12 honest questions worth asking before you commit to anyone — written by someone who builds websites for a living, not to sell you mine.
I see it a lot — a business owner picks a designer, pays upfront, and only finds out later they don’t actually own their own domain, or that every small text change means another invoice. None of it’s complicated once you know what to ask. So here’s the honest list I’d want if I were hiring someone myself.
Ask to see 3 real, live sites they’ve built — not mockups, not a portfolio page screenshot. Click through them yourself.
Check they’re mobile-first, not just “mobile-friendly” — open any example on your own phone before you hire them.
Ask who owns the domain and hosting once it’s built — it should always be you, never locked into their account.
Ask if you can edit the site yourself afterwards — or whether every small change means another invoice.
Get a real timeline, not “a few weeks” — ask what happens if you’re slow sending content, and what happens if they are.
Ask what happens after launch — is support included, for how long, and what does it cost after that.
Check the price is for a finished site, not a bare minimum they’ll upsell from — ask what’s not included.
Ask about SEO basics up front — page titles, meta descriptions, structured data. If they can’t explain it simply, that’s a flag.
Ask how many revisions are included — and what happens if you want more.
Check they build with a system you can actually leave later — avoid anything so custom or locked-down that only they can touch it.
Ask to see how they handle a real problem — a bug, a missed deadline, unhappy feedback. How they respond tells you more than any portfolio.
Trust how it feels to talk to them — rushed, vague, or pushy answers before you’ve paid are a preview of after you’ve paid.
Pop your email in and I’ll send it straight over — no spam, just the checklist.
If you’re ready to talk about your own project, I’d love to hear about it.
