Questions to ask a Web Designer

Having worked as a web designer for 16 years, I understand that the process of deciding on a web designer, getting quotes and knowing who to trust and put the future of your business in the hands of can be stressful, to say the least.

Having been burnt by a couple of mechanics in the past, I feel the same whenever I put my car into a garage. I don’t understand garage speak and never really know what to ask. And just asking “how much is it going to cost” just isn’t enough. For example, in the quoted price are they using new or used parts? Are the parts from the manufacturer? Are the parts guaranteed and if so for how long? If getting a service, what are they going to include and what do I have to pay more for? I really hate having to take my car into the garage!

Choosing a web designer can be tricky. So I’ve put down some questions that are really useful to ask your web designer. It will separate the wheat from the chaff, you’ll know exactly what you’re going to pay and what you’ll get for your money. Because nobody likes unpleasant surprises!

How much does a website cost?

This question deserves a whole blog post to itself, which you can read here.

Are there any ongoing costs?

hosting

Your website has to “live” somewhere. Websites basically live on a server and this is called hosting. Most web designers will charge for hosting, as this is something that they have to pay for. The cost of hosting with a web designer can range from anything around the £10 a month mark (incredibly cheap) to well over £100 a month.

You may also have the option to host the website directly yourself. This starts around £4 a month to host directly.

Personally I charge £12 a month. This includes hosting and WordPress and theme and plugin updates. It’s the best of both worlds for my clients. For just £8 a month I carry out all the software updates for them, which means that if something goes wrong during updating, then I fix it.

Some web designers include a certain number of website updates/edits per month in their monthly fee. I prefer not to do this, unless I know that the client is definitely going to need at least an hour of website updates each month. That’s because if you sign up to this system, if you don’t use those minutes each month, then they expire. So you may be paying for something that you never use. Personally I don’t agree with this and although it’s very common, I find it unethical. I just don’t want to take money for something that you’re not using every month.

Domain name – your www.

Many web designers include a domain name for the first year and then you just pay for the domain name the following year. I charge £20 a year for a domain name. If you are paying more than £50 a month for hosting/maintenance then this would usually be included. You can register a domain name yourself if you prefer for around £10. I recommend NameCheap. They have great prices, good customer service and a good interface that allows you to do all the things you need with a domain name. Their propagation is also almost instantaneous. Although this might sound like jargon, this is important as it means that any changes that need to be made on your domain name settings are instantly updated. Some domain name registrars can take up to 48 hours before the settings are updated globally. Although you might think that is something you’ll never to use (and you probably won’t – your web designer usually does this for you), it’s important for things such as verifying your domain name with Google, email providers etc.

hourly work

Once your website is live, you may never want it updated ever again. However, if you do, it’s important to know before you choose a web designer how much you’ll need to pay for updates. There are a few systems that web designers using for charging for updates once the site is live.

Included in the monthly hosting fee

Unless you are going to want changes made to your website every single month, I recommend not signing up for this. Don’t be drawn into the sales pitch of a reduced hourly rate, unless you’re going to use it. For example, a web designer might charge £60 per hour usually for updates. Their hosting might be £40 a month. They might have an offer that is £90 a month for hosting and updates, so a discount of £10 an hour on updates. Which is brilliant if you need an hour of updates every month. If you don’t though this is money down the drain.

hourly rate

This is a common way to pay for website updates. Most web designers charge a minimum of an hour (but sometimes more). But make sure that you know exactly what this means. What happens if the work they carry out only takes 20 minutes? Do you lose the remaining minutes? Or do they charge in 15 minute increments?  

My system is straightforward but kind of unusual in the industry. You pay my hourly rate which is £45 an hour. I then keep a spreadsheet of the minutes used and these never expire. So if you need 30 minutes of work done in 2024 and then another 30 minutes of work done in 2025, then it will just cost you £45. Or if you need 20 minutes work done each in the whole of 2024, 2025 and 2026 it will still cost just £45. As far as I know I’m the only designer whose system is as flexile as this. It means that you never “lose” any of the time you’ve paid for.

What software is used to build the site?

Over 40% of websites globally are built using WordPress. I use WordPress on all my client sites. It’s open source, incredibly flexible and can build pretty much anything. Another main reason is that it can grow with clients as their business grows. There is also no limit on what you can do functionally with WordPress, so unlike other platforms your website can grow with your business. It’s also a bonus that in the unlikely event that I get run over by a bus, there are literally millions of other WordPress designers and developers who can help you out.

Other platforms that designers use are Wix, SquareSpace and Shopify for shops. Although these are good platforms in their own rights, they do come with some restrictions compared to WordPress. It’s also worth bearing in mind that although Wix and SquareSpace are much better for SEO than they used to be, they still aren’t as good as WordPress.

Do I get the log in details for my site?

I cannot stress how important this is. Even if you never, ever intend to edit your site, it’s imperative that you have the log in details for your site. Whilst running Websites by Diane (the company I sold – please see the About page) I lost track of the number of clients who had to pay for a complete rebuild of their website because their web designer had disappeared overnight, and they couldn’t access their website. It makes me so sad to see businesses in this situation. Having your log in details can protect you and will save you hundreds of pounds on having to get your website rebuilt if your designer disappears.

can i edit my own website?

Some clients love editing their own website and some clients just don’t want to. Either way is fine for me, but I think it’s important to give clients the choice. By editing your site, you can save hundreds of pounds. Make sure that you watch any training videos your web designer sends you though! You don’t want to mess anything up.

Is SEO (search engine optimisation) included?

Personally I think that all websites should include SEO as part of the build as standard. However not all designers do. Some don’t even know how to do SEO! SEO takes time and it’s something that the client can’t actually see, so shadier web designers can get away without doing it.

