How to explain your wants and vision

The following tips will help you communicate with your web designer, better enabling her to design the website you want.

Explain the purpose of your site - To create a simple online presence for your small business, to provide information about your products and services, or to expand your business into ecommerce?
Create a list of the information you would like to include on your site. This will include things such as contact information, maps and directions to your retail store, a photo album to display products, a shopping cart, corporate biographies, opportunities to sign up for newsletters or alerts about sales, etc.
Create a basic plan for your website. Decide on the main areas of the site (probably four to seven of them). Name each area, then determine what information should be found in each main area. Sketch your ideas out on paper so that you can show as opposed to tell the designer what you want. However, your web designer will have more experience with organizing information for viewing on websites, so unless you have a very good reason, it would be wise to defer to her judgment in this area.
Make a list of other sites on the Web that you like and dislike to give to the designer. Point out the sites with features that you'd specifically like to include on your site, as well as sites you find attractive. Also make a list of the sites you dislike, and why. This information will make it easier for your designer to understand your vision, and will make it easier for her to design a site that meets your needs.