What to Prepare Before Hiring a Web Designer (Save Time and Money)

Know what the site needs to do

Before anything visual, answer one question: what should a visitor do on your site? Call you? Book a quote? Buy something? Every design decision flows from that answer, and 'I want it to look nice' isn't one.

Write down your top three services or products in plain language. These become your homepage headline and your main pages — and they're what Google needs to see to rank you.

Gather your real materials

The single biggest delay in any website project is waiting on content. Collect before you start: real photos of your work (phone photos are fine — real beats polished), your logo if you have one, a short paragraph about your business, and your contact details exactly as they should appear.

Also gather proof: reviews, before-and-after photos, certifications, years in business. Trust signals are what turn a visitor into a caller.

Look at sites you like (and dislike)

Find two or three websites you think look good and one you dislike. You don't need to explain why — 'I like how clean this feels' is useful direction. It gives your designer a target instead of a guessing game.

Equally useful: your competitors' sites. Pointing at what they're doing well — or badly — helps your designer position you against them.

Decide who owns what

Know your budget range before the first call — a good designer will tell you honestly what fits inside it rather than upselling you. At Lynn Design the ranges are public: $650 to $2,250+ depending on scope, 25% down, balance at launch.

And confirm ownership up front: you should own your domain, your content, and your site. If a designer can't say that plainly, walk away.

Ready when you are

If you have even half of this list together, you're ahead of most clients. Start a project, share what you have, and I'll help you fill in the rest — that's part of the job, not an extra.