25 Questions to Ask Your Website Designer Before Hiring
Are you looking to hire a web designer to help you with your small business website?
You’ve come to the right place.
We put together a list of 25 questions to ask your potential designer before you hire them. Read through the questions and answers carefully to be fully informed before the initial interview.
It’s important to ask the right questions during your selection process because who you choose to work with and build your new website will determine both the end product and how much you enjoy the process.
By asking these questions, you’ll feel more confident moving forward. Since you are likely an expert in another industry, you’ll also better understand what your next web design project will entail.
Remember, you will work with this designer or design firm for a few months. You’ll possibly work with them for several years if you use your website for marketing. It’s an investment and a multi-year relationship.
Searching “website designers near me” used to be advantageous, but now the location isn’t as crucial as fit. However, if your business wants to support other local companies or you need a savvy designer knowledgeable about your specific area, searching with your location in mind will be relevant to you.
We love working with local clients and clients who aren’t local, but we always operate in Eastern Time. This is a crucial consideration because if you hire a company several time zones away, you may be transacting business in the wee hours of the night or have delays. Communication could take a couple of days to relay each way, sometimes slowing down the project significantly.
Also, guarantee that the language spoken aligns with your website content writing needs. The last thing you need is the added complexity of miscommunication because of language differences, inferences or different cultural references.
Meet your designer before hiring them. Schedule a phone or virtual call, or meet in person if you’re both local to set your project up for success. If you have a good rapport with your designer, the project will go smoothly and be enjoyable.
Read below to learn what you should ask web design companies so that you can get the best website for your business needs.
25 questions to ask your web designer before hiring:
1. What kind of research will you do on our business?
Excellence in branding and website design requires research of your business and industry to strategize, design, and market your business successfully.
In our field, this process of research is called “Discovery.” At Design Powers, we call it the Power Plan. Read our blog post all about how the Power Plan improves your website results.
Essentially, discovery is how designers and marketers obtain all the details about your business, wants, and needs so we can accurately quote your project and strategize an actionable, industry-specific plan that outlines the direction of your brand and website and how you will connect with your audience.
Work with a designer who understands your ideal client. Your clients are the lifeblood of your business, so build your design and marketing strategy around them.
If a designer doesn't conduct industry research, that’s a red flag. They need to ask you questions! And you need to answer them thoughtfully!
Your designer must understand your client's problems and your solutions. If you’re unsure how to package your services, a good web designer can help you. Good design is effective visual communication—It is the foundation of successful selling and starts with discovery.
Even though an experienced designer can design a website for any business, ask if they specialize or have worked in your particular industry or niche. Some design firms specialize in certain areas and have higher expertise in back-end tech platforms that sync with specific web platforms.
It’s not uncommon for businesses (real estate, veterinary care, talent acquisition, fitness, health care, etc.) to utilize industry-specific third-party software for distinct functionality that would be cost-prohibitive and time-consuming to build on one’s own website. You’ll want an expert to properly configure the tech so everything works seamlessly for your clients.
Designing and building your website this way allows you and your designer to focus on creating the brand story, content writing and employing best practices needed for your online presence, which also links to the aforementioned third-party platform.
You and your website designer should discuss all the intricacies of your business's technology and applicable software for the web build-out. These essential details must be considered at the onset of the project. Knowing the details helps to accurately price the project in a quote and give you a timeline.
When setting up your brand and website online, your business is our business for the project's duration. Our discovery session(s) is a deep dive into your company to identify your powerful brand purpose and the needed functionalities and determine the correct next steps to assert your online excellence.
Learn more about our Power Plan service to get your website roadmap.
2. Will you review my existing or old website before building my new website?
If you have an existing site, ask your potential web designer if they will look it over. If they won’t or say they don’t need to and you can “just start fresh,” that’s a red flag. You need to review your existing or old website.
A web designer must see what you’ve been working with—tech tools, business software, web platform, pages, settings, and overall online reputation. They must revisit your past or current site to fulfill your future goals and strategize a new rebrand and rebuild.
