Hiring the wrong web designer is expensive twice: once when you pay the invoice, and again when you pay someone else to fix it. The good news is that almost every bad project can be spotted during the first discovery call, as long as you ask the right things.
Below are the 21 questions to ask before hiring a web designer, grouped by theme. For each one you get the answer an honest studio will give you, and the answer that should end the conversation. Print it, keep it on your desk during the call, and take notes.
Why these questions matter more than the portfolio
Every designer shows their best three projects. What a portfolio never tells you is who actually built those sites, whether the client owns them today, how many revision rounds it took, and what happened six months after launch.
Design is the visible part of the job. The invisible parts (file ownership, hosting access, technical debt, support, and accountability) are where business owners get trapped. Those are exactly the areas this list covers.
How to run the discovery call
- Ask open questions and stay quiet after each one. Hesitation is data.
- Request that every important answer be repeated in writing, in the proposal or contract.
- Score each answer from 0 to 2 (0 = red flag, 1 = vague, 2 = clear). Below 30 out of 42, keep looking.
- Talk to at least three studios. You cannot judge a price or a process with a single reference point.
Part 1: Scope, budget and deliverables (Questions 1 to 5)
1. What exactly is included in this quote, line by line?
Good answer: A written breakdown listing the number of page templates, unique page designs, copywriting (or not), image sourcing, forms, integrations, mobile optimisation, testing, training and launch. Anything not on the list is not included, and they say so out loud.
Red flag: “A full website, all inclusive.” Vague scope is how a project becomes a fight over change requests in month three.
2. How many pages and templates does the price cover, and what happens if we need more?
Good answer: A fixed number of templates plus a published rate for extra pages or templates, for example a per page price or an hourly rate.
Red flag: “Unlimited pages.” Nothing is unlimited. Either the quality collapses or the extra cost appears later.
3. Who writes the content and sources the images?
Good answer: A clear split. Most studios expect the client to provide the raw content, and offer copywriting as a paid option. They tell you the deadline for delivering your text and what happens to the timeline if you are late.
Red flag: The subject is never raised. Missing content is the number one cause of stalled website projects.
4. What is the total investment, including everything I will pay in year one?
Good answer: Build cost, plus recurring costs listed separately: hosting, domain, premium plugins or licences, email, maintenance plan. You get an annual figure, not just a build figure.
Red flag: A single number with no mention of recurring costs, or a monthly “website subscription” with no clear end date and no explanation of what happens if you stop paying.
5. What is your payment schedule?
Good answer: Usually a deposit (30 to 50 percent), one or two milestone payments, and a final payment at or shortly after launch. Everything is in a signed contract.
Red flag: 100 percent up front from a studio you have never worked with, or no contract at all because “we work on trust”. There’s a good explainer over at websitesbykhara.com.
Part 2: Ownership of files, accounts and code (Questions 6 to 9)
This is the section most business owners skip, and the one that causes the most damage. Ask these even if the rest of the call went perfectly.
6. Who owns the website files and the design when the final invoice is paid?
Good answer: “You do.” Full transfer of ownership of the design files and custom code on final payment, written into the contract. Third party licences (fonts, stock photos, premium plugins) are listed separately with their terms.
Red flag: “We keep ownership and licence it to you” without that being explained up front and priced accordingly. Also a red flag: they cannot answer without checking.
7. Will the domain name be registered in my name?
Good answer: The domain is registered under your company details, with you as the registrant and admin contact. They may manage it for you, but the account is yours.
Red flag: The agency registers the domain under its own name “to make things easier”. Your domain is your business identity. Losing control of it is the single worst outcome of a bad web project.
8. Do I get full admin access to the site, the hosting and the analytics?
Good answer: Yes, administrator level access to the CMS, hosting panel, domain registrar, analytics and search console, handed over in a documented list at launch.
Red flag: “We give you an editor account so nothing breaks.” A limited account for daily use is fine, but you must own the master credentials.
9. If I leave, can another developer take over the site?
Good answer: Yes, because the site is built on a mainstream platform with standard, documented structures. They will happily export everything and hand it over.
