GuideHow to choose a web designer: 12 questions to ask

Start with what the site has to do

Before you ask anyone for a quote, write down what the website needs to do for your business. For most trades and local businesses it's one of three jobs: get the phone ringing, get quote requests in, or let people book. Everything else is detail.

It also helps to know where your customers come from now. If most of your work comes from people searching on Google, you need a website and a Google Business Profile that work together. If it mostly comes from word of mouth, the website's job is to reassure people who have already heard your name.

With that written down, you can judge every quote against one question: will this bring in more of the work I want?

The 12 questions to ask a web designer

Ask these on the first call. A good designer will answer all of them without fuss, and most will be glad you asked.

1. Whose name will the domain be registered in?

The answer should be yours, or your business's. The domain is your web address, and it's the one thing you can't easily replace. If it's registered to the designer, you don't fully own your website, and leaving later can mean paying to get it back.

2. Where will the site be hosted, and what does that cost?

You want the name of the host and a clear monthly or yearly cost. "Don't worry about that" isn't an answer.

3. If I leave, can I take the website with me?

Ask what you'd actually get: the files, a copy of the site, the logins. Some website builders and agency platforms can't be moved at all, so leaving means starting again from scratch.

4. What does the monthly fee cover?

Hosting, security, updates, backups, small changes, support? Get it in writing. A fee that only covers hosting is very different from one where you can send over new photos and prices and have them done.

5. Is there a minimum term, and what happens if I end it early?

Monthly plans can make a good website affordable, but know how long the plan runs, when the site becomes yours and what leaving early costs before you sign anything.

6. Who writes the words?

If you're left to write every page yourself, the project will stall while you're busy with work. A good designer writes the words with you, using the phrases your customers type into Google.

7. How many rounds of changes are included?

A set number of rounds, agreed up front, keeps the project moving and stops surprise bills at the end.

8. How long will it take, and what do you need from me?

You want a realistic date and a short list of what they need from you: your logo, photos, prices and the areas you cover. Waiting on those is the most common reason website projects drag on for months.

9. Will it work properly on phones?

Most people looking for a local business are on their phone. Ask to see live websites they've built, and open them on your own phone there and then.

10. Will it have a security certificate?

That's the padlock next to the address. Without one, browsers warn every visitor the site is "Not secure". It should come as standard.

11. Who will own my Google Business Profile?

Your profile should belong to your own Google account. Anyone helping you with it should be added as a manager, so you can remove them whenever you like.

12. Can I speak to someone you've built a website for?

A designer with happy clients won't mind you asking. When you speak to them, ask whether the designer still picks up the phone after launch.

Red flags I keep seeing

• The domain is in the designer's name. On UK Business Forums, one owner found their previous designer had registered the domain to the design firm, then wanted £75 plus VAT to hand it over.
• No written proposal or contract, just a price over the phone.
• A monthly plan with no end date and no point where the website becomes yours.
• "Guaranteed page one on Google." Nobody controls Google's results. Anyone promising this is guessing.
• A platform you can't leave, and nobody will tell you what moving away involves.
• A "Not secure" warning on their own website or their clients' websites.
• Regular calls selling you extras you never asked about. Another owner on the same forum was paying £600 a month for a package they felt did nothing.
• No live websites to show you, only templates and mock-ups.

Two websites I've had to rescue

Anthony Mason Upholstery, Bedfordshire

Tony has 40 years in upholstery. He'd paid an agency thousands for a website that didn't work, and his domain was tied up in their setup. Getting it out took some untangling. I moved everything onto hosting he controls, built a full site around his work and set up his Google profile across four counties. If he ever wants to leave, he can. Read Tony's story.

MH Auto Services, Milton Keynes

Martin's garage has been fixing cars for 40 years. Its old website had no security certificate, so every visitor saw a "Not secure" warning, on the website of a business that runs on trust. I rebuilt it, secure and built for phones, with the 40 years front and centre. Read Martin's story.

What a proper handover looks like

When the website goes live, you should have, or be able to get at any time:

• a login to the domain, registered in your name
• the name of the host, and what moving away would involve
• a login to the website, if it has an editor
• your Google Business Profile in your own Google account, with the designer as a manager
• Google Analytics and Search Console set up under your account
• copies of your photos, logo and words
• in writing, what the monthly fee covers and how to end it

My own answers to those questions

It's only fair to hold myself to the same list.

• Domain: registered in your name from day one.
• Hosting: I host the sites I build as part of website care, unless you'd rather use your own host.
• Leaving: the website is yours once it's paid for, and I'll hand everything over if you move on.
• Monthly fee: hosting, the security certificate, backups, updates, small changes and a monthly check-in.
• Minimum term: pay monthly plans run for 24 months, then the site is yours. If you end one early, the rest of the term is still due. Paying upfront has no term.
• Words: I write them with you.
• Changes: two rounds are included in every build.
• Timeline: most projects take 1 to 3 weeks, and the list of what I need from you is short.
• Phones and security: every site is designed for phones first and has a security certificate.
• Google profile: it stays in your account, and I'm added as a manager.
• Payment: half to start and half before launch, with the price agreed in writing first.
• Past clients: their stories are on my projects page.

A checklist to take to your calls

• Domain registered in my name
• Host named, with the cost in writing
• I can leave and take the site with me
• Monthly fee covers hosting, security, backups and changes
• Minimum term and exit terms in writing
• Words written with me
• Number of change rounds agreed
• A date, and a short list of what they need from me
• Live sites checked on my phone
• Security certificate included
• Google profile stays in my account
• Spoken to a past client