How to choose a web designer: 10 questions to ask first

Choosing a web designer is harder than it should be. Everyone's own website looks good, everyone says they are affordable, and most small business owners have never hired one before, so there is nothing to compare against.

The problems people bring to me nearly always go back to something nobody asked at the start. A domain registered in the designer's name. A monthly fee nobody mentioned. A site that can only be changed by one person who has stopped answering emails. These are the ten questions that would have caught every one of them. Ask them of anyone you are thinking of hiring, including me.

1. Can I see websites you have built for real businesses?

Not mockups and not templates: live sites, at their own addresses, that you can open on your phone. Click around them. Do they load quickly? Can you find the phone number and the prices without hunting? Do two of their sites look like the same template with the colours swapped?

If you can, message one of the businesses and ask how it went. A good designer will be happy for you to. You can see the sites I have built here.

2. Who will own the domain name?

This is the most important question on the list. Your domain (yourbusiness.co.uk) should be registered in your name, as the legal owner, even if the designer buys it and sets it up for you. If it is registered to the designer and you ever part ways, you can lose your own web address, and every link, business card and Google listing that points to it.

3. Do I own the website, and can I take it with me?

Ask what happens if you want to move to someone else in two years. Some site builders and some agencies rent you the website: stop paying and it disappears. Others hand over everything. Neither is automatically wrong, but you should know which you are buying before you start.

4. What is the total price, in writing?

You want one figure, agreed before any work starts, that covers what you have discussed. Be wary of hourly rates on a small project, because nobody can tell you in advance how many hours it will be. I explain what moves the price in what a small business website actually costs.

5. What will it cost every month or every year after launch?

The build is only part of the cost. Ask about all of these separately:

• The domain renewal, usually a small yearly fee
• Hosting, which keeps the site online
• Any monthly plan for updates, changes and support, and whether it is optional
• Anything the site depends on, such as a booking system or an email service

A cheap build tied to an expensive, compulsory monthly contract is not a cheap build.

6. Will it be built for phones first?

Most people who find a local business find it on their phone, often standing in a kitchen or sitting in a van. Ask to see the designer's previous sites on your own phone, not on their laptop. Text you have to pinch to read, buttons too small to tap and a phone number you cannot press are all signs the site was designed on a big screen and squeezed down afterwards.

7. What will you do so people can find it on Google?

A website nobody finds is a brochure in a drawer. You are not asking anyone to promise you the top spot, because nobody honest can. You are asking whether the basics are included:

• A proper page title and description on every page, written for the searches your customers actually make
• Your town and the areas you cover, named clearly on the site
• Structured data, the hidden information that tells Google your business name, address, hours and services
• A sitemap, and the site connected to Google Search Console so you can see what people search to find you
• A fast site, because Google ranks slow sites lower and visitors leave them (more in why your website is slow)

Be careful of anyone who guarantees page one. Nobody controls Google, and the businesses that promise it usually mean page one for a search nobody makes.

8. Will I see it before I pay for all of it?

Ask how you will see the site while it is being built and how many rounds of changes are included. A private preview link you can open on your own phone, and a clear number of revision rounds, stop the whole project resting on a single reveal at the end.

The way I work: I build you a demo first, before you commit to anything, so you can see exactly what you would be getting. If you go ahead, half is paid at the start and the rest once the site is finished and you are happy with it.

9. Who writes the words and supplies the photos?

This is where most projects stall. Ask whether the designer will draft the text for you to approve, or expects you to write every page yourself. Ask whether they will use stock photos of strangers, or help you get photos of your own work, which nearly always look more trustworthy. There is a checklist in what to send your web designer before they start.

10. What happens after launch?

Websites need small changes: new prices, new photos, a holiday notice. Ask how you request a change, how quickly it is done, and what it costs. Ask whether you will be shown how everything works, and who to call if the site goes down on a Saturday.

Local, or anywhere?

You do not need a designer down the road. Most of the work happens over video calls, email and preview links. A local designer does have one real advantage though: they know your area, your competitors and how your customers search, and that shows up in the words on the page. If you are near me, here is how I work with businesses in Basingstoke.

The short version

1. 1.See live sites they have built for real businesses
2. 2.Make sure the domain is registered in your name
3. 3.Find out whether you own the site and can take it with you
4. 4.Get one total price in writing
5. 5.Ask about every ongoing cost
6. 6.Check their sites on your own phone
7. 7.Ask what is included for Google
8. 8.See it before you pay for all of it
9. 9.Agree who writes the words and supplies the photos
10. 10.Know what happens after launch