First impressions matter, and if your website doesn't reflect the aims and values of your business, it's likely to put off any potential customers who discover you online.
There are several reasons why you might want a new website. For example...
- Your current website design looks outdated
- Your pages don't rank very well in search engine results
- Your business has evolved and your website is no longer a good fit
- You want more freedom to manage your website's content
If any of these points resonate, it may be time to think about redesigning your website. Every website redesign needs a clear and well-defined brief, so here are the web design brief questions you should ask yourself before you get started...
1. What needs or goals is your current website failing to meet?
Think carefully about why you want to change your website. Are your conversion rates too low? Do users click away within seconds of arriving on your homepage? Have you grown frustrated with the process of emailing your developer every time you want to change a bit of text?
When thinking of web design brief questions, start by listing the problems you want to solve. This will help your designer to envision a website that fixes your biggest issues.
Next, look into the pain points of your website. What doesn't work, and why? Turn these into action points - what needs to happen next for you to achieve your business goals?
2. Why does your website exist?
Websites can be flashy and pretty, but they also need to have a purpose. Think about your website, its reason for existing, and what it's supposed to do for your business - why did you create a website in the first place? To inform? To persuade? To generate sales, or enquiries, or newsletter sign-ups? Where does your website fit into your business's marketing funnel?
Remember, a good website serves its users as well as its owner. Keep this in mind as we move on to the next question...
3. Who is your target audience?
Your website is for your customers. If you can establish a clearly-defined target audience, it becomes much easier to make the right design choices; it can also help you to use the right language and calls to action (CTAs) on your website.
Creating a website visitor persona is a good way to define your target audience. Look into the demographic data for your current website, and analyse your typical website user based on their intent, their personal goals, their pain points, and how your website will influence their decision-making process.
Think about what's important to your ideal customer. What do they want to get out of your website, and how can you make the user experience as smooth as possible for them?
4. What kind of look and feel do you have in mind?
It's important to strike the perfect balance between copy, design and user experience - the holy trinity of an effective website! If you manage to do this, you'll ensure that your website is both attractive and easy to navigate.
Take a look at your competitors and identify what they do well, what you'd like to take inspiration from, and what value these things could add to your business.
You should also think carefully about the image you want to portray. What sort of business do you want to be? Do you want customers to associate your brand with creativity, or professionalism, or eco-friendliness? Answering this question will help your designer to tailor the new website to your unique brand identity.
READ MORE: Copy vs. Design - Which Is More Important?
5. What are your wants and needs?
With all the possibilities, it's easy to go a bit overboard when planning a new website design. It's also easy to end up with a list of web design brief questions. There are so many features and integrations that you could implement, but remember: your website doesn't have to do everything. It's about the quality of your website, not the quantity of flashy features and plug-ins.
Consider the things that are most important to your business. For example, if your main goal is to provide useful information, this should form the core of your new website design. Alternatively, if you're an ecommerce business, you may want to focus on creating an attractive shopfront that puts a lot of focus on high-quality product images, along with a scalable content management system (CMS) that allows you to edit product descriptions and update your stock easily.
6. The 'boring' yet essential stuff
As with any big project, you will also need to know the answers to the following questions:
- What is my budget for this project?
- When do I need this project finished by?
- What work could I do in-house? (e.g. supplying brand guides, page content and images)
- Who will be responsible for signing off each aspect of this project?
While these questions may seem basic, they're crucial in creating a solid foundation for your website redesign.
Get in touch...
We hope these tips will help you decide on your web design brief questions! Need a new website design? The Designer Websites team can help - no matter what you have in mind, we can provide a bespoke solution that's tailored to your business. Contact us today!
