pretty important.
Building out the Content
What is the URL of your current website?
What do you like and dislike about your current website?
Do you have any customer content, reviews or testimonials we can use?
Please select the level of involvement you want to take in the content creation process.
This section of the website questionnaire will greatly help with developing the meat of the content for the website you are building – this is all about getting a jump on the content. If the client has a current website, this gives you a great starting point. Make sure to pay special attention to their likes and dislikes to tailor the content to their needs.
Acquiring customer content, reviews and testimonials isn’t just to fill out pages. According to a SAG ipl study, 82% of customers trust a company after reading customer content. So, any of those items will prove to be quite valuable additions. The client’s selection of what role they want to take in the content creation process will not only give you an idea of how much work is ahead of you but also of a price point for the website – depending on how much you charge per hour.
Using the Website Questionnaire for Additional Opportunity
Do you need assistance with security, maintenance or hosting for your website?
Do you need help marketing your website?
This is your chance to potentially earn some extra cash beyond creating the website. Whether it’s from marketing or maintaining the website yourself or earning a commission-based finder’s fee by referring your client, it’s worth throwing the question out there. You’d be surprised about how many business owners create a website and then realize they have no idea what they’re going to do with it.
