One of the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make is hiring a web designer before they know what they actually want. They assume that the designer or freelancer will ask all the right questions, uncover the strategy, define the message, and somehow transform a vague idea into a website that generates customers. While that sounds ideal, it is rarely how projects unfold in reality.
Most freelancers are specialists in execution. They know how to build pages, create layouts, write code, or work with design tools. That doesn’t automatically make them strategists. Yet many clients unknowingly expect them to be both.
The result is a frustrating process. The freelancer asks a few practical questions, starts designing, sends the first draft, and suddenly the client realizes that something doesn’t feel right. They ask for changes, then more changes, and before long both parties are exhausted. The client thinks the freelancer isn’t good enough, while the freelancer feels the client keeps changing their mind.
In many cases, neither is actually at fault. The real problem is that the thinking wasn’t done before the work began.
Imagine asking an architect to build you a house without first deciding how many people will live there, whether you want a modern or traditional style, how many bedrooms you need, or even what your budget is. No architect can make all those decisions for you. They can guide you, but the vision has to come from somewhere.
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A landing page is no different.
Before you hire anyone, spend time answering the questions that define the purpose of the page. Who exactly is the page for? What problem does that person have? What transformation are you offering? What action do you want visitors to take? What objections might they have? Why should they trust you instead of someone else? What feeling should visitors have after reading the page?
These questions may seem simple, but they determine almost every design decision that follows. The layout, colours, images, headlines, testimonials, call-to-action buttons, and even the length of the page all depend on the answers.
Once you have that clarity, your relationship with a freelancer changes completely.
Instead of saying, “Can you make me a landing page?” you can say, “I need a landing page for coaches who struggle to attract premium clients. The objective is to get them to book a free strategy session. Here is the customer profile, the offer, the structure, the messaging, and the examples I like.”
That is a brief. A good brief doesn’t tell the freelancer how to do their job. It tells them what success looks like.
Ironically, this also gives you much more freedom in whom you hire. If you’ve already done the strategic thinking, you don’t necessarily need the most experienced or expensive designer in the market. You need someone who can execute your vision accurately.
This is where many entrepreneurs can save a considerable amount of money.
Experienced agencies often charge high fees because they don’t just build websites. They also provide strategy, positioning, copywriting, user experience, project management, and design direction. Those services are valuable if you genuinely need them.
But if you’ve already invested time in defining your audience, your message, your goals, and the structure of the page, much of that strategic work has already been completed. At that point, you are mainly paying for craftsmanship and implementation.
That means you can confidently work with talented freelancers who are earlier in their careers. They may have excellent technical skills but less experience leading strategy discussions. By providing them with a detailed briefing, you remove much of the uncertainty from the project and allow them to focus on what they do best.
This approach creates a win-win situation. You receive professional results without paying premium consultancy rates, while the freelancer receives clear instructions that reduce misunderstandings and endless revisions.
