Most people start looking for a web designer the same way. They search for web designer companies near me, open a few tabs, and ask each one what a website costs. Then the quotes come back and none of them match, because every designer guessed at a slightly different job.
The fix is not a sharper question for the designer. It is a short list of things only you have. Gather them first and the quotes you compare are for the same site, the first call is shorter, and the build itself moves quickly. Here is the list, in the order I would gather it.
1. Say what the website is for, in one sentence
Not "a nice website." The job it does. "Get the phone to ring for bathroom remodels." "Let people see the menu and the hours before they drive over." "Look legitimate when someone checks us out after a referral." That one sentence decides a lot further down: how many pages you need, what the homepage leads with, and what the button at the top says.
If the site has more than one job, rank them. The homepage can only lead with one.
2. Write down what you sell and where you do it
A plain list is fine. Your services, in the words your customers use for them, not the words on your invoices. Then where you work: a shop address customers visit, or the towns you drive to. This list becomes your pages and your headings, and it is the part a designer cannot invent for you. A designer who writes it without asking you is guessing.
3. Gather real photos of real work
Start on this one first, because it takes the longest. Stock photos are easy to find, and they make a site look like every other site. Photos of your own jobs, your own shop, your own crew and your own food are what make a stranger trust you.
They do not need to be professional. Recent phone photos taken in good light are usually enough. Pull your twenty best into one folder and delete the blurry ones before you send them. If you have none yet, say so up front, because it changes the plan.
4. Find the logins you already own
If you already bought a domain name, find out where, and make sure you can sign in to that account. The same goes for an old website, a Google Business Profile, and any email that runs on your domain. A new site usually has to connect to at least one of those, and a login nobody can find can leave a finished site waiting to go live.
If a previous designer or a relative set it up, ask them now, while it is a friendly question and not an urgent one.
5. Pick two or three sites you like, and one you do not
You do not need design vocabulary. Send links, and say what you like about each one: the colors, how easy the menu is, the big photo at the top. A site you dislike is just as useful, because it tells a designer what to stay away from faster than any description.
They do not have to be in your industry. Some of the most useful examples come from a completely different kind of business.
6. Know your budget and your date
You do not have to share a number on the first call if you would rather not. But know it yourself, and know whether there is a real date the site has to be live by: an opening, a busy season, a new truck on the road. A budget and a date turn a vague conversation into a plan.
They also help you read the quotes. If one designer's price is far above or below the others, ask what is and is not included. Our own packages are published on our pricing page, so you can check whether we fit before you ever talk to us.
What you do not need yet
You do not need finished copy. You do not need a logo, although if you have one, send the best file you can find. You do not need to know how many pages you want, or what a sitemap is. Those are the designer's job. Your job is the list above, because nobody else can supply it.
How this plays out with us
When someone comes to us with most of this list ready, the difference shows right away. The first call is about their business instead of about what still needs tracking down, and the site moves quickly. Most of our websites are designed and launched in 3 to 5 business days once the content and photos are in. Larger builds take a little longer, and we give you the timeline before we start.
What we ask for to get started is short: your goals for the site, whatever content and photos you would like to feature, and a deposit to reserve your spot on the schedule. The list above is how you get the first two ready. For the other side of the table, the questions to put to any designer you are considering, see our guide to questions to ask before hiring a web designer in Hawaii.