Hiring a web designer is awkward: you’re paying for something you can’t fully judge until it’s built. These are the questions we’d tell a friend to ask before handing over a deposit — whoever they hire.
1. Who actually does the work?
At a big agency, the person who sells you the site often isn’t the one building it. Ask who you’ll deal with day to day. With a small studio like ours, you work directly with the person doing the build — fewer games of telephone, faster decisions.
2. Will it be found on Google?
A site that looks great but never appears in search is an expensive business card. Ask how they handle SEO and your Google Business Profile. Local visibility is often where the actual enquiries come from.
3. Is it fast, and built for phones?
Most people will see your site on a phone first. Ask about loading speed and mobile design. A slow site loses visitors before they ever read a word — and Google ranks it lower too.
4. Who owns the site when it’s done?
This one catches people out. Some “free” or cheap-monthly deals mean you never actually own your website — stop paying and it vanishes. The answer you want is simple: you own it. The site, the content, the domain — yours.
5. What does the price actually include?
Get the scope in writing. Does it include copywriting? Photography? SEO? Revisions? A clear, fixed quote up front beats a low headline price that grows every week. (We wrote a full breakdown of what a website actually costs.)
6. Can I see a prototype before it’s final?
You should never first see your finished site on launch day. Ask whether you’ll see a working version early enough to give feedback. We show a prototype before anything’s locked in, precisely so there are no nasty surprises.
7. How quickly do they reply?
This tells you what working with them will be like. If it takes days to get a reply during the sales stage, imagine what it’s like once they’ve been paid. We reply to every enquiry within 24 hours — and say so because we mean it.
8. Can they do more than a website?
Your needs grow. Today it’s a website; next year it might be online bookings, a CRM, or a system to run your operation. A studio that also builds custom business systems can grow with you instead of handing you off.
9. Are they actually local — and does it matter?
For a local business, a designer who knows the area can write genuinely local pages and understands your customers. We’re based in Little Kingshill and work across Buckinghamshire — Amersham, Chesham, High Wycombe and beyond — as well as remotely across the UK.
The bottom line
Looks matter, but they’re the easy part. The questions above are about the things you can’t see in a screenshot: who’s behind it, whether you’ll be found, what you own, and what happens after launch.
If you’d like honest answers to all nine for your own project, tell us what you’re working on — or get an instant estimate with our two-minute quote tool. We’ll reply within 24 hours.