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Building a website is much like building a house–thousands of decisions are made prior to the laying of the first foundation stone. Managing a client’s expectations first starts with informing him that a successful website design takes more than adding a few pictures and some content to a few pages. If a client does not understand the process, he will expect you to do the un-doable.

Keeping website clients happy is probably one of the most difficult aspects of running a design business—if they aren´t happy, you won’t be either and your business will not grow. The solution is to work out communication issues long before you start the design process. As a designer, you need to know the client’s available budget, the purpose of the website, the business plan and the targeted audience. Without this information the website design process is sure to be a bust—your client won’t be happy and neither will you.

Budget

Don’t be afraid to talk about money right away. You need to know from the very start whether the client has the money to work with you. To help clients cover the cost of the design work, divide your costs into two phases. The first phase can cover the planning, prototyping, design, developing and launching of the website The second phase should include the yearly upkeep, tweaking, redesigns and necessary maintenance work. Let your potential client know exactly what his budget can obtain. Do not beat about the bush here. After all you need your client to be upfront with you so you need to be just as upfront with him.

The Purpose

Most website clients are not clear as to the purpose of the website. As the designer it is your job to define this area and help the client see what he wants to offer, what his needs are and how to specify these on the website. To better outline this purpose, the client needs to explain the reason for the website, what his goals are and how he wants to orient it. When determining the purpose of the website be sure to ask the following questions:

• Why are you Building the website?
• What do you want to achieve with it?
• Who is your targeted website viewer?
• Is your website an informational resource and a lead generation tool?
• Will you offer a product?

The answer to these questions will help you as a designer identify the client’s pain points and his possible solutions. For instance, if the website is purely a lead generator then it is important to design it as an informational resource site. Whereas, if the website is product related, then product demos, or web areas that focus on functionality may be needed.

Audience

When a client knows what he wants from the website, he needs to identify the types of people who will use the website. These are usually either decision makers—those who make a final buying decision—or influencers—those who influence others to make a final purchase. A website client needs to identify his audience by determining the age group of his audience, the type of person he is interested in attracting, whether it be a business or consumer, and whether his product is gender related. Without this information there is no sense in starting the design process as there will be too many additions and changes during the process, caused by the clients determining this as the design is in process.

This is a guest post by Connective Web Design – A Denver Web Design Company.