I loved receiving some really great design-based questions from fellow networkers last year, so I jumped at another opportunity for Q&As in 2023 - here are the questions I was asked!

How many of your clients prefer to write their own content?

Most of the time my clients have either written the content themselves, or they write bite-size pieces of copy based on my questions or to suit the SEO keywords and phrases we have prioritised for their website. If they are submitting copy themselves, I will always edit and refine it to suit their brand and the web page it is going on.

If my clients need their copy writing professionally, the strategy planning stage of the web build will create a clearly defined copywriting brief for each page of the site.

Much like decent photography, professional copy can really make a website stand out.

Which industry do you prefer to work with?

I don’t have a preference for industry - I tend to niche by business size (SMEs), rather than by what they do. I love the diversity of my clients and designing across multiple industries keeps my design work fresh and innovative.

Can you help someone who has no idea where to start? No existing branding/material to work with?

Yes I can - its a powerful process to start from a blank sheet and create something strategic and beautiful that simply feels right. The branding process is quite involved, I’m looking to find ‘The core essence’ and ‘The core feeling’ of each unique business I brand. I also research and mood board their ideal clients and how they need to feel whenever they engage with my client. I then look at other businesses (not necessarily competitors) who serve the same ideal clients and analyse their brand strategies.

This all happens before any actual visual design work, so when we do get to the design stage, we have total clarity, so the colours, fonts, illustrative and photographic styles and tone of voice are all sending the same cohesive and strategic message.

Its a much bigger offering (and investment) than simply designing a logo, but branding gives you amazing clarity, confidence and a clear strategy to build your business.

How many colours should someone have in their brand colour palette?

There isn’t a rule really - each brand is unique, so when I’m choosing colours I’ll take into consideration the facets that make up each business, product or service, and create a unique palette to suit. In general, a brand works well with a small number of ‘main’ brand colours and a couple of ‘accent’ colours to use as highlights. I also make sure there are a couple of subtle colours for backgrounds and deep colours for writing legible text.

I use seasonal colour psychology to create a cohesive palette with no jarring colours - each colour will send a key vibe to your ideal client.

How long does it generally take you to complete a web design project?

There are three phases to a great web build:

• The preparation, planning and content creation/supply.

• The build

• Testing and launch

Phase 1 requires a few conversations to create a clear strategy for the design, goals and functionality of the site, it is also where the client needs to spend the time creating or outsourcing the imagery and text. On average I’d say my clients take around two weeks to a month to get their content together after the build plan is in place.

Phase 2 - The actual web build - can come together very quickly (a week to 10 days for a standard site (e-commerce takes a little longer), but only if the strategy is clear and the imagery and copy are 100% ready to drop in. Then there are a couple of days of testing the new site and the techie transfer to make the site live. So assume a couple of weeks for phases two and three.

However, despite all the pre-planning, strategy and preparation phase, the build phase is when some clients really start to think about their new website and this is when more ideas for content and functionality come into play. Scope creep isn’t unusual, but we discuss the impact on price and timescales if and when it arises.

Once the site is live, I hold a video training session with my client so they know how to make changes and add new content to the site.

After this, other training sessions are available to look at the in-house Squarespace Analytics, SEO tips, or bespoke training on any other Squarespace functionality, such as email newsletter campaigns, e-commerce, member areas, blogging or scheduling.

Do you support clients with their web maintenance on an ongoing basis (hosting etc)?

Yes, but only on Squarespace websites that I have designed. I do this on my standard hourly rate, as and when changes are needed. Squarespace sites are hosted on the Squarespace platform, so your web hosting contract is direct with Squarespace, and they are lovely hosts!

Do you provide SEO content too?

Great question! Yes and no … there are so many great things you can do with your website to make it work as hard as possible on google and other search engines. Check out my blog on Squarespace and SEO for more info. When I design and build a site, the first thing we do is ascertain some great key words and phrases (AKA long tail keywords) for your business. I then design the navigation and structure of the site to maximise SEO on these phrases and I use all the back-end and front-end functionality to make the site as optimised as possible! (Squarespace is great for this)!

However … launching a site with great SEO is only the beginning of your SEO journey - in fact its an ongoing job to monitor and manage your key words and phrases both on and off your website, and so if any of my clients are interested in further SEO strategy and implementation, I know a couple of specialists that I definitely recommend who offer various packages to steer your pages up the rankings!

Do you offer a "Website makeover" package?

Yes, I offer website audits for websites on any platform where we discuss the main goals of your site and I create a report on how I would optimise the site to further hit those goals, this may include restructuring the navigation and content. I also give feedback on the visual aspects, the functionality and the customer journey. I’ve had clients use these reports to great effect by making the changes themselves or giving the report to their web developer.

I only make on-page changes to Squarespace sites though, so for Squarespace clients, I will create the report and I can then make the changes myself. So a full ‘ website makeover’ is only for people with Squarespace sites, its not a package, but I create an estimate of the hours needed to complete the suggested changes.