Ask the client the right questions

Sam has spent the first part of the course improving Cedarline Web Studio's own website plan. The homepage draft explains whom the studio helps. The services-page draft makes the options easier to understand. The Work-page draft shows what Sam has designed and gives visitors a clear way to inquire.

Now Sam turns to an inquiry from ClearFlow Plumbing, whose owner wants to discuss a possible website redesign.

ClearFlow helps homeowners in Austin, Texas with water heater repair and drain cleaning. The owner wants those services explained more clearly and wants it to be easier for homeowners to get in touch.

Sam could open a design tool and start arranging a new homepage. But an attractive layout won't answer the most important questions yet.

What does this business need its website to do? What already works? And what should be checked before anything changes?

Those are the questions a good discovery conversation should answer.

A website owner might say, “We need a more modern site.” That's a useful starting point, but Sam needs to understand what the redesign is meant to achieve.

For ClearFlow, Sam already knows three important things:

• Who the website should help: homeowners within Austin.
• What ClearFlow actually offers: water heater repair and drain cleaning.
• The main business goal: more relevant water heater repair inquiries, while still welcoming suitable drain cleaning work.

So instead of starting with colors and fonts, Sam prepares questions like:

“Which inquiries would make this project worthwhile for you?”

“What do customers usually need to know before they call or fill in the form?”

“What can we say about your services, and what details should you check before we publish them?”

The owner knows the business. Sam's job is to turn that knowledge into useful website decisions.

For example, Sam should not add “24-hour emergency plumber” to the redesign simply because it sounds appealing. ClearFlow has not confirmed that service or availability. Sam can ask about it when appropriate; until then, the page should describe the work the owner has actually approved.

Sam already has notes from an October 20, 2026 review of ClearFlow's website. The current website has pages for both main services, plus an article, About and Contact.

That matters because a redesign is not automatically a reason to replace every page or change every URL. Some existing pages may already help customers find the right information. Others may have issues that should be investigated before the new design begins.

Here's a small part of Sam's October 20 review folder:

Sam also keeps the existing /about page and /blog/no-hot-water-what-to-check article in the full page list. The article helps with an information question; it doesn't replace the water heater repair service page.

One finding deserves attention. In the earlier review, the water heater repair page had a noindex instruction. In simple terms, that tells Google not to include the page in its search index when Google can access and read the instruction.

That's important for a business whose priority is getting water heater repair inquiries through search.

Sam makes a note to check whether the instruction is still there and agree who will investigate it. Sam does not create a duplicate page or make an unapproved change just because the issue is in a report.

The lesson for a designer: understand the existing pages before deciding what to redesign, keep or move.

Sam also wants a baseline. That's simply a dated record of what the website was doing before the redesign.

Why bother? Because after launch, the owner may ask, “Is the new website working better?” Without a starting point, it's hard to compare.

Reporting period: September 1–30, 2026

Sam records the reporting period beside those numbers. A Search Console click isn't identical to an analytics session, and those four inquiries cannot be assumed to have come from the 142 Google clicks.

There's no need to master those reports today. We'll learn how to interpret them in Lesson 13. For now, Sam wants to know what reporting already exists, whether current access can be arranged, and how ClearFlow records genuine inquiries.

The October website review and September reports also come from different dates. Before redesign work starts, Sam will recheck the important pages and record any newer information that is available.

A designer shouldn't expect the client to produce a technical SEO audit. The client provides business knowledge and appropriate access. Reviewing the site is part of Sam's work, with help from an SEO specialist or developer when the task needs it.

Instead of starting a redesign mockup, Sam puts the useful information in one small brief.

This brief is useful because it separates what the business has told Sam, what Sam has found, and what needs a decision. It doesn't turn every open question into another page or another promise.

You don't need to arrive with a complicated questionnaire. Start with:

1. Who are your main customers, and which services matter most?
2. What would a useful inquiry look like, and how do customers contact you now?
3. Which website pages, content or inquiries are important to preserve?
4. Who can confirm business claims, provide access and approve changes?

Then review the existing website and its reports yourself, using the right access and specialist help where needed.

These questions are useful whether the client wants a redesign or a first website. If it's a brand-new website, there won't be old pages or search history to preserve. You still need to understand the business and its visitors.

Sam hasn't forgotten Cedarline's own website. The studio now has clearer drafts, but the contact form hasn't been tested and Sam hasn't recorded a measured inquiry baseline.

Before publishing those drafts, Sam can list the five existing studio pages, check how the project inquiry form works and look at which performance records are actually available.

This is the same habit Sam is building with ClearFlow: know the starting point before calling something an improvement.

Sam is ready to talk about ClearFlow's website without jumping straight into a new layout. Sam knows which services matter, what the existing site contains, what should be checked and which decisions belong to the owner.