Before you hire a web designer: what should you prepare?

What do you expect from the site?

The first decision before you hire a web designer is the site's job. Will it introduce your business, take bookings or sell products? The answer sets the package choice, the number of pages and the budget.

Try to write it in one sentence. For example: my customers should be able to book an appointment from their phone. Then make the goal measurable: how many forms, calls or WhatsApp messages do you expect each month?

Which pages do you need?

For most businesses, a home page, services, about, references and contact are the core starting set. Giving each service its own page helps you show up separately in search.

Note the questions customers ask most often. They are the basis for an FAQ section and for the content you write later.

Are your copy and images ready?

Content affects delivery time more than anything else. The more ready your service descriptions, pricing information, contact details and images are, the sooner the site is finished.

If they are not ready, that is fine; copywriting can be planned as a separate service. What matters is knowing it at the start. Real photos of your business build more trust with visitors than stock images.

Whose account will the domain and hosting be in?

The domain and hosting should be in your own account. That way you always keep control of your site. The agency or developer is added as an administrator.

Some country-code domains need extra checks; a .com.tr domain in Türkiye, for example, requires identity or company verification.

Have you thought about legal texts?

Sites with a contact form and cookies need privacy and cookie notices; for a business in Türkiye, these fall under KVKK, the country's personal data protection law. The texts should be specific to your business and approved by a lawyer or legal advisor before launch.

How will maintenance work?

The work does not end when the site goes live. Backups, updates and content changes should be done regularly. Decide at the start who will do them. What maintenance covers is explained in our article on website maintenance.