Tiny websites (1–3 pages) need a light review. Small websites (1–10 pages) need a bit more review because they have more pages. Verbal feedback, with a small list of pages and URLs, is usually acceptable for these site sizes.
If your old website is medium-sized (10–50 pages), you will want to request the designer to provide you with a site audit/analysis or, at the very least, feedback on your current site to learn about the designer’s thought process and ideas.
For medium and large (50+ page) websites, your designer should create a dedicated Google sheet of all the old pages to restructure the navigation and clean up the new site. They’ll also need your input about what gets deleted, transferred, and/or updated to the new site.
Also, if you need to export/import content from a current site into your new site, such as your blog posts, ask about this process. Not all software syncs with each other, and if they do, content always needs to be re-formatted, which is a detail-oriented manual process. Depending on how the blog was set up previously if settings are wrong or could be improved upon, this will take time and must be done correctly.
Sitemaps (old and proposed) should always be created because you will inevitably need to map old URLs and/or forward old links to a new domain to prevent broken links.
Our first step when a client has an old website (of any size) is to run a sitemap for page count and content review. Then, we go to the site and review the main navigation and footer navigation, page by page, to see what we’re working with.
Some website companies offer in-depth paid site audit services and will generate a full written report with problems and solutions to improve the site. We don’t offer one-off website audit services but provide annual site reviews for existing clients in our monthly membership.
Ensuring our clients' websites comply with web development best practices is meaningful and never-ending. There’s a lot of behind-the-scenes work to be done when moving from an old website to a new one; significantly, if the pages and site hierarchy are being changed, they most likely should be updated for a better user experience.
Talk with a web professional if you have a site and are debating updating it. A designer genuinely interested in helping you get what you need won’t convince you to build a new website if making a few tweaks to your current site is all you need.
Or they might refer you to another designer who can help you better depending on your industry or unique needs. Be sure to send them your URL so they can review your old site before you talk.
In summary, ensure your web designer reviews your current or old site because your future site depends on it.
3. Do you offer services other than web design?
Ask your web designer if they have graphic/logo design skills, content writing, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategies, and marketing experience. If yes, they can build a high-performing, well-designed website that generates leads.
Your website should be built to be your business’ marketing machine, not just a beautiful site that no one visits.
Web designers usually offer additional services your business needs, such as logo design, content writing, brand photography, video or editing, social media graphics, etc.
Ask them what other services they offer that tie into the web design project! Better yet, tell them what you need—list what you think you’ll need to discuss it with them.
Many designers have pre-made packages that contain a list of asset deliverables. Don’t know what you need? Book a Power Plan and find out.
In addition to web design, we specialize in online business strategy, Google Business Profiles, brand identity (logo design), graphic design, SEO, content writing, and review management.
We have connections with great brand photographers and copywriters. We also offer ongoing digital marketing services (paid ads) and reputation management (online reviews).
Working with one company simplifies and streamlines the project rather than piece-mealing it. However, under certain circumstances, you might have some parts done already, like the brand identity and photography, and need the web build.
If you know you need particular work done, be specific. If the designer doesn’t offer it, they likely know another creative specializing in it. We often outsource content writing to industry-specific writers and custom brand photography to other specialists if needed. This is determined in the Power Plan and agreed to before starting the design and web build. For more info, see question #5 about outsourcing!
4. Can you design a website that fits my budget?
Communicate your budget before starting the project. Ask the web designer for their baseline starting price.
Some companies list pricing directly on their websites, while others require a custom quote that includes all services or à la carte services.
Our FAQ page helps people understand our pricing and general pricing for web design-related services.
A good analogy for website pricing is a car. You usually need to get an estimate and price out the parts and labor. A website is the same: Do you need a premium product done well (the dealership service center), or are you looking to get something done quickly and cheaply (your friend, a hobby part-time mechanic)?
Ask your web designer what payment options and schedules they offer and consider them against your budget. Additional costs include web hosting, domain registration, plugins, and stock images unless otherwise noted.