Red flag: The site is built on a proprietary in-house builder that only they can maintain, and it cannot be exported. That is not a website, it is a rental with lock-in.
Part 3: Platform, hosting and performance (Questions 10 to 13)
10. What platform will you use, and why that one for my business?
Good answer: A reasoned recommendation tied to your needs: content volume, e-commerce, multilingual, who will update it, budget. They mention the trade-offs of their recommendation honestly.
Red flag: “We always use X” with no reasoning, or a refusal to explain the downsides of their favourite tool.
11. Do you use a pre-built theme or template, and are you telling me?
Good answer: Total transparency. Using a solid theme or starter framework is legitimate and often smart, as long as it is disclosed and reflected in the price.
Red flag: Selling a template as a bespoke design at a bespoke price. Ask directly. Vague wording here tells you a lot about the rest of the relationship.
12. Where will the site be hosted, and am I free to host it elsewhere?
Good answer: A named host, a stated plan, backup frequency, SSL, staging environment, and the confirmation that you can move the site whenever you like.
Red flag: Mandatory hosting with the agency at an inflated price, with no possibility of leaving. Convenience is fine, captivity is not.
13. What performance and accessibility standards do you build to?
Good answer: They talk about Core Web Vitals targets, image optimisation, mobile-first behaviour and at minimum WCAG AA basics: contrast, keyboard navigation, alt text, form labels. They may run a quick check on your current site live during the call.
Red flag: “Speed is a hosting problem” or “accessibility only matters for public sector sites”. Both answers are outdated in 2026.
Part 4: Process, timeline and revisions (Questions 14 to 17)
14. What does your process look like, step by step?
Good answer: Named phases with deliverables: discovery, structure and sitemap, wireframes, design, build, content integration, testing, launch, post-launch review. You know what you will see and when you will be asked to approve it.
Red flag: “We just start designing and show you something next week.” No structure means no accountability when things slip.
15. How many revision rounds are included, and what counts as a revision?
Good answer: A specific number (typically two or three rounds per phase), with a definition: consolidated feedback within a stated window counts as one round. Extra rounds are billed at a published rate.
Red flag: “Unlimited revisions until you are happy.” It sounds generous and it is the fastest route to a project that never ends, or a designer who quietly disengages.
16. What is the timeline, and what could delay it?
Good answer: A realistic range (most small business sites take 6 to 12 weeks) and an honest list of risks, usually content delays, slow feedback and third party integrations. They tell you what they need from you and by when.
Red flag: “Two weeks, guaranteed” with no conditions, or no timeline at all.
17. Who is my main point of contact, and how do we communicate?
Good answer: A named person, a defined channel (email, shared project tool, scheduled calls), and expected response times. Weekly or bi-weekly check-ins are standard.
Red flag: “Just message me any time.” No process means no visibility, and you will be the one chasing.
Part 5: Who actually does the work (Questions 18 and 19)
18. Will the person on this call be doing the design and the build?
Good answer: A straight answer. Either “yes, I do the design and my colleague does the development”, or “no, I am the account lead and here is the team”. Subcontracting is normal. Hiding it is not.
Red flag: Evasive replies, or discovering after signing that the work goes offshore to a team you cannot speak to, with no quality control layer.
19. Can you show me two projects similar to mine and put me in touch with those clients?
Good answer: Yes, with context: what the goal was, what they built, what happened after launch, and a contact who agrees to speak with you. Bonus points if they show a project that did not go perfectly and explain what they learned.
Red flag: Only screenshots, no live URLs. Always visit the live sites. If half of them are offline or redesigned by someone else, ask why.
Two questions to ask their references
- Did the project finish on the agreed budget and timeline, and if not, why?
- How responsive were they three months after launch?
Part 6: Launch, SEO and post-launch support (Questions 20 and 21)
20. What happens on launch day and in the 30 days after?
Good answer: A launch checklist: redirects from old URLs, analytics and search console setup, sitemap submission, form testing, SSL, backups, speed check. Plus a bug fixing window (typically 30 days) included at no extra cost.
