One of the first steps in the creation of your website is a call with a member of your design team. In this call, you and your designer will discuss what you want your website to look like, as well as the functionality and information you want on the home page.

To help your designer know what you are looking for in a website, there are a few items that you can do in preparation for this call.

1. Make note of websites that you like.

Knowing the appearance you like for a website design will allow you to show your designer what you find attactive about a website. It will also show your designer the look and feel that should be incorporated into your own website. Look at the placement of elements, types of imagery used, whether there is overall a dark or light colour scheme, etc.

The websites that you take a look at don't all have to be specifically real estate companies – they could also be for grocery stores, banks, news sites, etc. Your designer is specifically hoping to learn what it is that makes a website attractive to you.

2. Know your colour scheme and locate your style guide.

To keep consistent with your company's branding, your designer will want to know what colours your website should incorporate. If you have recent marketing material, taking a look at this will help you determine what colours you should be using to keep your branding consistent over various media. Your logo is also another good place to look when considering potential colour schemes for your website.

Your style guide will probably also list what colours are recommended on any marketing materials – including websites. It may also include other information that will help your designer with the development of your website (such as recommended fonts, types of imagery, iconography, etc).

3. Get to know your target audience.

First time homebuyers are going to be looking for different information than a business owner who is hoping to purchase a commercial property. Different target markets will also probably be more likely to be attracted to differently designed websites. Knowing your target audience will help your designer develop a website that will be geared towards this segment.

4. Decide what elements you want to keep from your current website's home page.

Does your current website have a really neat feature that you'd like to see brought across to your new website? Whether it is a news feed, some featured properties, a property search, or even just some specific imagery – take a critical look at your own website to see what has worked for you. During your design call, you and your designer can discuss how these elements can be brought over into your new website.

5. Calls to Action.

Not every site includes call to action buttons, but many use these as an additional way to bring users to important features inside your website. If you decide that you do want some call to action buttons, think about how many you want and what they would be used for.

Your designer may have additional questions during your design call, but doing a bit of preparation ahead of time will allow you and your designer to get on the same page quicker during the call, and will help your designer develop a website design that better reflects your company.

To view the original article, visit the Lone Wolf blog.