[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Did you start your website design process excited, only to have it turn sour by the end?

It’s a frustrating experience that many a company can relate to.

While the most important factor in making your web design process go as smooth as possible is the company you work with, there’s other varying factors that can make the experience more enjoyable for you.

But even with the best web designer, there are some things you should know to make your web design process go smoother. Unless it’s their job, most people have no idea what goes into building a website, and there’s a lot of steps behind the curtain that make the magic happen.

Despite all the things that your web designer will handle, many people don’t really know what they need to contribute themselves.

So here’s 3 steps to take, of what you’ll need before, and during your website’s creation.

#1) Know your goals.

Why are you building a new website?

Aside from the excitement of getting a sleek new site, what was the driving point that caused you to get a new website?

Before you sit down with a designer, you should have a prior conversation with the leaders of your company, and come up with some concepts of what you want your business website to actually do.

Are you planning on selling products through your website?
Are you trying to draw more traffic?
Do you want leads, or is it just a static website?
Who will update content on your website, once it’s finished?
What is this website’s purpose?
Does it have one?

This discussion is important to have with your company before you ever sit down with a web designer. Laying the groundwork for what you’re hoping to accomplish with your site will help your web designer know what your website will need to achieve those goals and the scope of it.

Every company has different goals and needs, so be sure to consider yours before building a new website.

#2) Establish a main point of contact.

If you’re the owner of a business, you might be too busy to approve every website decision.

Web design is a collaborative effect, and there’s going to be lots of times where your designer will reach out to your company with questions of how you want something done.

Having a point of contact is a good start, but you need to have someone on your team who you designate as the person who all communication in regards flows to. They are the ones who speak to the web designer and provide them with answers and can make decisions for the company.

If you have 3 or 4 different people all communicating with the web designer separately, you’re asking for trouble. Chances are they are all going to say the opposite of whatever the other person said, leaving your web designer confused, and you with a mess of a website.

Ideally, you should have a person or two on your team who you can trust to oversee the project and communicate the important aspects to the web designer. This person is also wise enough to know when leadership needs to be brought in for their two cents.

#3) Have great and engaging images.

This can’t be overstated, you almost always will need new images on your site.

The definition of a great and engaging image is one that’s taken in high-resolution, with a pixel count of at least 3000 x 3000.

And be sure and take photos that are fairly recent. No one likes images of your employees that were last updated in 1989.

Having these photos taken before you start the design process will also speed up the project’s end time considerably.

Most web design firms do not take photos, so you’ll need to handle this yourself. One of the biggest roadblocks we see for web design projects comes from the designer having to wait on the client for images. It delays your site from being finished, and without photos your site looks less professional.

Think about what you want to showcase on your site. You’ll probably need photos of any products you sell, photos of services you office, and photos that capture your business.

Having these on hand early on in the web design process can help your website building process go as smoothly as possible.

What comes after your website is finished?

Use our e-book as a free resource as to what comes next after your website is finished, and what you can do to continually receive an ROI from it.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][/vc_column][/vc_row]