Hiring a web designer is one of the bigger decisions a small business makes in its first few years. The website is often the first thing a customer sees, and a poor one quietly costs enquiries every week. Yet many owners choose on price or a nice-looking portfolio alone, and only discover the problems after the invoice is paid.
These seven questions take ten minutes to ask and can save months of frustration.
1. Who will actually build my site?
Some agencies sell the project and pass the work to someone you never speak to. That is not always a problem, but you should know. Ask who writes the code, who designs the pages, and who you call when something needs changing. Direct contact with the person doing the work usually means faster answers and fewer misunderstandings.
2. Is the price fixed, and what does it include?
A quote should list the number of pages, the features, the rounds of changes, and what happens if you ask for something extra. Ask about hosting, domain renewal, security updates and support after launch. A low headline price with a long list of add-ons is often more expensive than a higher fixed quote.
3. Will I own the website?
This catches many businesses out. Ask whether you will own the design, the content and the code, and whether you can move the site to another provider. If the answer involves a monthly fee you must keep paying or lose the site, understand that you are renting, not buying.
4. Can I update it myself?
Prices change, staff change and opening hours change. You should be able to edit text, swap photos and add a news post without paying for each small job. Ask for a short demonstration of the editing screen before you commit. If it looks confusing in the demonstration, it will be worse on a busy Monday.
5. How fast will it load on a phone?
Most local customers will visit on a mobile, often on a weak signal. A site that takes six seconds to appear loses a large share of them before they read a word. Ask the designer to show you speed test results for sites they have already built, on mobile rather than desktop. Past work is the best guide to what you will get.
6. What will you do to help customers find it?
A website nobody visits is an expensive brochure. A good designer will set up clear page titles, sensible headings, a page for each service, and details of the areas you cover. They should also explain what they will not do. Be wary of anyone who promises the top spot on Google within weeks. Nobody controls that, and honest agencies say so.
7. Can I speak to a past client?
Reviews are useful, but a five-minute call with a real customer tells you more. Ask whether the project finished on time, whether the final cost matched the quote, and how quickly problems were fixed afterwards. An agency that is confident in its work will be happy to put you in touch.
What good answers look like
Clear answers matter more than impressive ones. One Derby agency, Webgenix, publishes its starting prices on its website and tells visitors plainly that its team is based in Derby even on pages aimed at other cities. That kind of openness is a reasonable sign of how the working relationship will go. You should expect the same from whoever you choose, wherever they are.
Red flags to watch for
Walk away, or at least slow down, if you hear any of these: a quote given before anyone has asked what your business does, pressure to sign today for a discount, a refusal to say who will do the work, or a contract that keeps ownership of the site with the agency.
A final thought
The cheapest quote and the best-looking portfolio are both poor guides on their own. The right designer is the one who asks about your customers before talking about colours, puts the price and the terms in writing, and still answers the phone six months after launch. Ask the seven questions, compare the answers side by side, and the choice usually becomes clear.
