9 Things You Need to Do Before You Hire a Web Designer
If you’re frustrated with your current website and exhausted from trying to maintain it, it’s time for a makeover! But what does that require of you exactly?
My One-Week Website Design process is designed to take as much off your plate as possible - including how much information you have to gather and share before we start.
These are the 9 things you need to do and exactly what you have to share with me in order for your Design Week to go smoothly and give you a website that you love, that generates leads from Google and social media, and that books more clients for your practice.
1. Settle on Your Niche and Services
While you can hire a designer when you’re just starting out in your practice, it’s often more effective when you’ve settled on the types of clients you want to work with, the modalities you plan to use, and the types of services or packages you’re going to offer.
Knowing these details allows you to target your brand design, copy, and keywords for the people who need your services and makes it easier for your designer to design a website that is going to resonate with your ideal client and ultimately bring in more leads.
What you have to share with me:
Demographic information for your ideal clients
The reason clients reach out to you when they do
How clients find your practice
The words you want clients to use to describe what you do
Your client experience
Your competitors
The top 3 actions you want someone to take on your website
How you want clients to feel about their experience working with you
2. Collect Your Brand Information
You don’t have to have a 15 page document about your brand before working with a website designer, but you do need to have enough information that the design and style of your site matches your brand and what potential clients expect to see.
These are the common brand elements that you will create and use across your website, social media, and other marketing, as well as in your office design.
Brand Tone & Voice
Logo & Variations
Brand Submarks (optional)
Branded Icons (optional)
Typography
Color Palette
Patterns (optional)
Web Styles (optional)
What you have to share with me:
Your logo in a PNG file with transparent background
Existing color palette
Any brand fonts
Any other brand information and files (optional)
What if you don’t have a logo or brand?
If you do not have a solid brand, you can choose to have me design a simple text-based logo and choose fonts and colors for your brand. This won’t be as comprehensive as working with a dedicated brand designer, but it’s a great place to start when you want to get your website up and running.
If this is the option you choose, I can add that to your proposal. You will need to allow 3 extra days for your custom design project and I recommend sticking with this brand design for at least a year. This optional add-on is $500.
What you have to share with me:
Any files you do have
Colors you want to include or leave out
Font preferences
Icon style preferences (optional)
3. Write Your Copy
Website designers are not copywriters (and you don’t want them to be). While I have resources to help you write your copy - like the Website Content Generator - you are ultimately responsible for writing all of the content for your website.
Before your website design begins, you need to submit finished copy for the following pages:
Home
About
Services
Contact
Blog with 3 Posts (optional)
FAQs
Privacy Policy
Disclaimers (this will vary depending on your industry)
You can either write it yourself using the resources provided, find a copy template, or work with a copywriter (I have some great ones I can recommend).
What you have to share with me:
A Google Doc with copy for all of the above pages
4. Get a Photoshoot
While you can use stock photography on your website, there is a huge benefit in having your own photos to share. Potential clients want to see your space and what it looks like to work with you, which is why having a professional photoshoot will make the impact of your new website even greater.
These are the types of photos you will need:
Headshots
Office (optional)
Working with Clients (optional)
General photos of your space and equipment (optional)
If you aren’t ready to invest in a full photoshoot yet, you should at least have a variety of headshots taken so that they can be used on your website - and you aren’t using the same photo on every page.
Using Stock Photos for Your Website
Stock photos are a great way to add more images to your website that fit your brand style. As stock photography libraries are growing, you can often find some that even represent the clients you work with and the type of services you offer.
If you choose to use stock photos, make sure that they are royalty free or that you purchase them from the photographer.
My favorite stock photo sources are Unsplash, Pixabay, and Styled Stock Society and these are where I find stock images to create the Stock Photo Library for your website design project.
What you have to share with me:
3 high-resolution headshots
Any other high quality branded photos you have (optional)
Any stock photos you have collected for your website (optional)
If you have a stock photo membership, you can send me the login information and I can choose images that will fit with your design (optional)
5. Set Up Analytics
While it’s not required that you have analytics data before launching your new website, it does help to track the impact that your new site has on your traffic and SEO.
If you don’t already have Google Analytics and Google Search Console (with a sitemap submitted) connected to your website, do that ASAP so you have at least 30 days of data to measure against.
