20+ essential questions to ask a client before developing their website

Whether you're a freelance developer, agency owner, or in-house designer, these essential questions will help you gather the critical information needed to develop websites that truly work for your clients' businesses.

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The questions below are organized into categories that cover every aspect of web development planning.

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Business goals & strategy questions

1. What is the primary goal of your website?

Why this matters: This single question shapes everything from site architecture to call-to-action placement.

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Follow-up questions:

• Are you trying to generate leads, increase sales, or build brand awareness?
• How will you measure success?
• What's not working with your current website?

2. Who is your target audience?

Why this matters: Your design, content, and functionality decisions should align with user needs and behaviors.

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Follow-up questions:

• What are their demographics and technical skill levels?
• How do they currently find information about your services?
• What devices do they primarily use to browse the web?

3. What actions do you want visitors to take?

Why this matters: Every effective website guides users toward specific conversions.

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Follow-up questions:

• What's your most important call-to-action?
• How many steps should the conversion process have?
• Where do you want these actions to happen on the site?

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Technical requirements questions

4. What specific functionality does your website need?

Why this matters: Understanding technical requirements prevents costly surprises during development.

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Areas to explore:

• E-commerce capabilities
• User login/membership areas
• Third-party integrations (CRM, email marketing, etc.)
• Custom forms or calculators
• Appointment booking systems

5. Do you need a content management system (CMS)?

Why this matters: The choice of CMS affects development approach, timeline, and ongoing maintenance.

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Follow-up questions:

• Who will be updating content after launch?
• How often will you need to add new content?
• What level of design control do you need?

6. What are your hosting and domain requirements?

Why this matters: Technical infrastructure affects performance, security, and scalability.

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Follow-up questions:

• Do you have existing hosting you want to use?
• What are your expected traffic levels?
• Do you need specific security certifications?

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Design & branding questions

7. How would you describe your brand personality?

Why this matters: Design should authentically represent your client's brand and resonate with their audience.

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Follow-up questions:

• What adjectives describe your ideal brand perception?
• Who are your main competitors, and how do you differ?
• What brands do you admire (in any industry)?

8. What websites do you like and why?

Why this matters: This reveals design preferences and helps set realistic expectations.

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Follow-up questions:

• What specifically appeals to you about these sites?
• Are there any design elements you definitely don't want?
• How do you want your site to be different from competitors?

9. What existing brand assets do you have?

Why this matters: Consistency across all touchpoints strengthens brand recognition.

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Follow-up questions:

• Do you have brand guidelines we should follow?
• What logos, colors, and fonts should we use?
• Do you need new photography or can we use existing images?

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Content & SEO questions

10. What content do you currently have?

Why this matters: Content often becomes the biggest bottleneck in web development projects.

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Follow-up questions:

• What content needs to be created from scratch?
• Who will be responsible for writing new content?
• Do you need copywriting services?

11. What are your SEO goals?

Why this matters: SEO requirements affect site structure, content strategy, and technical implementation.

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Follow-up questions:

• What keywords do you want to rank for?
• Do you have existing SEO data we should analyze?
• Are there specific local markets you want to target?

12. How will you maintain content after launch?

Why this matters: The CMS and site structure should match your client's content management capabilities.

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Follow-up questions:

• Do you need training on content updates?
• How often will you add new content?
• Who will be responsible for ongoing content management?

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Project management questions

13. What's your timeline for this project?

Why this matters: Realistic timelines ensure quality work and proper resource allocation.

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Follow-up questions:

• Is there a specific launch date we need to meet?
• Are there any seasonal considerations?
• What could cause delays on your end?

14. What's your budget range?

Why this matters: Budget transparency helps you propose appropriate solutions and avoid scope creep.

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Follow-up questions:

• Should we plan for a phased approach?
• What's your budget for ongoing maintenance?
• Are there any must-have features within this budget?

15. Who will be involved in the approval process?

Why this matters: Clear decision-making processes prevent delays and confusion.

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Follow-up questions:

• Who has final approval authority?
• How many people need to review each deliverable?
• What's your preferred feedback process?

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Competitor & market research questions

16. Who are your main competitors?

Why this matters: Understanding the competitive landscape helps you create differentiated solutions.

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Follow-up questions:

• What do their websites do well?
• Where do you see opportunities to outperform them?
• How do you want to position yourself differently?

17. What feedback have you received about your current website?

Why this matters: Existing user feedback provides immediate improvement targets.

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Follow-up questions:

• What complaints do you hear most often?
• What do users say they like about your current site?
• Where do you see users getting confused or dropping off?

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Post-launch questions

18. What are your plans for ongoing marketing?

Why this matters: The website should integrate with broader marketing strategies.

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Follow-up questions:

• Will you be running paid advertising campaigns?
• Do you need integration with email marketing tools?
• How will you drive traffic to the new site?

19. Do you need ongoing maintenance and support?

Why this matters: Setting maintenance expectations prevents future misunderstandings.

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Follow-up questions:

• What level of technical support do you expect?
• Do you need regular content updates or just technical maintenance?
• How quickly do you need responses to support requests?

20. How will you measure success after launch?

Why this matters: Defining success metrics ensures you can prove ROI and identify areas for improvement.

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Follow-up questions:

• What analytics tools do you currently use?
• What reports do you need to track performance?
• When should we schedule a post-launch review?

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How to use these questions effectively

1. Don't ask everything at once - Spread these questions across multiple conversations
2. Listen for what's not said - Sometimes the most important insights come from reading between the lines
3. Ask follow-up questions - The initial answer often leads to more valuable information
4. Document everything - Create a project brief that captures all decisions and assumptions
5. Revisit key questions - Client needs may evolve during the project

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Conclusion: Better questions lead to better websites

The time you invest in asking these questions before starting development will save you countless hours of revisions, prevent scope creep, and lead to happier clients. More importantly, you'll create websites that actually achieve your clients' business goals.

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At HeyMate!, we use these questions as the foundation for every web development project. The result? Websites that don't just look great—they work great.

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Ready to start your next web development project with a solid foundation? We'd love to help you create a website that truly serves your business goals. Contact us today to begin the conversation.