Six questions, and what a bad answer sounds like.
Nearly everybody choosing one is doing it for the first time, against somebody doing it for the four hundredth.
Ask who will own it
The domain, the code, the hosting and every account should be in your name from the first day. A good answer is immediate and slightly puzzled that you asked.
A bad answer explains why it is simpler for them to hold it. Simpler is true and it is simpler for exactly one of you.
Ask what the monthly fee buys
There is often a real one: hosting, a licence, a platform. Ask for it itemised, and ask what happens to the site if you stop paying it.
If the answer is that the site goes down, you are renting. That can be a fine deal, but you should know you are doing it.
Ask to see one on a phone
Not a picture of a site, the site. Open it on your own phone on mobile data and count the seconds. Most people looking at your business will be doing exactly this.
Then search for that business by name and see whether it comes up. A designer whose own clients cannot be found has built pretty things.
Ask who does the typing
Who writes the words, who takes the photographs, and who will still be answering in month seven. Studios sell with a senior and deliver with somebody else, and that is worth knowing rather than discovering.
Ask what happens when you want to change a price
If the answer involves emailing them, your prices will go stale, because everybody's do. You want to be able to change a number from a phone in the shop.
This one question predicts more future frustration than any other on the list.
Ask what they will not do
Anybody who does everything, for everybody, at every budget, is describing a sales page rather than a business. A real answer names something they refuse and says why.
Questions worth asking
How much should I expect to pay?
Enough that somebody is being paid properly for the days it takes, and no more. What moves it is the number of pages, the number of languages, and whether it has to hold stock or bookings. Anybody quoting before seeing your site is guessing.
Is a template a bad sign?
Not by itself. A well-chosen template that loads fast and says the right thing beats a bespoke build that does neither. It becomes a bad sign when it is sold as bespoke.
Should I pay everything up front?
No, and few reasonable people will ask you to. Something at the start and something at the end is normal. Full payment before anything exists puts all the risk on the person who knows least.
What if I already regret the one I have?
Common, and rarely terminal. Most of the time the pages can stay and only the parts stopping them being found need repairing, which is a much smaller job than starting again.
Do I need a contract?
You need something in writing that names who owns what, what is being delivered and what it costs. It does not have to be long. It does have to exist before money moves.
Send us a quote you have been given and we will tell you which of the six it answers and which it dodges. Get a free audit.
Updated