Hiring a web designer is difficult for one simple reason: you are buying work you may not know how to evaluate until after the project has started.
A polished portfolio helps, but it does not tell you who will control your domain, whether your contact form will be tested, what happens to your search traffic during a redesign, or whether you will be able to edit the site after launch.
Before paying a deposit, ask questions that expose how the project will actually work.
1. Who will control my domain name?
The business should know which registrar holds the domain and which account controls it.
This is not administrative trivia. ICANN explains that the registrant is the person or entity that holds the rights to a registered domain name, and specifically warns that a third-party developer can end up listed as the registrant if they register it using their own details.
A sensible arrangement is for the business to control the registrar account and give the designer only the access needed to configure the website.
Do not settle for “I will handle the domain for you” without understanding whose account it lives in.
2. Who owns the hosting, website account and other services?
Ask the same question about hosting, the CMS or website builder, analytics, email delivery, payment accounts, image storage and any paid plugins or third-party services.
The goal is not to make every client technical. The goal is to make sure a supplier relationship can end without taking the business infrastructure with it.
For each important service, ask:
- whose account is it in?
- who pays the subscription?
- who can add or remove users?
- what happens if we stop working together?
3. What exactly is included in the price?
“Website design” can mean very different things.
One quote may include strategy, copy structure, responsive design, development, forms, basic SEO setup, analytics and launch. Another may cover only visual design and page assembly.
Ask for the deliverables in writing. The proposal should make it possible to answer a simple question: what will exist at the end of this project that does not exist today?
If you are still deciding what budget is realistic, my guide to website design cost in Nigeria explains the factors that usually change the price.
4. What is specifically not included?
Exclusions are often more useful than a long feature list.
Ask whether the price excludes copywriting, photography, product uploads, payment setup, email, hosting, domain renewal, premium plugins, SEO work, ongoing maintenance or future changes.
A clear “not included” section prevents the common situation where both sides thought the other person was responsible for an important task.
5. What do you need from me, and by when?
Web projects are frequently delayed by missing content, photos, approvals or access.
Ask what you must supply before the project starts and what can wait. If the designer needs brand assets, service information, staff photos, product data or account access, there should be a clear collection process.
This question also reveals whether the designer has a repeatable workflow or intends to improvise the project as it goes.
6. How many revision rounds are included?
“Unlimited revisions” sounds attractive, but what matters is having a defined feedback process.
Ask what counts as a revision, when feedback is collected, how many rounds are included and how additional changes are priced.
Also distinguish a correction from a scope change. Fixing a broken form is not the same as deciding halfway through the project that the site now needs a customer portal.
7. How will the website work on mobile?
Do not accept “responsive” as the whole answer.
Ask the designer how they test the actual mobile journey: navigation, tap targets, forms, booking flows, checkout, phone links, WhatsApp links and important calls to action.
The test should reflect what a customer needs to accomplish, not merely whether the layout shrinks neatly onto a phone.
8. How will you test the forms and enquiries?
A form can look successful while the lead disappears.
Ask what happens after somebody presses Submit. Does the business receive the message? Is the customer shown a useful success state? Are failures visible? Is spam handled? Can you trace whether enquiries are being generated?
Google’s web.dev guidance recommends testing forms across devices and input methods and measuring them rather than assuming they work because the page renders correctly.
For a lead-generation website, I care about the full chain: visitor → page → CTA → form → successful delivery → measurable event → follow-up.
9. What SEO work is included before launch?
Do not ask only, “Do you do SEO?” Ask what that means in this project.
For a new small-business site, useful launch work may include page titles and descriptions, crawlable navigation, sensible URLs, indexability checks, sitemap handling and content structured around the services people actually search for.
For a redesign, the risk is higher because existing URLs may already have rankings or links. Ask how redirects, canonicals and existing search traffic will be protected. My website migration checklist covers the checks I would expect around a serious redesign.
Be cautious with anyone who guarantees a specific Google ranking. A designer can improve the technical and content foundations; they cannot honestly promise Google will rank a page at a particular position.
10. How will accessibility be handled?
Accessibility should not be reduced to installing a widget after the site is finished.
Ask about semantic structure, keyboard use, visible labels, colour contrast, image alternatives and form errors. web.dev notes that forms are particularly demanding from an accessibility perspective and recommends established HTML patterns, clear labels and understandable error feedback.
The exact legal obligations depend on the business and jurisdiction, but usable interfaces are part of competent web work regardless.
11. What analytics will be installed, and who owns the account?
Page views alone are rarely enough.
Ask what the business actually needs to measure: contact submissions, phone clicks, booking starts, purchases, downloads or other meaningful actions.
Then ask which account owns that data.
A website can be visually impressive and still leave the business unable to answer whether it generates enquiries.
12. Can I edit the website after launch?
The right answer depends on the project, but it should be explicit.
Ask which parts you can edit, how edits are made, whether training is included and which changes still require technical help.
For a frequently updated business, content editability may matter more than a highly custom animation. For a stable campaign page, the opposite may be true.
Do not pay for flexibility you do not need, but do not discover after launch that changing a phone number requires calling the original developer.
13. What happens after launch?
Launch is not the end of a website’s life.
Ask who handles software updates, backups, security issues, broken integrations, content changes and monitoring. If there is a maintenance plan, ask what it includes and what still attracts a separate fee.
Also ask what happens if you choose not to buy ongoing maintenance. The website should not become hostage to an optional support contract.
14. What happens if we stop working together?
This is the handoff question.
Ask whether you receive the credentials, code or export that applies to your stack, design assets you paid for, documentation, account access and any other material needed for another professional to continue the work.
A good handoff does not mean every website must be portable to every platform. It means the limits are understood before you commit.
15. How will we know the project succeeded?
This is the question that moves the conversation beyond colours and pages.
A website for a consultant may need more qualified consultation requests. A hotel may need more direct booking enquiries. A school may need clearer admissions information. An ecommerce business may need fewer checkout failures.
Ask the designer what outcome the site is being designed to improve and what evidence you will use after launch.
That answer tells you whether they are thinking about the business or merely the interface.
A simple way to compare web designers
Do not choose purely by the prettiest portfolio or the cheapest quote.
Compare candidates across five areas:
| Area | What a strong answer sounds like |
|---|---|
| Ownership | Business-controlled domain and important accounts, with clear access rules |
| Scope | Deliverables, exclusions, revisions and responsibilities are written down |
| Quality | Mobile, forms, accessibility, performance and launch checks are actually tested |
| Measurement | The project defines meaningful actions and connects them to business-owned analytics |
| Handoff | You know what you receive, what remains platform-dependent and how support works |
The best answer is not always the most expensive one. A simple business may genuinely need a small, straightforward site. The important thing is that the scope matches the job and the trade-offs are visible.
If you are deciding whether you need professional help at all, read AI website builder vs web designer. If you already know you need a site and want someone to think through the customer journey, ownership and implementation with you, see my web design service or contact me.
