Welcome

Vector of NileI am Nile Flores, a sassy web designer and developer - a webmistress. I live in Centralia, Illinois, which is about an hour from St. Louis. Blondish.net is where I can freely share my love of all things involving web design, graphic design, web developing, and even my experience as a blogger. Join me on my journey. I hope I do not disappoint.
Blondish.net Rss Follow Me On Twitter Follow Me On Facebook Contact Me

Freelancing: Ask The Right Questions From the Beginning

Written by Nile | Posted in Web Design | Posted on Date 05-12-2009 | Comments 3 Comments
Tags:

Share

When first contacting a client to start a new project, it is essential to have a few questions in mind in order to get things rolling smoothly. A breakdown in communication is a sure way to lose a client and possible chance of being referred to others – in other words, for a web designer, you lose some trust. Asking questions will allow your client to feel more involved with their website, and allow you to try to make their vision happen. It is also a way you can accurately put together an estimate and for some larger projects, a contract.

Here are some questions that you should ask. Of course, some of them you may want to make sure to add your own questions depending on how the client responds.

What is the focus of your website?
Whether a business or personal site, the client will need to decide who is their target audience. The client will also want to be able to show how people should chose their product/ site over another, so they must be aware of competition in their niche.

As the designer, you also must do some research to be familiar with the terms of the client’s niche.

How would you like your site to look?
Are there any features on other sites the client has seen that they really want for their own website Are there already some logos or graphics the client may need you to design around? Their website is a virtual calling card. They do not want it to flop, and that includes design.

What are all the services you need?
Does the client expect you to put their content up for them or install certain scripts? Sometimes the client likes to have a hand in their project. While they may hire you for design, they may want to insert their own content – or they might not. Sometimes that is due to time.

If you offer more than just web design, then this would be the time to discuss what other things you can do for your client.

It is important to make sure that both you and the client are on the same page or it could involve a lot of wasted time going through unnecessary proofs until you get it right.

What questions do you typically ask your clients in the beginning?

Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Ping.fm
  • RSS
  • StumbleUpon
  • FriendFeed
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Identi.ca
  • LinkedIn
  • MySpace
  • Reddit
  • Technorati
  • Twitter
  • Yahoo! Buzz
  • Facebook
  • Netvibes
  • NewsVine
  • Posterous
  • Socialogs
  • Sphinn
  • blogmarks
  • Blogosphere News
  • Slashdot
  • Suggest to Techmeme via Twitter
  • Mixx

Related posts:

  1. 4 Ways To Prepare Yourself For That Freelancing Mentality
  2. Freelancing and Time Management
  3. 5 Tips To Do When Inquiring For A Website Design Consultation

About Nile Flores

Nile is 29 year old female from Southern Illinois. Nile is a mother of 1 son. She is also a web and graphic designer, who exclusively designs using WordPress. She is currently a student working for a Bachelors in Business. She also blogs at WPAddict.net and FamousBloggers.net

Connect with Nile at: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn

Nile has written 424 articles at Blondish.net.

Comments (3)

  • [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by john springstein and mickey sanchez, jack morsen. jack morsen said: RT condinet Freelancing: Ask The Right Questions From the Beginning | blondish.net: Posted in Web De.. http://bit.ly/6gO5Rq [...]

  • Twitter Comment


    RT condinet Freelancing: Ask The Right Questions From the Beginning | blondish.net: Posted in Web De.. [link to post]

    Posted using Chat Catcher

  • Social comments and analytics for this post…

    This post was mentioned on Twitter by johnny_springs: RT condinet Freelancing: Ask The Right Questions From the Beginning | blondish.net: Posted in Web De.. http://bit.ly/6gO5Rq...

  • Write a comment

    ss_blog_claim=0ecba4af6bb1a8dccd90dffa7f9ff743