Explain the problem before comparing quotes
Choose a designer who can explain the proposed work, show relevant examples, and make the costs and responsibilities clear before you commit.
Describe your services, customers, service area, and what the website needs to do. If you have a site, explain what is unclear, difficult to update, missing, or not working.
That gives providers a more useful basis for recommendations than “make it look modern.” You do not need to prescribe the technical solution.
Ask: what pages and writing are included?
- Which pages will you plan, write, design, and build?
- What information and photographs do you need from me?
- How will I review the writing and design?
- What forms or features are included?
- How are extra pages, revisions, and changes handled?
- What affects the schedule?
Compare the answers as well as the headline price. A cheaper quote may leave more writing or implementation to you.
Ask: what will I pay for and control after launch?
- Which platform and subscriptions will the site use?
- What recurring costs are separate from the build?
- Who controls the domain, website account, analytics, and recovery access?
- What content and assets do I own or have rights to use?
- Can I update the site, and what are the platform’s limitations?
- What happens if I change providers?
Ask: how will you handle SEO and existing pages?
Ask which search planning and technical checks the build includes. Important headings and writing should be in the initial HTML, and links should have crawlable destinations.
For a redesign, ask how existing URLs and useful content will be reviewed. A clear plan identifies which pages stay, change, merge, redirect, or retire. “We will redirect everything to the homepage” is not an adequate page-by-page answer.
Look at complete examples and ask about the role
Review the live site on desktop and mobile where available. Ask what the designer wrote, designed, built, or managed, and which parts are still in development.
Client work and owned projects can both show capability, but are different relationships. A screenshot is not evidence of traffic, leads, or revenue growth.
Ask: what will be checked before and after launch?
- Who reviews all pages and mobile layouts?
- Who tests contact options and confirms form delivery?
- Who checks redirects, metadata, indexing settings, and tracking?
- What training or handoff is included?
- Who handles future updates and what support continues?