What to have ready before your first call with a web designer
Fifteen minutes of prep is the difference between a website that ships in a week and one that stalls for a month. This list works whoever you hire, including us.
The short answer: bring seven things. Your business details as you want them shown, your services with prices, the photos you already have, the truth about any existing domain, what you want visitors to do, two or three sites you like, and your budget. Industry guides name missing content as the number one reason projects run late, and every item on this list is content.
Why the prep matters more than the meeting
Website projects rarely stall on design. They stall waiting: for the price list, for the photos, for someone to confirm the Saturday hours. The designer builds the frame in days, and then the frame sits empty. Walking into the first call with this list means the build starts full, which is most of how a site goes live in a week instead of a quarter. The timeline math is in how long a website takes.
The seven things
- Your details, as you want them shown. Business name spelled the way you want it everywhere, phone, address, email, hours including the awkward holiday ones.
- Services and prices, decided. The list of what you offer and what each costs. If some prices are “it depends”, decide what you are comfortable publishing and what stays “ask us”.
- The photos you already have. Even phone photos tell the designer what exists. If the answer is none you like, say it plainly; it changes the plan, not the possibility.
- The domain truth. Does yourbusiness.com already exist? Who registered it, and can you log in? Five minutes here prevents the classic hostage situation we covered in the domain guide.
- The one thing visitors should do. Call, book, come in, request a quote. Pick the main one; the whole site aims at it.
- Two or three sites you like. Any industry. “I like how clear this one is” tells a designer more than an hour of adjectives.
- Your honest budget. It decides scope, and saying it early is how you avoid being quoted a store when you need a storefront.
What you do not need
Technical vocabulary. A logo, if you do not have one; a clean text version of your name works. A written paragraph about your founding story, unless you want one. And you do not need to know what platform anything should be built on; that is a question to ask the designer, not answer for them. If you are curious anyway, we compared the options in Wix, Squarespace, Shopify or custom.
What our first call looks like
Fifteen minutes on Google Meet. We go through this exact list, tell you what it costs on the call, and if photos are the gap, the $699 bundle includes the shoot at your business. Most sites are live within one week of that call. Book it from the home page, and the full numbers are in the price guide.
Common questions about the first call
The seven things above. Details, services with prices, photos, domain truth, the main action, example sites, budget.
Missing content is the number one project delay. Arriving with content is arriving with the schedule.
None. Knowing your own business is the whole assignment.
Say so. With us that usually means the $699 bundle with the shoot included.
Fifteen minutes, price included, site normally live within one week after.
Sources
Keep reading: how long a website takes · what a website costs in Vancouver
List ready?
Book the 15 minute call. Bring the seven things and the site is normally live within a week.
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