What to prepare before hiring a web developer

Before hiring a web developer, prepare five things: a one-paragraph goal for the site, your content (texts and images), your domain name, your brand basics (logo and colors), and two or three examples of sites you like. That is the whole list. Clients who arrive with these five launch a starter site in 7 days; clients who arrive without them spend more time gathering materials than I spend building. None of them are blockers, though: everything on the list is something I can produce with you, at a fixed price, if you do not have it.

The goal: one paragraph, not a brief

You do not need a 20-page brief. You need one honest paragraph: who should land on this site, and what should they do there? “Homeowners in Denver should request a roofing quote” beats any brand deck. That sentence decides the structure, the pages, and where the buttons go. If you cannot write it yet, that is a useful discovery, and the first thing we solve together.

Content: the real bottleneck

Texts, photos, service descriptions, prices if you show them. Content is the number one cause of delayed websites, ahead of anything technical, as I explained in how long a website takes. Rough is fine: bullet points I can rewrite beat polished nothing. Real photos of your work beat stock images every time; take them with a phone in good light before we start.

Domain: your address, your name

If you own a domain, have the login ready. If you do not, choosing one is part of the job: I offer naming and domain from USD 50, and whatever we register goes in your name, never mine. This detail sounds small and is not; a domain registered to a developer is the most common form of client lock-in I see.

Brand: enough to look deliberate

A logo file (the original, not a screenshot from WhatsApp) and your colors are enough. If you have no brand yet, I build brand identity from USD 300, and idea and design from USD 200 when the concept itself needs shaping. What I cannot do is invent consistency after launch; deciding these basics first is what makes a site look intentional instead of assembled.

Examples: three links and what you like about them

Send two or three sites you like and one sentence each about why: the layout, the tone, the way products are shown. This calibrates taste faster than any questionnaire. Also useful: one site you dislike, and why.

What you should not prepare

Do not write a technical specification, choose a framework, or buy hosting in advance; unwinding wrong purchases takes longer than starting clean. Hosting is billed separately at cost and registered in your name, and the technology choice is my job, priced into the fixed quote. While gathering materials, it is also worth preparing questions for the interview itself: these seven are the ones that matter.

Frequently asked questions

What if I have nothing on the list?

Then we build it into the project: naming and domain from USD 50, idea and design from USD 200, brand identity from USD 300. The quote lists each piece separately so you see exactly what you are paying for.

Should I write the website texts myself?

Write the raw material: what you do, for whom, what makes you different, in your own words. Shaping that into web copy is part of my work. Your knowledge plus my structure beats either alone.

Do I need to prepare a budget figure?

It helps to know my ranges going in: USD 400 starter, USD 900 full website or web app, custom systems from USD 2,500. If your budget and your wishlist disagree, I will tell you what fits and what to postpone.

How should I send everything?

A single shared folder (Google Drive or similar) with texts, images, and logo, plus the goal paragraph in the first message. One folder at kickoff is worth two weeks of scattered emails.

Have your five things, or want help producing them? Message me on WhatsApp and you will have a written price and delivery date within 48 hours.