The secret of running a successful web design business is communication. You could be the best web designer in the world but, if you can’t easily find out what your clients want, then you won’t go very far in this business so, here, to help you I have a web design questionnaire.
Sample of a web design questionnaire
Below is a web form that you are free to use. It contains most of the questions I ask potential clients when they need a website. Of course, not everything inside the client’s mind can be understood from the answers of a website design questionnaire, but this can help as an initial sounding board.
Click on the icons above for a PDF (for printing out, filling out and sending in snail mail – not cool!) and a Word doc (which the client can type on, save and send to you – still not cool!)
Let’s go through each section in detail.
What does the client have currently?
Most people that contact me have some sort of web presence already. They may have a website which they want to improve. They may have used a logo or certain colors before and it’s important to get this information from them. With this in mind, the questions can start off like this:
- Does the client currently have a website or have they already purchased a domain?
- Does the client want me to arrange hosting
- Does the client have a logo, corporate colors, text or images already that they would like me to use?
What does the client want?
Now we get onto the nitty gritty. Every website should have one main objective and target audience. It’s good to focus your client’s mind on a single objective at this early stage. So, the questions continue like this:
- What is the website’s main purpose? (selling products, gathering email addresses, promoting your services, etc.)
- What is the desired outcome from a typical visitor? (to make a purchase, to contact the client, to leave an email address, etc.)
I always ask for specific requirements: Does the client want any of the following (blog, contact form, email sign-up form, e-commerce, etc.)?
Every web designer will offer certain features as standard and these will differ between individuals so the options here are fairly arbitrary. Just for the record, here’s what I always provide for new websites as standard, whether I’m asked for them or not:
- HTML5 mark-up with Schema support
- Completely responsive to different sized devices
- XML Sitemap and registering with Google Webmaster Tools
- Robots.txt
- Google Analytics
- Favicon
- Keywords in URLs “pretty permalinks”
- Caching plug-in
- Contact form
The client’s brand
I also ask questions about how the client sees their company and their audience. The web design questionnaire has quite a selection of adjectives that people can check off to see if they apply to them (Accommodating; Proud; Rebellious; Accurate; Adventurous; Aggressive, etc.) This can give you a good idea of where they’re coming from. An understanding of the brand, the market and the customer is essential.
Further information
Then there are a few obvious loose ends to tie up:
- How many pages will the finished website have roughly?
- What is the budget?
- What is the deadline?
And, finally, I always ask if there are two or three websites that the client likes or would like to emulate. It can be difficult if they only suggest one but if they give you two or three websites to emulate this can be really helpful.
You can do it – you can create a web design questionnaire
Hopefully, this PDF and Word doc will help you start to understand your clients’ request. You can be a great web designer – remember, communication is key.
The web form is clean and precise, covers all the important elements of the customers requirements. May I ask which plugin you have used to create this questionnaire?
Hello Shalu, the web form is created by Gravity Forms (that’s my affiliate link) and I made an introductory video to Gravity Forms with Aweber integration. It’s a good thing to have you your site if you’re a web designer. 🙂
Rob,
I love this! I have a questionnaire for my clients, but there are some things you have outlined I find beneficial for my clients. I appreciate you providing this word document. Great way to learn as much information about the client, their business, needs, and abilities.
Great share!
Thank you, Seidah, yes, I think everyone would provide a different questionnaire but it’s interesting to see other people’s questions and you can adapt of copy from the Word doc if you want. 🙂
Hello Rob,
This is a nice questionnaire form for every web designer. It is very helpful to understand clients needs and also web designers easily identify their task.
Thanks a lot for sharing.
Warm regards,
K G Mozumder
Thank you, K G, it’s a pleasure to share. 🙂
Hey Rob, this is a fantastic resource my man, thanks for sharing it!
One quick question though, how do you collect payments?
Do you ask for 50% in advance and the rest on the project’s termination, do you offer discounts for paying everything upfront?
Any tips on that?
I normally have a hard time getting the last part of the money or I have had the really bad experiences where the client doesn’t want to let go because they want to keep getting revisions.
This is definitely bad clients or poor planning in advance (from my part) so answers to either of these questions would be great!
Thanks in advance, man. 😉
Sergio
Hi Sergio, thank you, I’m glad you found it helpful. Yes, ideally I insist on 50% up front and 50% on delivery.
Not so long ago I did a survey of pay for web designers and the 50%:50% split was the most common.
The trick is to be as specific as possible as to what “delivery” means. Remember my free web design proposal where I outlined in as much detail as possible what they’re going to get – even specify how many revisions allowed on a logo or Photoshop visual.
But, no matter what you do, you are going to get bad clients. Just get rid of them as soon as you can and don’t dwell. Easier said than done! 🙂
Haha easier said than done indeed.
Thanks (again) for another two wonderful resources man! 😉
🙂
So useful and value content Rob. I really appreciated. I have your udemy course and e-book. You have a big fan here. Greeting from Miami FL
Thank you, Percy, I’m honored you you’re investing your time with me. Please feel free to ask any questions at any time and I’m glad you found this useful. 🙂