Hiring a Web Designer: What to Prepare and Hand Over First

This guide explains the format each item should take, and it includes a fillable preparation table you can copy into a spreadsheet. A project brief is a separate document that covers goals and scope, so we keep that topic in our guide on how to write a website design brief. Here we focus only on the materials you hand over.

How does poor preparation hurt a website project?

Poor preparation rarely shows up as bad design. It shows up as waiting. For example, a designer builds the home page with placeholder text because the service copy has not arrived. Then the real copy lands, headlines wrap onto two lines, and the layout has to be reworked.

In our field work, three delays come up again and again:

• Nobody knows whose account holds the domain, so the search for access starts on launch day.
• The logo arrives as a small image downloaded from social media.
• Different people send different opinions at different times.

None of these problems is technically hard. Still, each one adds days and sometimes weeks. In other words, preparation is not a favor to your designer; it protects your own budget and schedule. Prepared clients also tend to receive clearer quotes, because the other side does not have to price in the unknowns.

Which logo file formats do you need?

The most useful version of your logo is a vector file: SVG, AI, EPS, or a PDF containing vector artwork. A vector stays sharp at any size, so it works in a small menu and on a large display. In addition, a transparent PNG is handy for quick use.

If you have no vector file, ask the person who designed your logo or the print shop that produced your business cards. In practice, printers often keep this file on hand. If it is truly gone, the logo may need to be redrawn. Mention that before the quote, because it prevents a surprise line item later.

• Include both horizontal and stacked versions if they exist.
• Add a white or single-color version for dark backgrounds.
• Keep a square, symbol-only version for the favicon.

Google's favicon guidelines call for a square image and recommend going larger than 48 pixels. Therefore shrinking a long wordmark will not do the job. You need a separate symbol version that still reads at small sizes.

Where do you find your brand colors and fonts?

If you have a brand guide, one file closes this item. Otherwise, ask your print shop for the color codes used on your cards and brochures. However, a CMYK print value may not look the same on a screen, so your designer should choose the HEX equivalent with you.

Fonts raise a similar issue as well, so give them a line in your notes. The font in your print material may need a separate web license. So send the font name, ask about licensing, and accept a similar web-friendly alternative if needed.

Next, consider readability, which matters as much as appearance. Light gray text on white may look elegant, yet many visitors struggle to read it. Before you commit to brand colors for text and buttons, try them in our color contrast checker. That way you find out where a color will cause trouble before design work starts.

No brand identity at all? That is fine too. Write down two or three colors you like and a few words that describe your tone, such as "serious, simple, warm." Your designer can work from that short note, and you can also confirm whether identity work belongs in the quote.

What copy should you write before hiring a web designer?

Copy delays more projects than anything else, because business owners tend to leave it until the end. Yet the copy you need before hiring a web designer is limited, and a rough draft is enough. At this stage you need correct information, not polished sentences.

1. Company overview: when you started, what you do, and who you serve.
2. A short description of each service: what it includes, who it suits, and how the process works.
3. Questions customers ask often, along with your real answers.
4. Contact details: address, phone, email, hours, and service area.
5. References, certificates, and memberships you have permission to publish.

Even dictating answers into your phone and transcribing them is a good start. Then write the way you explain things to a customer on a call. A copywriter or design team can edit that later, but nobody can invent your industry knowledge from scratch.

What if you cannot write the copy yourself?

Not being a writer will not stop your project. You just have to say so at the start. Copywriting is often a separate line in a quote, so adding it later changes both the schedule and the budget. For that reason, ask directly whether copy support is included.

When clients arrive with raw information, we usually prepare short questions and turn the answers into page copy. Even so, final approval stays with you, because you are responsible for promises about pricing, warranties, and timelines. For small but influential pieces such as button and form labels, see our guide to UX writing and website microcopy.

If pulling this list together feels overwhelming, or you cannot tell which items truly matter, it makes sense to work with a team that handles the process alongside you. Our web design services page explains what we take on, and missing materials simply become part of the project plan.

What should you check in your photos?

Ask two separate questions about every photo: is the quality good enough, and do you hold the right to use it? A sharp workshop photo from a phone can build more trust than a stock image everyone has seen. On the other hand, blurry, dark, or text-covered images drag a site down.

Google's image guidance also notes that sharp, clear photos appeal to users and work better as result thumbnails. So send original files whenever possible, since messaging apps usually compress them. A shared folder is the better route.

• Sort business, team, production, and product photos into separate folders.
• Confirm web usage rights in writing with any photographer you hired.
• Skip images you found through a search engine, because the rights holder may contact you.
• Get permission from employees and customers whose faces appear.

The US Copyright Office explains that copyright protection begins the moment a work is created and fixed in tangible form, so "found online" never means "free to use." If you are weighing a new shoot, read our comparison of professional photography and stock photos.

How should you organize your service or product list?

Your service list shapes the skeleton of the site, because it decides which offerings get their own pages. Therefore replace a general line such as "we do it all" with a clear list, one item per row.

