If you are thinking about hiring a web designer in Harrogate – or anywhere in North Yorkshire – there is one thing you can do before our first meeting that will save us both a lot of time. Get your house in order.
Not in a stressful way. A few focused hours, that is all.
Most web projects run into delays because the client is not ready when work starts. Pages stall while people hunt for a logo file, write placeholder copy, or argue internally about what the site actually needs to do. None of that is your fault. It is just something nobody told you to think about beforehand.
This post is here to change that. Here is a straightforward checklist to work through before your project starts.
Look at what you already have
Your current site – even if you hate it – contains useful information. Go through it page by page and ask yourself three questions: does this content still reflect what we do, does anyone actually need this page, and is it written in a way that helps the reader?
Make a simple list in a spreadsheet. Note which pages to keep, which to cut, and which need rewriting. If you have a blog, be honest about which posts are worth carrying over. You do not need to migrate everything.
This exercise also helps you spot gaps – things your business does that are not on the site at all.
Pull your assets together before you need them
Logo files, brand colours, photography. These are the things that slow projects down most.
I cannot work with a logo pasted from a Word document or pulled from a Facebook post. You need vector files – ideally SVG or EPS format – or a high-resolution PNG with a transparent background.
Here is what to pull together before we start:
- Your logo in its original file format. If you do not have it, contact whoever designed it.
- Your brand colour codes, in hex or RGB if you have them.
- Any photography you own the rights to, at full resolution.
- Headshots if your site includes a team or about section.
If your photography is poor quality or out of date, now is a good time to plan a shoot. Stock photography is a workable backup, but original images almost always perform better.
Write two lists: must-haves and nice-to-haves
This is the conversation that saves the most time – and sometimes the most money.
The first list is everything the site must do to work. Contact forms, booking systems, accessibility compliance, clear service descriptions, a way for people to find you. These are must-haves. The site cannot do its job without them.
The second list is everything you would like if the budget and timeline allow. A members area, a resource library, a live social feed. These are nice-to-haves. Not bad ideas – just not worth holding up the launch.
When clients come to me with both lists already written, we spend the first meeting on strategy rather than scope. That is a much better use of everyone’s time.
A few other things worth checking
Find out who owns your domain name and where it is registered. Dig out your hosting login details. If you use Google Analytics, check that you still have access to the account.
These feel like small things. They can cause real delays if you cannot find them once the project is underway.
Ready to talk?
If you are thinking about a web project in Harrogate or across North Yorkshire, I am happy to have an initial conversation before you commit to anything. Prep does not have to be complicated – and the more ready you are, the smoother the whole thing goes.