Red flag: “Once it is live, our job is done.” Missing 301 redirects alone can wipe out years of search rankings overnight.
21. What does ongoing support and maintenance cost, and what does it include?
Good answer: A clear plan: updates, backups, security monitoring, uptime checks, a stated number of support hours per month, and a response time commitment. Or an honest “we do not offer maintenance, here is who we recommend”. Much the same conclusion turns up on business.com.
Red flag: A mandatory, open-ended retainer with no deliverables listed, or an answer that changes every time you ask.
The red flag cheat sheet
| Topic | Trustworthy answer | Walk away if you hear |
|---|---|---|
| Scope | Written, itemised, with exclusions listed | “All inclusive” with no detail |
| Ownership | You own files and design on final payment | “We keep the files” |
| Domain | Registered in your company name | Registered in the agency name |
| Hosting | Named host, you can migrate freely | Locked-in proprietary hosting |
| Revisions | Defined number and definition | “Unlimited revisions” |
| Timeline | Realistic range plus stated risks | Impossible deadline, no conditions |
| Team | Named people, subcontracting disclosed | Evasion about who builds it |
| Launch | Checklist with redirects and analytics | “Live means finished” |
| Support | Priced plan with response times | Open-ended retainer, no deliverables |
| Contract | Signed, covers ownership and IP | “We do not really use contracts” |
Now flip it: 5 questions a good designer should ask you
A discovery call runs both ways. If the studio only asks about your budget and your deadline, they are quoting a product, not solving a problem. A serious partner will ask:
- What should this website actually do for the business: leads, bookings, sales, credibility, recruitment?
- How will we know in six months whether it worked?
- Who are your customers and how do they currently find you?
- What do your competitors do better than you online right now?
- Who inside your company will update the site, and how confident are they with technology?
If nobody asks you these, you are about to buy a nice looking brochure.
Before you sign: the three-line checklist
- Ownership is written in the contract. Files, design, custom code, domain, accounts.
- Scope and revisions are numbers, not adjectives. Pages, templates, rounds, hours.
- Post-launch is defined. Bug window, support plan, response times, exit conditions.
Get those three right and you have removed roughly 90 percent of the risk in a web project. The rest is taste, chemistry and communication, which the discovery call will tell you plenty about too.
FAQ
What are the most important questions to ask a web designer?
If you only have time for five: What exactly is included in the price? Who owns the files and the domain when we are finished? How many revision rounds are included? Who is actually doing the design and the development? What support do you provide after launch, and what does it cost?
What are the red flags when hiring a web designer?
Refusing to transfer file ownership, registering your domain in their own name, promising unlimited revisions or unrealistic deadlines, demanding full payment up front with no contract, a portfolio with no live links, proprietary platforms you cannot leave, and vague answers about who does the work.
What are the 7 C’s of website design?
They are commonly listed as Context (layout and visual design), Content (text, images, video), Community (user to user interaction), Customisation (personalisation for the visitor), Communication (site to user messaging), Connection (links to other resources) and Commerce (transaction capability). It is a useful framework for auditing whether a proposed design covers more than just looks.
How much should a small business website cost?
Ranges vary widely by market, but a professionally designed small business site typically sits between a low four-figure and a mid five-figure budget depending on page count, custom design, integrations and content creation. Be suspicious of quotes that are dramatically below every other proposal you receive: the gap is usually filled with a template, offshore labour you cannot contact, or costs that appear later.
Should I hire a freelancer or a studio?
A freelancer can be excellent value and highly responsive, but carries single-person risk: illness, holidays or a bigger client can stall your project. A studio costs more and gives you continuity, multiple skill sets and a defined process. What matters is not the label but whether they can answer the 21 questions above clearly and put the answers in writing.
What should be in the contract?
Scope and deliverables, timeline with milestones, payment schedule, number of revision rounds, ownership and intellectual property transfer, third party licences, confidentiality, what happens if either party cancels, and post-launch support terms. If any of those are missing, ask for them to be added before you pay a deposit.
Planning a new website and want straight answers to every one of these questions? Get in touch with the team at spal.me and put us through the list.