questions to ask a website designer before you pay
The right questions uncover scope, ownership, SEO, maintenance and delivery risks long before a website proposal becomes an expensive surprise.
Begin with outcomes, not page counts
Ask: what do you need from us before design begins, and how will the website help us achieve our goals? A useful designer should discuss customers, services, enquiries, trust signals and required integrations before deciding how many pages to sell.
Ask to see a relevant example and understand what the designer actually delivered. A screenshot says little about whether forms work, pages load on a phone or the owner can update the website.
The first question worth asking
How will you turn our business needs into a clear website structure, not just an attractive homepage?
Be exact about the deliverables
How many pages and content revisions are included? Who writes the text, supplies photography, sets up forms and handles legal pages? What happens if we add a service after design approval? Who checks mobile, tablets and browsers?
A proper proposal describes the deliverables and change process. Without it, the client and designer may each believe the other has accepted responsibilities nobody budgeted for.
Request an itemised scope
Separate design, development, copy, photography, integrations, SEO setup and ongoing support.
Ask who owns what after launch
Who owns the domain? Who has hosting access? Can we export website files, content and data if we change suppliers? Which third-party tools or licences will remain payable?
The answers should be practical. A provider can host and manage your site, but it should be clear how account access, renewals and backups are handled and what happens when the relationship ends.
Insist on a sensible handover
Ask for the final credentials, documentation and a backup or export procedure as part of delivery.
Test the technical promises
Will the website have a unique title and description on each page, proper headings, descriptive images, canonical URLs, a sitemap, SSL and sensible loading performance? Will contact forms be tested and analytics configured?
SEO is not a guarantee of first-place rankings. A credible designer should describe what technical foundations they can deliver, what depends on ongoing content work and how you can verify the setup.
A useful demonstration
Ask the designer to show one real mobile page, send a test enquiry and explain where the result goes.
Understand the timeline and life after launch
What are the milestones, approval dates and dependencies? How many revision rounds can you request? What maintenance, security updates, backups and response times are included after launch? What is the full cost for year one and year two?
Finally, ask what would make the project unsuccessful. A designer who can identify the risks early is often easier to work with than someone who promises everything will be effortless.
Request one clear closing document
Scope, price, payment milestones, dates, ownership, support and the acceptance checklist should be written down.
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