Client Questionnaire

Information is vital to provide an economical blog/site built within your budget and time-frame. More questions will arise, but these are essential.

WE are ALWAYS finding clients. We choose to work with those who understand the importance of a well-designed, well-programmed, state-of-the art online presence. Those willing to stick to the agreed-upon time line and terms. Then the project reflects well on all of us. Makes the journey more fun, satisfying and fulfilling.

We choose to work with those who are committed and will provide info needed to start/complete YOUR project. We will be INVESTED in YOUR SUCCESS, IF we can come to a meeting of the minds.

IF you are unwilling to peruse and complete as much as possible PRIOR to discussing/meeting, we cannot work together because your chances of wildly successful domination will be diminished.

Initial Information:

What are your goals?
Do you have a current site? If yes, domain address/url:
Do you know the difference between a static website (Site Builder, Dreamweaver, Flash, etc) and a dynamic blog (WordPress)?
Why do you want or have a website or blog?
Do you have a website, but want to add a blog?
Do you have a website, but want to add ecommerce or a shopping cart?
What software are you using or want to use? WordPress, Dreamweaver, GoLive, SiteBuilder, Flash, Joomla, Drupal, FrontPage or what?
I recommend WordPress. IF you want a Flash site, Dreamweaver, GoLive, HTML, SiteBuilder, I will subcontract to another member of my team or another design firm. I will not be responsible for any site not in WordPress. I am ONLY working in WordPress.
IF you need WordPress examples, please see our Portfolio page, VERY simple samples of before and after. Our designers have created far more complex and varied layouts.
Do you have a current web master? If yes, please find out what software used to create your site/blog if unknown.

Name of company hosting your site:
Your login info:

Web address/url for the web host Cpanel:
Username:
Password:
FTP info, ftp.xxx, plus user name and password. Pls verify FTP with your webhost:

We recommend our webhost. IF you insist on staying with your current webhost, additional charges will occur if difficulties installing or using your webhost. We have worked with many webhosts since 1995. Not all are created equal. Some offer limited features and tech support. We cannot guarantee the live site we create on our server can be easily replicated on your webhost server. Some webhosts do not update their settings, which causes problems for their clients.

Domain Registration:

Where is your domain registered? Domain registration is often different company than webhost.
Username for domain registration:
Password for domain registration:
Email account for domain registration:

IF you have an existing WordPress site, but want it redesigned or updated:

Web address/url to login:
Administrator Name:
Administrator password:

Social Media:

What are the user names for your Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other sites? SMO icons can be posted, but ONLY if you provide your user information upfront.

STOP NOW IF you have a domain name or website or WordPress blog or want social media icons, but do NOT know or cannot provide the above information. We cannot proceed.

IF you have the info, but your webmaster is still involved, we cannot proceed without including/discussing/eliminating that person. You must have all this information, in writing, and include/exclude current personnel. This must be agreed upon between yourself or team and our team. Your choice. Deal with this now or stop.

Time-frame, Decision-makers, etc:

What is your time frame for creating or updating your website or blog?
How many people are involved in the decision-making regarding your site? You? Your supervisor, co-workers, a board or what?
ARE THEY IN AGREEMENT for this project?

We cannot proceed without everyone involved in agreement to move forward and to respond in a timely manner. That means THREE days response to any phone call/email/discussion requesting input, data, feedback, etc.

Site info:

List some of your favorite sites and why?
What do you like about your site?
What do you dislike about your site?

eCommerce:

Do you have shopping cart or want/need one?
How many items do you want to sell?
Do you have images for all your products?
Do you have a Product List?
Does your Product List have: product sku, description (both long and short), prices, sizes, weights, shipping rates, and related items?
Do you use PayPal or Pay Flow Pro or some other Merchant Account?
Do you have login info (name/password) for your PayPal account?

CONTENT –

TEXT:

Do you have TEXT?
Does this text need to be copied from an existing site?
Do you or someone know how to copy HTML coded text, not just the text displayed to the public?
Links for all referenced sites, businesses, individuals, products, WITHIN your site and outbound linking to other sites?

IMAGES:

Do you have images for your site?
Do you need a Logo for your site or business?
Do you or others know how to size images for posting? Usually 72 dpi and no more than 500 pixels wide or tall, depending upon layout?
Are you or others making the time to prep the images? Additional charges will be added for ALL imaging work!

Miscellaneous but necessary information:

Do you want a blog?
Are you willing or able to regularly update your blog AT LEAST once a week?
If you are unwilling/unable to update, do you have a budget to hire someone?
Do you send out newsletters?
Do you have a system or procedure to create/maintain mailing list(s)?
If so, what procedures? Who is involved?
Do you use a commercial newsletter service like NamasteLight, aWeber, Constant Contact, iContact, MailChimp, Emma or ?
Is training needed to create emails, newsletters, update the site?

Advertisers and Affiliate Links:

If you use Google Adsense or ANY advertisers, and/or Affiliate Marketing, do you have ALL the information? Name of companies, contact person, phone number, YOUR login info, all of that NOW? If we have to figure that out, you will be charged!

MAINTENANCE and WEB HOSTING:

Maintenance Plan: Client can choose to negotiate that option. IF client chooses to go it alone, client will be required to enter into new contract negotiations for future work. Clients cannot come back later with a problem or modification and expect us to fix it for free. We have no idea what has been changed since we delivered a fully-functioning site per the original contract agreement.

Web hosting: We recommend you host it yourself. IF you want us to host it, I will subcontract it to a member of my team.

CONTRACT INFO:

After the client and designer/programmer come to an agreement as to what the client needs/wants, a contract will be written so both sides are clear as to goals and promises.

ESSENTIAL:

We will require information from the client at the beginning of the job, and throughout the process. We need client’s input and feedback. Often we are missing information, perhaps images or text or product information. Therefore we request as much content prior to starting any website.

We will periodically ask the client for feedback, to be sure we are designing per the client’s needs and requests. We cannot promise delivery on the agreed date if the client takes days or weeks to respond to our inquiries for more information or approval of certain steps. The project might slip past its due date, and additional charges could apply.

If the client requests changes after discussions, emails agreeing to certain steps, additional charges will occur. It is VITAL the client responds to emails, discussions in a timely and accurate manner.

This is a standard business arrangement. We strive to serve you, but if we are unable to move forward because of the client, the terms might change. We ONLY work with successful, motivated, FOCUSED individuals or businesses who realize this is a TEAM effort.