Hiring a web designer is one of those decisions that looks simple until it goes wrong. A beautiful mockup means very little if you discover six months later that you do not own your own domain, that nobody can edit your pages without paying a fee, or that your “finished” site still has three unfinished templates sitting behind a password.
This guide is written for the non-technical business owner. It gives you the questions to ask a web designer before hiring them, what a solid answer sounds like, and the warning signs that should make you slow down and keep interviewing. Print it, bring it to your calls, and take notes.
Before You Ask Anything: 5 Minutes of Prep
You will get far better answers if you walk into the conversation with a rough idea of what you want. You do not need a technical brief. You just need clarity on four points:
- The goal of the site: leads, online sales, bookings, credibility, or support deflection.
- The budget range you are comfortable with, even if it is broad.
- A realistic deadline and what is driving it (a trade show, a funding round, a season).
- Who will maintain the site after launch: you, an employee, or the designer.
Designers who hear vague answers will quote vague prices. Clear inputs protect both sides.
Part 1: Process, Experience and Fit (Questions 1 to 4)
1. Can you walk me through your process from kickoff to launch?
This is the single most revealing question in the entire interview. You are not testing their vocabulary, you are testing whether they have done this enough times to describe it without hesitating.
What a good answer sounds like: a clear sequence with named stages and deliverables, for example discovery, sitemap and content plan, wireframes, design concepts, build, content population, testing, launch, then a post-launch review. They should mention who is responsible for what at each stage, including you.
Red flag: “We just start designing and show you something.” No discovery phase usually means no strategy, and strategy is what separates a website from a brochure.
2. Have you built sites for businesses like mine, and can I see them live?
Portfolio screenshots are easy to polish. Live URLs are not. Ask for links you can open, click through, and test on your phone.
Good answer: three to five live sites in a comparable sector or with a comparable goal, plus a short explanation of what the business needed and what changed after launch.
Red flags:
- Only images, never links
- Half the portfolio sites are offline or redesigned by someone else
- Every example looks like the same template with a different logo
- Refusing to say which parts of a project they personally did
3. Can I speak with two recent clients?
Testimonials on a website are curated. A ten minute phone call is not. Ask the reference three things: Did the project finish on time? Were there surprise costs? What happened when something broke after launch?
Red flag: hesitation, or references that are all from more than two or three years ago.
4. Who exactly will work on my project?
In small agencies, the person who sells is often not the person who builds. That is normal. Hiding it is not.
Good answer: named roles, a named main point of contact, and clarity on whether any work is subcontracted or offshored.
Red flag: “Our team will handle it” with no names, no roles, and no single point of contact.
Part 2: Ownership and Access (Questions 5 to 7)
This is where non-technical clients lose the most money. Read this section twice.
5. Who owns the domain name, the design files and the website code when we finish?
The correct answer is you do, in writing, in the contract.
Good answer: “The domain is registered in your name with you as registrant and admin contact. On final payment, full ownership of the design and the site files transfers to you.”
Red flags:
- The agency registers your domain under their own account “for convenience”
- Ownership is described as a licence that ends if you stop paying a monthly fee (acceptable only if you knowingly buy a rental website, never acceptable by surprise)
- Vague answers like “that is not usually an issue”
6. Will I receive full administrator access to everything at launch?
Make a list and ask about each item: domain registrar, DNS, hosting control panel, CMS admin, analytics, Search Console, email, any third party plugin licences.
Red flag: “We keep admin access so clients do not break anything.” You can agree to leave the technical work to them, but you must always hold the master credentials. A business that cannot access its own website is a hostage.
7. If I leave you in a year, what exactly can I take with me?
Ask them to describe the exit. A professional will answer calmly because they have done it before.
Good answer: “You take the domain, a full backup of files and database, your content, and the credentials. We provide a handover document and respond to your new provider’s technical questions for a defined period.”
Red flag: proprietary builders that cannot be exported at all, with no mention of this in the proposal.
Part 3: Platform, Hosting and Performance (Questions 8 to 11)
8. What platform will you build on, and why that one for my business?
There is no single right platform. There is a right reason.
| Answer you hear | How to read it |
|---|---|
| “WordPress, because you will publish articles weekly and want to edit pages yourself” | Good: the choice is tied to your use case |
| “A static site, because it is a five page brochure that rarely changes” | Good: proportionate and fast |
| “Our own in-house system” | Caution: ask about export, lock-in and what happens if they close |
| “Whatever, it does not really matter” | Red flag: no reasoning behind the decision |
9. Where will the site be hosted, and am I free to choose or move the host?
Many designers resell hosting. That is perfectly legitimate and often convenient. The question is whether it is optional and transparent.
