WP Shala

I will usually ask several questions about the nature of the business, target market, aspirations for the future, information about competitors and learn as much as possible about the objectives of building a website.
Sometimes I will ask questions such as:
Is this your first website?
Is this your first business project?

This will tell me how much consultancy and education I need to provide.

Other questions I usually ask:

1. How established is your brand name?
2. What stage of evolution is your business at and where do you expect it to be in 1-3-5 years time?
3. How long have you been in business?
4. Do you have a brand / logo?
5. Who is the core client that you are targeting?
6. Is this niche / target client likely to change in future?
7. How do you currently interact with prospective clients?
8. What kind of marketing do you currently do?
9. Are you active on social media?
10. Have you considered using LinkedIn to gain new work?
11. What do currently have in the way of professional photography?
12. Do you have a mission statement / core philosophy that sets you apart from competitors?
13. Please give some examples of your competitors websites or those that inspire you.

Finally, it is important to understand that Good Web Design is a Service and not a Product.
Successful projects always work as a true collaboration between designer and client.

Working with clients, collaborating, communicating, sharing knowledge and experience, and creating a successful solution that makes the client happy.

I worked for many years as a contractor with digital agencies in London and found that I preferred working more closely with clients to offer a complete holistic solution using my favourite open-source CMS, WordPress.

I have a wealth of experience covering web, print, social and content strategy. I design, project manage, specialise in front end development and also have a good command of back-end technologies. For anything I don't know how to do I will call in a trusted expert that I have worked with before.

My work and design ethic is informed by my love of Japanese culture, where perfection, utility and service are valued at the highest level.

I believe in maintaining long-term relationships with my clients and prefer to take responsibility for the management and hosting of a website for the long-term also. There are too many unfinished or unmaintained websites around, those that load painfully slowly, don't work well on mobile, or have poorly written content. I take pride in producing websites and solutions that continue to look good and function well many years after launch.

All of my work, apart from possible meetings at the outset, is done remotely