Put the list in order of importance and add two notes beside each row: how profitable the work is, and how often you sell it. Instead of exact figures, use simple labels. "High," "medium," and "low" are enough. As a result, the question of what deserves home page space stops being a debate.

If you sell products, a spreadsheet is essential. Add columns for product name, short description, category, variant, SKU, and image filename. Example scenario: if hundreds of images carry names like "product1" and "product2," matching them becomes a job of its own. Using the SKU as the filename makes the import far easier.

Also mark any work you want to stop selling. A page for a service you no longer enjoy or profit from will only attract the wrong inquiries. Flag seasonal offers separately too, so your designer can build a structure that lets you promote them and pull them back.

Why is domain and hosting access the most critical item?

Domain and hosting access decides whether a finished design can go live at all, so a gap here blocks the project on the last day. If you need a new domain, send your name ideas first. Our guide on how to choose a domain name for your business can help.

If you already own one, collect these details in one place:

• Which registrar you bought it from, and who holds the login.
• When it expires, and whether auto-renewal is on.
• Where your hosting lives, and who can access the control panel.
• Whether business email runs on the same account or on a separate service.

That last point deserves attention. Change domain settings without knowing your email records, and your mail can stop arriving. So export the existing records before anything changes. If you must share a password, use a password manager instead of plain email, then change it when the project ends.

Whose name should the domain be registered under?

The domain should be registered to you or your business, and the account should stay under your control. A domain registered to an agency or former designer can cause serious trouble if that relationship goes wrong. Check the registrant before work begins.

ICANN's Transfer Policy states that registered name holders must be able to move their registrations between registrars. It also requires registrars to give registrants a unique AuthInfo code or tools to generate one. Country-code domains can follow different rules, so check the current process with your registrar.

If a previous provider holds access, start resolving it early, since the timing may depend on them. We cover the steps in how to take back your website and domain from an agency. This section is general information and not legal advice.

What access should you bring from your current site?

If this is a redesign, secure your old site's data before the new design starts. Losing earned traffic, page addresses, and measurement history can set you back. For that reason, prepare analytics access as well as the control panel password.

• Permissions for Google Search Console and Google Analytics.
• The user who owns your Google Business Profile and ad accounts.
• The site admin panel and a recent database backup.
• A list of connected third-party services, such as forms, live chat, or booking tools.

Next, list the pages that bring in traffic. This list tells you which pages to keep and which to merge. Our website content migration strategy covers the planning in more depth. Google's SEO starter guide also recommends descriptive URLs, which makes address decisions part of your preparation.

How do you choose example sites to share?

Example sites are the fastest shared language you and a designer can have. Say "make it modern," and everybody pictures something different. Three links remove much of that doubt. However, a list is not enough; you also need to say what you like about each one.

1. Choose three to five sites, ideally with one from your own industry.
2. Write one sentence for each: menu, color, use of photos, or page flow.
3. Add one site you dislike, because that guides a designer as well.
4. List competitor sites separately and note how you want to stand apart.

Example scenario: "I like the service page flow on site A and the simple photography on site B, and I want to avoid the animated screens on site C." That single sentence does more than pages of general description. Still, an example is a direction and not a template to copy. Design, copy, and images should be yours.

What should you prepare for legal pages?

Legal content depends on your business, so a designer cannot decide it for you. If the site has forms, cookies, accounts, or online sales, think about your privacy notice, cookie information, and terms from the beginning. Requirements differ by country and audience.

The details you will usually need are your registered business name, tax details, address, and a clear note of what data your forms collect and why. Have a qualified adviser approve the final text. For the technical side, see our guide on how to build a GDPR compliant website.

Keep in mind that this section is general information and not legal advice. Copying a template from another website is also risky, because that text describes another company's data flows. As a result, your site could end up making promises that do not match what you actually do.

Who will approve the work?

Moreover, naming the decision maker early matters as much as the materials. In family businesses and partnerships, each feedback round can introduce a new direction. Then the design stops moving forward and simply keeps changing. So the project needs one point of contact and one final approver.

That person also gathers everyone else's views and sends them as a single list. In addition, check how many revision rounds the quote includes and agree on a regular feedback slot. For example, promising a reply every Tuesday by noon protects the project from surprise pauses.

When you give feedback, talk about goals instead of personal taste. "I don't like this color" leads nowhere, while "our older customers can't read this small text" leads to a fix. The site works for your visitors, after all, so they should be your yardstick.

Finally, make sure the approver stays reachable during the project. Planning around a manager who is about to travel or enter a busy season is risky. If that applies to you, hand the authority to someone else in advance and tell the team.

How do you gather reviews and references?

Above all, trust elements are among the hardest-working parts of a website, yet most businesses leave them until the last day. Collecting them takes time because the other party has to reply and give permission. That is why this job belongs before the project starts, not during it.

1. Ask satisfied customers for a short written comment.
2. Get clear permission to publish their name, title, and company.
3. Request separate approval to show any client logo.
4. Add current copies of certificates and memberships to your folder.

Honesty is non-negotiable here. Invented reviews, or the logo of a brand you never worked with, damage trust and may also create legal problems. If you are a new business, for instance, you can lead with your process, your warranty terms, and a real team photo instead. That builds credibility without pretending to have something you lack.