Content writing and brand photography are also substantial costs to consider. You may have additional subscription add-on costs such as online scheduling, email marketing, membership, digital product fees, e-commerce, shipping, taxes, and/or third-party software or platforms.
Your web designer can often help you determine the tech stack you need and the subscription plans that would best suit your business at its current stage. They should help you tailor or advise you on solutions since the website will intertwine your business operations.
Still, not all designers do this, and it can be considered business development coaching. We can help businesses that need help figuring these things out when adding new services or pivoting or companies that want to rebrand and streamline online operations.
We’re in favor of being upfront about our pricing per project. It gives a potential client a transparent expectation of what will be a necessary investment to hire us.
To get an accurate cost specific to your business, schedule a call with us and complete the short contact form on our website. It asks for basic information, just enough to tell us if we’d be the right fit for a project. The next step is to talk on the phone to get to know each other more and discuss the form.
We typically require our clients to complete the Power Plan, an essential first step in giving you an accurate quote, schedule and outline of what it will take to create your website and marketing plan. See question #1 for more info about “discovery,” aka the Power Plan.
5. Do you work in-house or outsource your projects?
Some agencies offer web design and development services and will outsource the work. This can sometimes be incredibly helpful, or it can lead to communication challenges (see question #6), project delays, and additional costs.
If your web designer plans on getting additional support, it’s a good idea to know who they’re working with and what they’re working on to eliminate misunderstandings and help you get the best website for your needs.
There are better solutions than cheap outsourcing for your web design project, which could lead to sub-par results.
Is your designer merely the middleman between you and a company they don’t know on the other side of the globe? Or are they actively managing the project with the dedicated team they’ve vetted and operate with daily? There is a difference.
We work in-house and do not outsource brand and web design and development. We partner with trusted, skilled creatives for content writing and professional custom photography.
6. Will I have a project manager or one central contact?
Working with a team of people on your website will either be efficient or slow things down. It depends on the team size and how well they work together.
No matter the team size, have a central point of contact dedicated to your site to ensure that one person manages the project at each step: research, strategy, design, development, launch, and review.
Who will be your point of contact? How will you communicate? Ask about your designer’s project management and design processes (see question #7).
Some designers have set step-by-step project deadlines and timelines you must meet, with pre-scheduled check-ins, while others are more flexible. Some designers prefer email-only communication, while others require you to meet online to share screens.
You will want to communicate frequently with this person throughout the project.
It’s a good idea to have them set up a project schedule. You will want to ensure that the method of communication (email, phone, Zoom, project management software) is agreed upon—for example, we don’t text clients (unless it’s urgent), but we do chat on the phone.
Large agencies will likely have a project/client manager who is NOT the designer. Small design agencies (like us!) will be the client's point of contact AND the lead strategizer/designer. We enjoy working closely with our clients to understand their business thoroughly.
Evelyn, Vanessa, and I communicate with our clients, but Evelyn is our dedicated project manager. She provides a written schedule inside the Power Plan with essential dates and deadlines to which both parties agree.
We prefer working with one or two decision-makers (the business owner) so decisions are made efficiently and feedback is centralized. We also use project management boards and tasks to keep everyone on track and communicate clearly and in one place instead of a million email threads.
We have a passion for fantastic project management and organization. We want to check everything off this list on time—we designers are typically list and deadline-oriented people. Create an event in the Google calendar, or it’s not getting done. Put the task on the board so we all remember. Check, check, and check.
7. What is your design and project management process?
Ask your web designer if they have a documented design process or SOP (standard operating procedure) and/or use project management software.
If they do, it’s a strong sign they have solid experience and will lead you through the entire web design and development process from start to finish like a pro. If they don’t have any process, that might be a red flag unless they’re just starting their business and still figuring things out or testing a new process.
You want your designer to lead the process; that is what you hired them to do. This isn’t DIY—this is done for you expertly and efficiently.
For project management, we use Asana, a project management software (free and paid versions available) and have a documented process for brand identity and building websites (which we update constantly because tech constantly updates).
