Des Moines website design: hiring and planning

Define the customer task and the work

Write a brief around the action you want customers to complete. A shop owner might want visitors to find opening hours and order an item. An office owner might want visitors to understand services and request an appointment. Identify which actions customers will complete on your site and which involve an outside booking or payment service.

List the pages, forms, products, and existing content you want included. Assign responsibility for copy, photographs, product descriptions, and approvals. Ask each candidate to identify exclusions, revision limits, and change charges. Request milestone dates that account for your content deadlines and review time.

During interviews, ask the designer to walk through a relevant project and explain their own contribution. Then ask them to demonstrate how you would edit opening hours, replace a photograph, or update a service description. Include that training in the proposal if you intend to maintain the content yourself.

Compare costs and Iowa tax treatment

Request separate amounts for design, development, content, migration, hosting, software subscriptions, and support. Record renewal charges and the payment schedule. Ask who pays outside vendors and who handles cancellations. Obtain written quotes for your requirements; the supplied sources provide no verified Des Moines design-price range.

The Iowa Department of Revenue says traditional standalone web hosting is nontaxable. Its guidance treats custom software as taxable in the same manner as prewritten software and identifies software as a service and services related to specified digital products as taxable categories. Ask the provider to explain the classification and any exemption for each relevant charge. [1]

Revenue also describes a commercial enterprise exemption for specified purchases, including prewritten software and software as a service, subject to exclusive business use and other conditions. Give your accountant the proposed invoice breakdown and ask which purchases qualify and what documentation the seller needs. [1]

Put accessibility demonstrations in the scope

The Justice Department states that ADA requirements apply to goods, services, and activities that public accommodations offer online. Its examples include retail stores, food establishments, banks, and medical offices. Discuss accessibility when defining a public-facing business website. [2]

Ask the designer to demonstrate keyboard navigation, labeled forms, clear error messages, readable contrast, image alternatives, and text zoom. Name the technical standard they will use and the booking or checkout screens they will review. The department identifies WCAG as helpful guidance and recommends pairing manual checks with automated tools. [2]

Request a record of the tests, unresolved problems, and responsibility for corrections. Try the complete customer journey yourself, including an incorrect form submission. Agree on a way for customers to report access problems and identify who will handle those reports after launch.

Review customer data before adding integrations

Inventory the information you plan to collect through inquiries, bookings, purchases, and analytics. Ask the designer to name the services that receive it, the people who can access it, and the deletion or export process. Give your legal adviser this inventory before approving privacy notices or data-request features.

The 2025 edition of Iowa Code Chapter 715D sets a scope threshold of at least 100,000 consumers in a calendar year. An alternative route combines at least 25,000 consumers with more than 50 percent of gross revenue from selling personal data. The statute defines consumers as Iowa residents acting in an individual or household context and includes entity and data exemptions. [3]

That edition requires covered controllers to provide privacy notices and specifies controller-processor contract provisions. Ask counsel to confirm current law, applicable exemptions, and your business's role before instructing the designer to implement those provisions. Have counsel identify the exact deliverables and assign responsibility for maintaining them. [3]

Agree on launch acceptance and handover

Make approval depend on agreed demonstrations. Submit an inquiry and confirm receipt. Complete a test booking or purchase if those functions belong in the scope. Review the site on a phone, check your business details, and practice changing content with the designer present.

Require a handover list covering domain registration, hosting, administrator access, software licenses, backups, and support contacts. Write down which assets you own and which you license. For a redesign, request a migration plan covering existing page addresses, email arrangements, and recovery steps. Assign responsibility for renewals and maintenance before approving launch.

Consumer-volume thresholds in Iowa's 2025 privacy statute

Match the proposal to your customer task

Your hiring checklist

1. Describe the customer action and list required pages, forms, and integrations.
2. Assign content, migration, approval, and training responsibilities.
3. Request initial costs, renewals, exclusions, and itemized tax explanations.
4. Agree on manual accessibility demonstrations and correction responsibilities.
5. Inventory customer information and outside services for legal review.
6. Record launch tests, payment milestones, and recovery steps.
7. Confirm account ownership, backup access, and renewal responsibility.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much should I budget for a designer?

Request proposals for the same scope. These sources provide no verified local price range. Compare the build amount, content work, subscriptions, renewals, maintenance, and change charges. Ask each candidate to identify optional work so you can decide what belongs in the initial launch.

Does Iowa tax website hosting?

Iowa Revenue says traditional standalone web hosting is nontaxable. Its guidance addresses software and related services separately and describes exemptions for certain business purchases. Request an itemized explanation and have your accountant review any proposed exemption. [1]

How should I evaluate accessibility testing?

Ask for manual demonstrations alongside automated results. The Justice Department recommends combining these methods and cautions that a clean automated report does not establish accessibility. Include keyboard navigation, forms, zoom, and your complete customer journey in the review. [2]

Should I include Iowa privacy features in the project?

Use the 2025 statute to prepare questions about consumer counts, personal-data sales, exemptions, and vendor access. Ask counsel to confirm current applicability and name any required features before you approve that work. [3]