Listen to this blog post on our podcast below.

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Having a good relationship with your web designer is vital to your website’s success. Asking the right questions is important in establishing a good relationship. Before having your website built, be sure to ask these 4 important questions to your web designer to make sure the web design process runs smoothly and that your website is launched without any hiccups.

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1) Who owns the website after it goes live?

This should always be written out in a contract, but it’s important to ask your designer who owns your domain name and website once it’s published. It’s in your best interest to have ownership of the website so that you can make changes and do with it what you please.

Be sure to also ask if you are required to have an ongoing contract with the designer post-launch.

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2) What content management system or platform do you use?

The content management system (CMS) is what is used to organize your website’s content. We typically use the Webflow CMS, which is what this website is built on. I wholeheartedly recommend using Webflow. For the designer, it’s incredibly robust, customizable, and allows for faster website-building. On the client side, it’s SO easy to make updates without needing coding knowledge, and your website will be super fast, so visitors will love it.

Sometimes clients have past experiences with other platforms such as WordPress or Squarespace and feel more comfortable with those, and that’s ok too. But knowing what platform your website is built on can help you in case you need to hire external help or build a new website down the road.

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3) What’s your design process?

This is one of the first questions you should ask your web designer. Having a documented process is beneficial to both you and the designer. It helps you because you will know what you need to provide to the designer as well as where you are in the process, and it helps the designer because they can keep the project on track and on budget.

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4) What training or support do you offer post-launch?

Sometimes you just need to make a quick edit to your website, whether it’s updating your hours of operation, a service offering, or switching out an image. Your web designer should empower you to be able to make changes on your own without having to rely on them. Like I mentioned earlier, we primarily use Webflow which makes it super easy to make changes to your website once it’s launched. 

Some designers offer retainer packages or hourly fees to update your website after it’s launched as well. We typically don’t offer retainer packages, but are happy to help clients for an hourly rate if needed. After launching your website, I always provide a detailed how-to guide as well as a training session, so that you are empowered to make changes on your own.

Ready to launch your business’s website? Get in touch today for a free quote on web design services!