Good answer: they name the hosting provider, tell you the real monthly or annual cost, explain what is included (backups, SSL, staging, support response time), and confirm you can migrate elsewhere whenever you want.
Red flags:
- Hosting is mandatory and the provider is never named
- Hosting price is several times the market rate with no stated added service
- No daily or weekly backups, or backups stored only on the same server
- No SSL certificate included
10. How will you handle speed, mobile and accessibility?
Most of your visitors arrive on a phone. Ask what performance target they aim for and how they test it.
Good answer: mentions image compression and modern formats, limiting heavy plugins and scripts, caching, testing on real devices, and checking basics like colour contrast, keyboard navigation and alt text on images.
Red flag: “It will look great, do not worry.” Performance is measurable. Ask them to show the scores of a site they built.
11. What do you do about security and backups?
Ask specifically: how often are backups taken, where are they stored, how fast can the site be restored, who applies CMS and plugin updates, and is there any monitoring.
Red flag: any answer that implies updates are your problem but access is theirs.
Part 4: Timeline, Communication and Content (Questions 12 to 14)
12. How long will this take, and what could delay it?
The honest answer always includes a dependency on you.
Good answer: “Six to eight weeks, assuming we receive your text and images by the end of week two. Every week of late content pushes launch by about a week.”
Red flag: an aggressive promise with no conditions attached, such as “your site will be live in five days,” for a project that clearly needs discovery and custom content.
13. How will you keep me updated, and how fast do you reply?
Communication failure causes more project deaths than code failure.
Good answer: a named channel (email, a shared board, a project tool), a fixed rhythm (weekly update, milestone demos on a staging link), and a stated response time during business days.
Red flag: “Just message me anytime” and nothing more. That usually becomes silence in week four.
14. Who writes the content and who sources the images?
This is the most common hidden cost in web projects. Copywriting, photography, translations and stock licences are often excluded from the quote.
Ask directly:
- Is copywriting included, and for how many pages?
- Are stock photo licences included and in whose name?
- Who migrates existing content from the old site?
- What happens if I deliver content late?
Part 5: Pricing, Revisions and the Contract (Questions 15 to 17)
15. What exactly is included in the price, and what is not?
Ask for a written scope with page count, functionality list, and explicit exclusions. A line item saying “website design” for a five figure sum is not a scope.
Good answer: a proposal listing page types, forms, integrations, number of design concepts, testing, training, and a clear list of what counts as extra.
Red flag: refusing to put the scope in writing, or quoting before asking you a single question about your business.
16. How many rounds of revisions do I get, and what counts as a revision?
Revision clauses cause the most arguments. Pin down the definition now.
| Scenario | Reasonable treatment |
|---|---|
| Changing colours, spacing, headline wording | Included in a revision round |
| Fixing a bug or something that does not match the agreed scope | Never counted as a revision, it is a fix |
| Adding three new pages or a booking system | New scope, quoted separately |
| Starting the design direction over from zero | Usually chargeable after concept approval |
Red flag: “Unlimited revisions.” It sounds generous and it is almost always either untrue or priced into an inflated quote. Clear, finite rounds with a defined feedback window are healthier for both sides.
17. What is the payment schedule, and what happens if we stop mid-project?
Good answer: staged payments tied to milestones, typically a deposit, one or two interim payments, and a balance at launch. A clear cancellation clause describing what you pay for and what you receive.
Red flags:
- 100% upfront on a large project
- No written contract at all
- A kill fee with no deliverable attached
- Final payment demanded before you have reviewed the staging site
Part 6: Launch and Life After Launch (Question 18)
18. What support do I get after launch, and at what cost?
A website is not a painting you hang on a wall. It needs updates, fixes and small changes. Ask about the first 30 days and about the year after.
