What is required to brief a web development company?
When engaging a web designer for your online presence, there is certain information you can gather that will help build success.
- Contacts. More specifically the name(s) of the decision-makers. Web development is an iterative and evolving process, which can get muddled without a clear line of approval command.
- Company Brief. A detailed description of your company and services. This should start with the mundane details, like you address and phone number. Also include the more esoteric information, like your company’s mission statement and/or any awards or notable aspects that build a better window to who you are.
- Audience. Understanding your target demographic is critical to a web designer in their work.
- Purpose. A web site that is meant to be an online business card need not be equipped with full-service ecommerce capabilities with integrated SEO and instant messaging for customer support. A robust understanding of the current and future purpose of the site is necessary to a proportionate design.
- Design Preferences. This can be as simple as providing your designers with links to sites you both like and don’t care for. Also include all your company’s brand identity information, including: digital files of logo’s, company colours and fonts, and templates.
- Content. Web designers are often waiting for content. Circumvent that delay by gathering as much of the site’s substance as you can up front. Placeholders can be left for time-sensitive information like announcements and upcoming promotions, but staff biographies or product descriptions and pictures can be collated well in advance.
Finally, as you begin the process be sure to give your designers not only your preferred ‘go-live’ date but any other important scheduling, like big sales or annual meetings, that need to be incorporated into the planning.
