Twelve Questions to Ask Before You Sign

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Most bad web projects were identifiable before anyone signed anything, in the answers to a handful of ordinary questions. These are the twelve worth asking, what a good answer sounds like, and the specific evasions that should end the conversation. Ask them of everyone quoting you, including us.

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Ownership and exit

  • "Who owns the code, the domain and the hosting account when we are finished?" The right answer is you, all three, without qualification. Anything else means you are renting your own front door. Watch for a domain registered in the agency's name, which is how a routine disagreement becomes a hostage situation.
  • "What happens if I want to leave in two years?" A good answer is immediate and boring: you take everything, here is how the handover works. Hesitation here is the most reliable warning sign on this page.
  • "Is anything in this build proprietary to you?" Proprietary page builders and licensed themes are not automatically wrong, and you need to know, because they determine whether the next developer can work on the site or has to rebuild it.

Scope and process

  • "How many revision rounds are included, and what happens after that?" A number, and an hourly rate afterwards. Unlimited revisions are either untrue or priced in, and vagueness here is how fixed-price projects turn into resentment.
  • "Is the design custom or a template you are adapting?" Both are legitimate and they are not the same product at the same price. Being told a template is a custom design is the issue, and asking to see the design before the build is how you find out.
  • "Who writes the content?" Missing copy is the single most common reason a build stalls for months. Establish whether you are writing it, they are writing it, or it is being charged separately, before rather than after.
  • "What do you need from me, and when?" A builder who has done this before has a list: content, images, brand assets, access to accounts, a decision-maker who can approve. One who has not will discover each of these at the point it blocks them.

What "SEO included" means

  • "What specifically is included for SEO?" You want particulars: page titles and descriptions written per page, heading structure, schema markup, a sitemap, Search Console connected, image optimisation, mobile performance. If the answer is the word "SEO" repeated at greater length, nothing is included.
  • "Will the site render its content without JavaScript?" This sounds technical and it decides whether AI assistants and some crawlers can read the site at all. A great many modern builds fail it, and most people selling them have never checked.
  • "What will the site score on mobile performance, and will you show me after launch?" A specific commitment, measured after launch rather than promised before it.

Proof and accountability

  • "Can I see three sites you built that are live now, and speak to those clients?" Live URLs, not screenshots in a case study. Then actually open them on your phone. A portfolio of images proves someone can produce images.
  • "Who exactly will do the work?" In smaller shops the person selling is often the person building, which is a genuine advantage. In larger ones it is worth knowing whether the work is subcontracted, and to where. Neither answer is disqualifying; not getting a straight answer is.
  • "What happens after launch if something breaks?" A defined warranty period, then a named support arrangement. "We're always here" is not an answer, and it is the one most commonly given.

The answers worth walking away from

  • A guaranteed number one ranking on Google. Nobody controls the algorithm, and anyone claiming otherwise is either misinformed or lying, both of which are reasons to leave.
  • Payment in full before work starts. Milestones are normal. Everything up front is not.
  • A refusal to put the scope in writing, or a proposal that is a price with no itemisation behind it.
  • Discomfort with the ownership question, in any form.
  • Pressure to sign today, or a discount that expires this week. Legitimate builders have a pipeline and do not need to close in the room.
  • A quote dramatically below everything else you have been given, with no explanation of why. There usually is a reason, and it is usually a template, an offshore subcontract, or a scope that does not include the things you assumed.

How to compare the quotes you get back

Put them side by side on scope rather than on price. Most quotes that look different are quoting different projects, and once you have matched them line for line the comparison usually becomes obvious. That is also exactly what our beat-any-quote promise does: we match the scope item for item first, so the comparison is like for like, and then come in under the number in writing.

If someone has quoted you fairly for the right scope, take their offer. We would rather tell you that than win the job badly, and an agency unwilling to say it about a competitor is telling you what kind of advice you will get later.

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Frequently asked questions

What is the most important question to ask a web designer?

Who owns the code, the domain and the hosting accounts when the project is finished. It is the question with the largest consequences and the one most rarely asked, and the answer should be an immediate and unqualified "you do". Everything else on the list matters less than this.

Should I get multiple quotes?

Yes, three is usually enough. The value is less in price comparison than in seeing how differently three professionals scope the same project, which teaches you what the project actually is. Insist each quote itemises what is included, or you will be comparing numbers attached to different work.

Is a cheaper quote always worse?

No, and the question to ask is why. Lower overhead is a legitimate reason, and so is a template where a template is appropriate. An offshore subcontract you were not told about, or a scope quietly missing the content, the SEO and the revisions, is not. Ask what explains the difference and judge the answer.

How do I know if an agency is any good before hiring them?

Open three of their live sites on your phone, not in a case study. Check they load quickly, work on a small screen, and that the businesses are real ones you can look up. Then ask to speak to a client. A studio confident in its work makes that easy.

What should be in the contract?

Scope in detail, the deliverables, the timeline with what happens if either side is late, the payment milestones, the number of revision rounds, who owns what at the end, what support is included after launch, and how either party ends the arrangement. If any of those is absent, it will be the one that becomes a problem.