Good answer covers:
- A warranty window for bugs at no charge, typically 30 to 90 days
- A maintenance plan with a listed scope and price, or a clear hourly rate
- Response times for urgent issues such as the site being down
- Training: a walkthrough session and, ideally, short recorded videos for your team
- Whether redirects from old URLs, analytics and Search Console were set up at launch
Red flags: no warranty period, no documented handover, or a maintenance retainer that is mandatory but never defined.
Bonus launch checklist to confirm before you pay the balance
- SSL active and the whole site loading over https
- All forms tested and arriving in the right inbox
- 301 redirects in place from the old URLs if this is a redesign
- Analytics and Search Console connected and verified in your accounts
- Page titles and meta descriptions written, not left as defaults
- Mobile checked on at least two real devices
- Backups running and a restore tested once
- Staging site de-indexed or removed
- You have every credential in writing
Red Flag Summary: The Fast Version
| Topic | Green flag | Walk away if |
|---|---|---|
| Process | Named stages and deliverables | “We just start designing” |
| Ownership | Written transfer on final payment | Domain registered in their name |
| Access | You hold master credentials | “Clients do not get admin” |
| Hosting | Named provider, free to move | Mandatory, unnamed, overpriced |
| Timeline | Dates tied to content delivery | Impossible promises, no conditions |
| Revisions | Defined rounds and definitions | “Unlimited” with no scope |
| Contract | Milestone payments, written scope | No contract, full payment upfront |
| Support | Warranty plus priced plan | Silence after launch |
The Questions a Good Designer Will Ask You
Interviews run both ways. If the designer asks you nothing, they are selling a template, not solving a problem. Expect them to ask:
- What does the website need to achieve in the next twelve months?
- Who are your customers and how do they currently find you?
- Who are your three main competitors online?
- What do you dislike about your current site?
- Who inside your company will approve the design, and who has the final word?
- Do you already have brand guidelines, photography and copy?
- What is your budget range and your hard deadline?
A designer who digs into your business before quoting is usually the one who will still be useful to you in year three.
How to Compare Two or Three Quotes Fairly
- Normalise the scope. Count pages, forms and integrations in each proposal. Cheap quotes are often cheap because they include less.
- Add the running costs. Hosting, domain, premium plugins, licences and maintenance over three years can exceed the build cost.
- Price the exit. A slightly more expensive proposal with full ownership beats a cheap one that locks you in.
- Weigh the communication. How they answered your emails during the sales process is exactly how they will answer them during the project.
- Check the contract, not the pitch. If something was promised verbally and is missing from the document, it does not exist.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the single most important question to ask a web designer before hiring?
“Who owns the domain, the files and the admin access when we are finished?” Design taste is subjective and fixable. Losing control of your own domain or website is expensive and sometimes impossible to undo quickly.
How much should a small business website cost?
It varies enormously by market and scope, from a few hundred for a template setup to five figures for a custom build with integrations. Instead of chasing a number, compare like for like: page count, custom design versus template, content writing, integrations, and ongoing costs over three years.
Should I hire a freelancer or an agency?
A freelancer often gives you a lower price, direct contact and flexibility, but limited capacity and a risk if they become unavailable. An agency gives you redundancy, broader skills and process, usually at a higher price. Ask either one the same 18 questions. The answers matter more than the label.
Is it a red flag if a designer refuses to give me admin access?
Yes. It is reasonable for them to ask you not to edit code or install plugins without telling them, and you can agree to that. It is not reasonable for your business to be unable to log in to its own website, hosting or domain registrar.
How long should a business website take to build?
A straightforward brochure site typically runs four to eight weeks, a larger or e-commerce project three to six months. The biggest variable is almost never the design work, it is how quickly the client delivers content and approvals.
What should be in the contract?
Scope with page and feature counts, timeline with milestones, payment schedule, revision rounds and their definition, ownership and intellectual property transfer, hosting arrangements, confidentiality, cancellation terms, and the post-launch warranty and support terms.
Can I change web designers after launch?
Yes, if you own your domain, your files and your credentials. That is exactly why those questions belong in the first conversation and not the last.
Final Word
You do not need to become technical to hire well. You need to ask specific questions, listen for specific answers, and insist that whatever you agreed verbally appears in the contract. The eighteen questions above take about forty five minutes to work through on a call, and they routinely save business owners thousands in rebuilds, migrations and lost time.
If you are preparing a web project and want a second opinion on a proposal, a scope or a hosting arrangement before you sign, the team at 275mb.com is happy to talk it through with you.
