Important Website Redesign Questions To Ask Client in 2022

So if you are thrilled about that new project you got to website redesign someone’s old website for a fresh wheel! It is a challenging yet aspiring project, to change the way their buyers see their website, services, and the brand overall. 

People have innumerable reasons to change their website, but that’s not important here. Only, it is! 

Website redesigning is a challenging prospect as mentioned earlier, and a great opportunity to understand the website’s traffic, navigation, and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). It is a goldmine for a marketing and sales team to evaluate what clicks and what does not in their company. 

As a designer, you also need to understand the client’s requirements, company goals, and more! Plus, you need your creativity well-fed before you start redesigning someone’s website. 

So below is a list of questions that you must ask as a designer and someone responsible to redesign a website. Some of these may have been covered during the proposal and client meeting phase. While some may be more delicate than you can ask once your business relationship grows to a certain extent:

• What are your goals?

This question, which would be an obvious opener is not just a question, rather a series of questions that would determine their overall objectives. Of course, you may have received a white paper during the proposal phase that clearly defined the objectives, but it would be wise for you to break them down yourself for a holistic understanding of the client’s problems.

• Value proposition

Understand their business value proposition, what is the core nature of the business, and what makes them stand apart from their competitors. 

• Competitor analysis

Competitors who have a website that your client may be impressed with, if so then what elements do they like and dislike in their website. 

• Purpose of Redesigning

The second question should be why they want to do it. Is it just about a new look or feel or does the business have new features that they want to integrate online?

• Promotion

What is your client’s business plan to promote their website once it is redesigned?

• Budget and Time

The last question in the queue here should be the budget of the redesigning project and the deadline date on which they expect the work to be completed.

• What are the site requirements?

Now, of course, that you are redesigning a website, you need to have a good understanding of its requirements. Some questions as below would help:

• Access

Some clients may not have access to the site and so it is important if they can access the site or not? If so, then ask them for the login credentials.

• Hosting

Ask where the current website is being hosted and what level of hosting does the client need with the redesigning work. Also, it is wise to know if there are seasonal spikes in traffic on the website that needs to be planned beforehand or hosting capabilities. 

• Security

The security of the site is important, so you should know if they have an SSL certificate and what level of SSL certificate do they require in the new website? Is there a multi-level access permission that one requires in order to access the site?

• Reference

Does the client have a particular website in mind that he wants to refer to? At this point, you should also ask if what aspects of the website do they like and what they what to change. 

• Marketing

Do they use any CRM or customer information from the site for email marketing? Do they use any automation software? Do they have a landing page?

• Cookies

Is there any requirement to declare the use of cookies in some countries?

• What functionalities do you need?

This is where the list could get really long! Clients may have varied requirements as per their business, so you should have a clear picture of the functionalities that would be integrated into their website. These could include:

• User access

Do users have to log in before they can access the site? Can they log in via social accounts? 

• User interaction

User interaction includes features like user reviews, comments, social media sharing, chat features, personal details of customers like credit card information, etc. 

• Website media

Does the client want to upload audio files on their site? Any video hosting or YouTube embedding requirements? 

• Online Store

Does the client want to sell products through the website? If so, what will there be customer accounts, payment processing, shopping cart handling, etc? 

• Site architecture 

Is the site architecture completed? What key element do they want on every page of their redesigned website? 

• Apps & Tools

Do they use any analytical tools? Is there any third-party service that needs to be integrated in the new site? 

• User Testing

Do they want user testing during the design and development phase? If so, what is the budget?

• Where does the traffic come from?

Another key point which you need to be thoroughly aware of before even starting the redesign process. Customers are the lifeline of any business and making a user-friendly website would go a long way towards building the brand image. 

• Measure of success

Does the client want leads? Conversions? Or just visitors?

• Page Traffic

Which page receives the most traffic and why? Which pages rank high in SERPs? 

• Visitor segregation

Percentage of visitors from organic sources, marketing campaigns (email), referral sites, social media, search, direct search (via URL search), and based on the device used (mobiles, tablets). This will help you understand which areas to improve and where the business gets its customers from.

• Top performers

What is the top-performing page, blog post, or keyword that attracts visitors?

• Views and Visits

How many page views and visits does the website get every month? What is the bounce rate? How many leads or sales do they generate from the website? What does the average consumer do at the website? How long does the average consumer spend on the site?

• Content Management

Content is the heart and soul of any website. That is what drives people to buy, interact, and get associated with your business. This it is important to know how does your client plan to manage content:

• Content-Type

What kind of content would they post on the website? Is there a content strategy in place? Who would write the content? Who would upload the content? Are there any external sources of content? Would there be personalized content for different users?

• Automation

Do they have any requirements for a CMS?

• Updating

How often would they update the content of the site? Who updates the site content?

And you’re all set!!

There you have it. Now you have almost all the questions you need to ask your client before you start redesigning their website. 

The list may still not be exhaustive, thanks to over 2 billion websites on the internet, but it will definitely give you every bit of information you need to do an astounding job for your client.

Contact us if you want to learn more about revamping your website or designing one right from the scratch!