10 questions to ask before hiring a web designer (and the answers that should worry you)

Hiring a web designer feels like hiring a mechanic in a country where you don’t speak the language. You can’t check the work, so the industry’s worst operators thrive on your silence. These questions fix that — not because the answers are technical, but because how someone answers them tells you who they are. We’ll give you both versions: the answer you want, and the one that should end the meeting.

1. “Do I own the website outright — files, domain, accounts — if we part ways?”

Good: an unhesitating yes, everything, here’s how the handoff works. Worrying: anything involving “our platform,” “our proprietary CMS,” or a site that stops working when payments stop. Site-hostaging is the industry’s oldest trap, and monthly-fee models where you never own anything are its polite modern form.

2. “What exactly do I get for the monthly fee — itemized, each month?”

Good: a concrete list — pages written, updates made, reports sent — and reporting that shows it happened. Worrying: “ongoing optimization” with no artifacts. If the deliverable can’t be named, it usually doesn’t exist. Here’s how to check on one you already pay.

3. “Can I see another client’s actual results — the real data, not a percentage?”

Good: real Search Console or analytics screenshots, with context and warts. Worrying: “we increased a client’s traffic 400%” with nothing behind it. Percentages without baselines are the industry’s favourite costume; 400% of nearly nothing is still nearly nothing.

4. “Will my site have a separate page for each service and each town I serve?”

This one’s a trap — for them. Good: yes, that’s the core of the build, here’s the page list. Worrying: a blank look, or “we’ll mention your service areas.” This architecture is the single biggest factor in local ranking; a builder who doesn’t lead with it is selling brochures.

5. “Who, by name, does the work — and who do I talk to after launch?”

Good: a name. Worrying: “our team,” which at volume shops means whoever’s cheapest this quarter, and after launch means a ticket queue. Post-launch abandonment is the most common complaint in this industry — ask specifically what happens in month seven when something breaks.

6. “What happens to my Google rankings during the rebuild?”

Good: they talk about redirects, preserving existing pages’ addresses, and protecting what you’ve earned. Worrying: a shrug. Careless rebuilds routinely vaporize years of accumulated ranking; anyone who hasn’t thought about it will learn on your rankings.

7. “How will the site load on a phone — and will you show me the speed score?”

Good: speed treated as a feature with a number attached. Worrying: “it’ll be responsive” — which is 2015’s answer to a question about speed. Your customers are on phones in driveways; a slow site loses them before it loads.

8. “What do you do about AI search — ChatGPT, Google’s AI answers?”

Good: a straight explanation of structured data and being citable — without guaranteed-placement promises, which don’t exist. Worrying: either “that doesn’t matter” (it increasingly does) or “we’ll get you recommended by ChatGPT, guaranteed” (nobody can). Both wrong answers reveal how they handle things they don’t understand.

9. “Is any of your pricing a percentage of my ad spend?”

Good: flat, stated numbers. Worrying: percentage-of-spend, which pays them more when you spend more — the incentive structure behind every zombie campaign we’ve autopsied.

10. “What would make you tell me NOT to buy something?”

The character question. Good: a real answer with examples — “I’d tell a brand-new business to use a website builder first,” “I’ve told clients to skip ads.” Worrying: silence, or a pivot back to the pitch. Someone who can’t name a thing they’d talk you out of will never talk you out of anything, and your budget will feel it.

For what it’s worth: this page is also our own exam, on the record. Ask us all ten — the answers are already published across this site, which is rather the point.