Selling & Business Models
What information and assets should I collect from a web-design client before work begins?
The short answer
Collect the business goals, audience, approved content, brand files, technical access, legal-owner contacts, and one decision process before you begin designing. Missing inputs should become visible tasks, not surprises halfway through the build.
Use a kickoff package
Ask for:
- Primary goal and action for each audience.
- Required pages, services, locations, and launch deadline.
- Existing analytics, search data, and customer questions.
- Final or assigned website copy.
- Original logo files, colors, fonts, photos, video, and usage permissions.
- Testimonials with permission and accurate attribution.
- Domain registrar, DNS, hosting, CMS, email, analytics, payment, and integration owners.
- Required privacy, accessibility, industry, and local compliance contacts.
- One final decision-maker and feedback schedule.
Do not ask clients to send passwords in a spreadsheet or email. Have them invite your named work account with the minimum permissions required, turn on multifactor authentication, and remove access after handoff. CISA recommends MFA because it helps protect an account even when a password is compromised (CISA MFA guidance).
Audit what arrives
Open every file. Confirm logos scale cleanly, photos are large enough, copy matches the page list, links work, and the client owns or has permission to use the material. Ask for image context and intended purpose, because meaningful alternative text cannot be guessed from a filename. W3C explains that alt text should convey an image’s purpose in context, while decorative images can use null alternatives (W3C images tutorial).
Create a content tracker with page, section, owner, status, due date, and approval. Do not begin every page with placeholders while hoping real copy will fit later.
Confirm responsibility
Write down who approves claims, prices, policies, accessibility decisions, and legal text. A designer can place a privacy policy but should not invent one. Requirements vary by business and location, so the client should obtain qualified guidance where needed.
End kickoff with a missing-items list and state what cannot start until those items arrive. That is not being difficult. It is protecting the schedule both of you agreed to.
Sources and further reading
A free next step
Not sure which business fits you yet?
The free Freedom Path Assessment can help you compare your strengths, schedule, income goals, and preferred way of working before you commit to a business direction.
Helpful WAHMN tool
A useful next step is the Client Intake Form. It helps you collect the copy, images, access, goals, approvals, and project facts a web designer needs.
Related Questions
- How many revisions should I include in a web design project, and how do I prevent scope creep?
- How long should a small-business website project take, and what causes delays?
- Who should own and pay for a client's domain name and hosting account?
- Should a web designer offer ongoing maintenance after launch, and what should a maintenance plan include?
Related WAHMN resource
If you want to turn this website task into a service or build a stronger process for your own site, this system walks through the work in more depth. See Website & Landing Page Build System.