If you want to know how to check if the SEO has been done on your website just get in touch and I can show you how. It’ll take you 5 minutes and a few clicks and you’ll be able to make sure that the SEO is being taken care of.

If a company is upfront about not including SEO that’s fine. Just be aware that it’ll be a service you’ll need to pay for down the line if you ever want to rank in Google. I offer a cheap SEO service.

What’s your experience/how many years have you been doing this?

It’s really useful to know how long your web designer has been doing what they do. We all have to start somewhere so there is no shame in someone having only a year or so of experience. Using someone who is new to the web design industry means that they will probably be charging less and you can bag yourself a bargain. Do expect gaps in their knowledge though. Looking back at my own journey, at the year 2 mark there will still so many things I didn’t know.  It was very much a case of I didn’t even know what I didn’t know.

A business that isn’t well established is also more likely to just disappear one day. I’ve lost count of the number of clients who have come to me because their designer just disappeared one day.

Personally I think I offer the best of both words with Web Design with Love. I have 16+ years of experience but because I offer cheap web design you can still bag yourself a bargain. If you’re wondering how on earth that is possible (because usually experience equals expensive), please visit the How is Cheap Web Design possible page.

Can I see sites that you’ve built?

All designers should have a portfolio page. This is really useful not just to see their past work and make sure it looks good but also to make sure that the style the designer uses will suit your business.

A word of warning. If the designer just has screenshots of a website and doesn’t offer a link to click through to the site, then beware. I cannot think of a single genuine reason to do this. The only reasons I can think of for a designer to do this is that either they didn’t build the site or that the site they built looks terrible on mobile so they don’t want you to see it live.

How do I know they were built by you?

This is kind of tricky. Many designers, especially at the lower end of the market have a small “built by” at the very bottom of the site. However expensive sites tend not to have this, so you can ask your designer if it’s OK to reach out to the business just to check.

I know that this might seem like a slightly paranoid check to do! However I have been in the industry a long time and have definitely seen designers trying to pass off other work as their own on a portfolio page.

Do you have testimonials?

Testimonials are so important. And by testimonials I don’t just mean the ones that are on their website, because these can be faked. What are much harder to fake are Google reviews, Facebook reviews and Trust Pilot reviews. The Google reviews for the business I sold can still be seen here and for my new business (still new so only a couple of reviews) here

If you’re getting a good vibe from your web designer and they don’t have any reviews yet then don’t rule them out. Clients are busy people and although I always take the time to write a review for good service I understand that not everyone does (and I always feel as though I’m badgering people when I ask them for a review!). When I was completely new to web design, if someone wanted a review, I said that they could reach out to certain clients who had already agreed that it was fine to do so.

What if I want to move to another designer?

This happens more than you might expect. I’ve had plenty of clients over the years who just wanted to move away from their current designer and use me instead. Sometimes the designer was increasing their fees. Or sometimes they were taking an age to respond to emails or they just didn’t get on with their designer any more. Whatever the reason, you want to know that if you want to move away from your designer that you can do so with ease.

how many revisions are included?

This is a biggie. If your web designer doesn’t include unlimited revisions then you need to ask how much revisions cost once you’ve used your allotted amount. Because the last thing that you want is to put down a 50% deposit, be presented with a site that really isn’t what you expected and then have to pay for lots of revisions.

For my bespoke websites I offer unlimited revisions. The client is paying more a bespoke site, and it needs to be 100% spot on.

For my cheap web design service, I’m offering 4 pages for £220. It’s an absolute steal! And whilst I do in theory offer unlimited revisions, I do expect clients to understand that for a £220 site that I’m using AI to help me build (in order to keep the costs down), then the expectations have to be different to a £600+ bespoke website. I want you to be 100% happy with your site whilst at the same time understanding that a £220 site won’t be the same as a £2k site. You can see examples of £220 sites on my portfolio page.

how long will the site take to build?

This is just about going into the build with your eyes open and the correct expectations. You don’t want to pay a deposit and then find out that the designer is booked to go on holiday and your website will be ready a few weeks after they return.

what are the payment terms?

This is so important. Most designers charge 50% upfront and 50% on completion for basic sites. If the site has a lot of functionality and is going to take longer then 50%, 30% and 20% interim payments are the norm. There is no right or wrong, just make sure that you know.

I charge just a £50 deposit for my cheap £220 websites and the remainder is paid once you are 100% happy, just before the site goes live.

You’ll find that experienced designers and developers won’t put the site live until the final payment is made. Like most things in life, you don’t get them until you’ve paid and websites are the same.

what are the terms and conditions?

This is really important. Read the T & C’s! Mine can be found here Many web designers will also ask you to sign a contract. This is completely normal and something I do for my bespoke site. For the low cost £220 websites I feel that it’s not necessary, although you do need to tick and agree to my T & C’s before starting.

Are they a web designer, developer or both?

Let’s start with the differences between them.

A web designer is someone who literally designs the site. The layout, the colours, the flow etc. Ideally they will understand the psychology of colour, UX (user experience), keep up to date with current trends and also keep up to date with studies on how people use websites.

A web developer is someone who codes. They might not be a great designer (but they might be) but are happy to get stuck into a coding problem and come up with a solution or add functionality.

Probably most of the people you come into contact with when looking for a basic business website will be web designers. If you are looking for advanced functionality that requires some serious coding then you will probably want to work with both a designer and developer team.

Personally I’m a designer and what I call a soft coder. By this I mean that I use code to be able to create specific designs.

summary

So that’s it! Questions to ask before hiring your web designer. Hopefully these will make you feel more prepared when choosing a web designer or developer.