These are the metrics that I look at before starting a website project:
Users
Sessions
Pageviews
Bounce Rate
Search queries bringing traffic to your website
Ranking keywords
You can also look at:
Avg. Time on Site
Traffic Source (including organic search, direct, referral, and social)
Device (including desktop, mobile, and tablet)
The longer you have both Google Analytics and Search Console set up, the more data you will have and be able to compare.
What you have to share with me:
access to Google Analytics and Search Console or your most recent data for the above metrics
6. Start Finding Inspiration
Create a Pinterest board of websites, design elements, and color palettes that you like for your brand and website.
You can also share websites that you like from both inside and outside your industry.
The best thing you can do is make a note of why you feel drawn to these images and designs. Is it because of the organization, color, or feeling they evoke?
Check out my Website Design Inspiration Pinterest board to get some ideas.
What you have to share with me:
3-5 websites that you would like to use as inspiration and why
a Pinterest board of inspiration (optional)
7. Set Up Your EHR, Social Media, and Newsletter
If you want to link to an external service or platform, you’ll want to have those set up and ready to embed on your website.
Setting Up Your EHR
For your EHR or CRM, you will need to have a booking link (if you’re going to offer online scheduling) and a contact form that can either be embedded on the website or linked to.
You’ll also want to have at least the confirmation email written and automated for when someone does schedule or submit a form.
I recommend Healthie and Practice Better if you’re looking for an EHR that makes it easy to collect leads and schedule appointments through your website.
What you have to share with me:
Your EHR platform name
Embed code for any forms
The embed code or link for your online booking link
Setting Up Your Newsletter
If you’re going to include a newsletter form on your website to collect emails and send opt-ins, you’ll need to have the form set up, the opt-in created, and the automated emails running to send that opt-in to subscribers.
I recommend MailerLite for those just starting an email list and Kit if you have a larger list or need lots of automations and tagging.
What you have to share with me:
Your newsletter platform name
The embed code for your opt-in forms
Social Media
Any social profiles you want to link to from your website will need to be claimed on the platforms that you choose so that you can share the URLs.
If you want to embed an Instagram feed directly onto your website, you’ll also want to have at least 7 posts live.
What you have to share with me:
Your social media URLS
Your Instagram login (optional)
8. Make Sure You Can Access Your Domain
If you already have a website and are moving to a different platform, you will need to be able to share access to your domain DNS settings to get everything connected. Make sure that you have the correct login information for your domain host and that you have the ability to edit the DNS records.
If your domain is held by another company, you will need to let them know that you’re launching a new website and will need them to give you access during your Design Week.
What you have to share with me:
Your domain host name
Your domain host login information or an invitation for me to access your domain
9. Research Keywords for Your Business
A pretty website isn’t going to generate leads or book more clients for your practice if it doesn’t speak to your ideal client and why they should work with you or it doesn’t show up on Google.
Keywords are the key to both of these things.
When you know what words and phrases that your ideal clients are searching for, you can use those words in your copy and SEO settings (don’t worry - I handle this part) so that the right people can find you and then convert into clients because you understand their struggles and how you can help them get to the outcome they’re looking for.
Often the keywords you should be using on your website aren’t the ones you would expect, which is why keyword research is important. You want to know what words people are actually using and if you have a chance of ranking for them. Then you can create a list of 30-40 keywords to start targeting with your SEO efforts.
What you have to share with me:
List of 30-40 keywords for your business
What if you don’t know which keywords to target?
If you don’t know what keywords you should target with your website, you can add keyword research to your project. This happens before your Design Week and can take 2-3 weeks to complete. This optional add-on is $650.
What you have to share with me:
Your industry
Your ideal client
Your service(s)
Your modalities
Your location(s)
What your clients say that you do
What you want clients to say about working with you
Access to Google Analytics and Google Search Console
Prep for Your Website Design Project with Confidence
Before you dive into the website design process, setting yourself up for success with these nine steps will make everything smoother—ensuring that your new site is not just beautiful, but also strategic, high-converting, and aligned with your brand. The more prepared you are, the easier it is to create a website that attracts your ideal clients, ranks well on Google, and helps your practice grow.
Ready to start your website redesign?
Download the Website Design Prep Checklist to make sure you have everything in place before working with a designer!