What extra details does online selling require?

Online selling makes the preparation list noticeably longer. A product page is not enough on its own, because payments, shipping, and returns also need decisions. Mention it at the quote stage, since it changes the scope considerably.

• Payment provider and application status.
• Shipping carrier, delivery terms, and delivery regions.
• Return, exchange, and cancellation terms.
• How you issue invoices and which accounting software you use.
• Where stock levels will be updated.

Payment providers generally ask for company documents, and approval can take time. Consequently, start that application at the beginning of the project instead of when the site is finished. Also have your accountant and legal adviser review the returns and delivery text, and check current obligations against official sources.

What should you set aside for a multilingual site?

If you plan to publish in more than one language, say so at the start. A multilingual structure affects layout, menus, and even your domain decisions. A language added later usually means more work than one planned from day one. We cover the technical side in our multilingual website SEO guide.

On the preparation side, begin by noting which languages serve which markets. Then decide who writes the copy in each language and who checks it last. Publishing machine translation on its own is risky, especially for product and contract text, where a small error can create a big misunderstanding.

Likewise, translation is more than swapping words. A German page, for instance, may carry legal disclosure duties that an English page does not. Short words can also grow longer in another language, so your designer should size buttons and menus for the longest one. Sending sample text early makes that possible.

How do you use the fillable preparation table?

Copy the table below into a spreadsheet, complete the status column, and send it along with your quote request. The other side then sees what is ready and what is missing, and can plan more realistically. Put an actual person's name in the owner column, since a general entry like "the company" makes it useless.

In addition, the table becomes more valuable once it has dates. You could add a fifth column with a target date for each item. Your designer can then plan around those dates, and you can see how any delay would move the schedule.

How should you deliver files to your designer?

Delivery matters as much as the materials themselves. Scattered chat messages mean lost files and compressed images. Instead, open one shared folder, send the link, and add each new file there.

For example, you could split the folder like this:

1. 01 Logo and identity.
2. 02 Copy, with one document per page.
3. 03 Photos, with subfolders.
4. 04 Service and product spreadsheet.
5. 05 Legal details and documents.
6. 06 Notes on example sites.

Also, do not put passwords in this folder. Instead, share access details separately and securely. File names should be clear as well, so use a date or page name instead of "final_final_new." If you want to shrink images yourself, use our image resizer, but always keep the originals. The web.dev LCP guide explains how much the right size and format matter for speed, and that decision belongs in the design stage.

Which gaps will not stop the project from starting?

You do not need the complete list before you begin. Some items can run in parallel, while others must be settled first. What matters is knowing what is missing, so state any gaps openly at the quote stage instead of hiding them.

• A photo shoot can happen during design, and knowing the layout makes the shoot easier.
• Copy can start rough and improve during the process.
• A logo refresh should finish before design, because colors depend on it.
• Domain access should be clear at the start, not on launch day.

Example scenario: a small service business starts with its logo and service list, completes the copy by answering the designer's questions, and books a photographer once the layout is clear. This order often works better than waiting for everything. In short, the goal is not a perfect package; it is visible, managed gaps.

What mistakes do people make when preparing?

The most common mistake is discussing visuals before thinking about materials. Debates about color and layout float in the air without content. Copying a competitor's text is another one. It helps neither your legal position nor your SEO, and Google's guidance encourages original writing.

• Sending a low-resolution logo downloaded from social media.
• Leaving domain access with the previous designer and not asking until the last day.
• Leaving the question of who approves unanswered.
• Listing every service and leaving priorities to the designer.
• Using images with unclear copyright.

These mistakes share one trait: they look small at first and get expensive later. That is why one careful pass through this list is worth an afternoon. It can spare you weeks of back and forth. Above all, do not underestimate preparation just because it feels unglamorous.

What should you confirm when hiring a web designer?

Before requesting quotes, add three sentences to your materials list: what the site is for, who it serves, and which action it should trigger. Anyone hiring a web designer with these three answers gets comparable quotes, because everyone is pricing the same job.

Next, send the same list to several providers and compare the scope. Specifically, ask whether copy, photography, extra languages, online sales, and maintenance are included. While you read the replies, our guide on how to evaluate a web design proposal can help.

Finally, make sure the quote states in writing that the files, domain, and admin access will belong to you when the project ends. That clause gains value later, even in relationships that seem trouble-free today.

What is the final checklist before hiring a web designer?

Finally, go through this list one last time before you send your request. Not every box has to be ticked, but you do need to know the status of each one.

• Vector logo and square symbol found.
• Color codes and font name noted.
• Service or product list ranked.
• Page copy written, at least as a rough draft.
• Original photos collected and usage rights checked.
• Domain confirmed in your name, with the expiry date noted.
• Hosting and email services listed.
• Example sites written down with short notes.
• Final approver named.

Once the list is ready, the next step is requesting a quote. You are welcome to send it to us as well. Through our business website design process, we help complete any missing material, confirm the scope, and prepare a written proposal. If you proceed on your own, this list will speed up your work with any team.