You're getting a website built and have a first meeting with a developer or agency. How well that meeting goes — and how sharp the quote that follows is — depends largely on your preparation. With this checklist you go point by point through what you need to have in place beforehand. Not hours of work, but an evening of proper thinking.
The checklist
1. Define the goal of your website
This is the most important question of the meeting: what should the website deliver? "Looking professional" is not a goal, but a prerequisite. More concrete goals are: ten enquiries per month, letting customers book appointments online, filling vacancies, selling products. The more concrete the goal, the more purposefully a developer can build — and the better you can measure afterwards whether the investment is working.
2. Describe your target audience
Who does the site need to convince? Consumers or businesses? People from the region or the whole country? Are they price-conscious buyers or customers mainly looking for quality? Those answers determine the tone of the copy, the structure of the pages and even the technical choices. Write down two or three typical customers beforehand, along with what they want to know before getting in touch.
3. Collect example sites
Find three to five websites that appeal to you and note per site what appeals to you about it: the calm look, the clear pricing, the way projects are presented. Also include one or two sites you don't like at all, with the reason why. For a developer this is gold: it prevents you from talking about "modern" and "sleek" while both meaning something different.
4. Get your content in order
Most delays in web projects are not caused by technology, but by content. Take stock beforehand of what you have:
- Copy: do you already have texts, and who will write the missing ones? You, the developer, or a copywriter?
- Photos: real photos of your team, work and location work better than stock images. Are there recent, sharp photos available or does a photographer need to come by?
- Logo and branding: do you have a logo in high resolution (preferably a vector file such as SVG or AI) and brand colours, or does that need to be arranged as well?
Be honest about this in the meeting. "Content will be supplied by the client" sounds great in a quote, but if there is nothing, the project stalls.
5. Set your budget (and share it)
Many entrepreneurs keep their budget secret for fear the price will coincidentally land exactly on it. Logical thinking, but it backfires. With a budget range, a developer can immediately say what is and isn't possible within it, and you avoid quotes that come in twice as high. Also think about recurring costs: hosting, maintenance, email and ongoing development come on top of the one-off build price.
6. Arrange domain and email
Do you already have a domain name? Then check two things: is the domain registered in your name (and not in that of a previous party), and do you have the login details of the registrar? Also think about your business email: info@yourcompany.com looks more professional than a Gmail address and is easy to arrange with the same hosting.
7. Establish who decides
Who gives feedback on designs and who is allowed to give the final approval? If those are two different people — or worse, an entire management team — say so upfront. Nothing slows a project down like a decision that constantly has to "be discussed internally first". One point of contact with a mandate is ideal.
Practical tip: literally take this checklist to the meeting, with your answers filled in. A good developer will appreciate that enormously — and from his or her questions you'll hear straight away whether they're genuinely thinking along or just selling a standard package.
Questions you should ask the developer
The meeting is also your chance to put the developer to the test. Questions you should always ask:
- What is the total price and what exactly is included? Ask for a fixed price with a clear description of what is and isn't included.
- Who will actually build my site? Are you talking to the builder themselves, or to a salesperson who passes the work on?
- How fast will the site load? Ask for concrete loading times of previous projects. Slow websites cost you visitors and findability.
- Who owns the site, the domain and the code? The only correct answer: you. Everything must be in your name.
- What happens after the launch? Who handles updates and security, what does that cost, and how quickly do they respond when problems arise?
- Can I change texts and photos myself later? If not, what does a change cost?
- Can I see references or comparable projects? Preferably from your industry or with a similar goal.
In conclusion
A first meeting doesn't have to be a sales circus. With your goal, target audience, examples, content status, budget and decision line in place, it becomes a working session with a concrete result: a quote that adds up and a timeline that is realistic.
Ready to get started?
Want to put this checklist into practice straight away? Book a free consultation with AgentsLabs — we simply ask the questions from this article ourselves, and you'll receive a proposal with a fixed price within a week.