It’s nice to work with a designer, project manager, and team who will keep you on task, on budget, and launched by your scheduled date! This makes the website process less stressful and much more enjoyable (for everyone!).
8. How long will my website design and development take?
A web designer should be able to give you a timeline or schedule for your project based on the content in hand and what you will need to complete before the project can start.
Does the timing align? A significant consideration is whether YOU have the time and energy to put into the project because you must be involved for a successful website.
If you have no time and want a website done without your input, we can tell you from experience that it won’t work well. At a bare minimum, you must be available for content review, meetings, design approval, feedback and edits, and final touches. Larger projects require you to be available for photoshoots and more.
Sometimes, you want a later start date because you need to get other things done first or have an upcoming vacation, and sometimes, you need to start now. Allowing extra time for unexpected issues or changes is a good idea.
Designers, like any business, like to schedule projects in advance to keep the work pipeline full and avoid feast-or-famine cycles.
Some companies charge late fees if a project is delayed past the designated start date or deadline. If the client becomes unresponsive, the project could be postponed or canceled with no deposit refund. Communicate the deadline and always read the contract before signing on the dotted line. If a serious emergency occurs, the designer should give you some grace and offer options.
Schedules must be respected on both sides! Completing your small business website should take roughly one month at minimum and three months at maximum. We tend to fall in the two-month range (including prep work)—from start (contract signed) to finish (launch).
Some design companies offer design intensives or websites in a week; however, this usually entails just the build phase (remember that there is a necessary prep phase with those design processes).
Timelines will vary depending on the content in hand and the content that needs to be created. They can also depend on the schedules of other creatives tied into the project (content writer, photographer, videographer, etc.). We factor everything into the Power Plan and tailor the timeline to fit your custom needs.
9. What do you need from me before the project starts?
Ask this at the beginning of the project to prevent scrambling for content, images, login info, or anything else. Designers need a handful of things for every project, but this also depends on the services previously discussed and the project's scope.
Talk with your web designer and get a list of what you’ll need to give them to get started. Content delivery is typically done in phases to avoid overwhelming you and is asked for and/or created in an intentional sequence as needed.
You will need written content, photography, and logo design, but that doesn’t always mean you will provide that content. Content creation depends on the designer’s process and your budget.
Generally speaking, lower-budget website builds mean you provide all the written and visual content, and the designer creates the site with that content.
Higher-budget builds usually include content writing, and brand photoshoots are done for you, but you will still be involved. You will always need to provide written feedback/make edits, and you will need to show up for your photo session (and plan for it as well).
An experienced brand and website designer will provide you with direction on all these things. Get clarity on what they need from you and when.
Our project management software assigns you specific tasks with due dates. Even though we offer custom content writing, you usually must provide written background info, fill out a questionnaire, or provide particular content depending on the page type.
We schedule times to meet in advance to kick off our project so you can ask any questions, and we can obtain the account(s) information we need to build the site and get your tech set up. Of course, we have a proposed date to show you all our hard work and your new site. We leave you ample time to provide site feedback and request changes.
10. Should I provide the written copy for the website?
Most web designers aren’t content writers, so they outsource to a content writer. If we know the industry, we may write the content ourselves with help from the client and after doing keyword research. We also have top-notch web writing and formatting skills since we do it daily.
Written content is massively important on your website. It’s the primary way people and search engines find your website (like you reading this blog post now). We recommend hiring a website writer to do this for you. Alternatively, you can create written content for your site.
It’s a good idea to give your written content to an editor for review and ask a handful of (marketing or industry-related) colleagues to critique it. While you may know your business inside and out—can you convey it clearly and confidently on your website?
Designers must work directly with the content writer to be on the same page with the brand and marketing strategy. This also ensures all the pages are written and formatted correctly for websites.
Website writing, brand voice, academic writing, book writing, and blog writing are all different disciplines. You must be working with a writer who knows how to write explicitly for websites and keeps page hierarchy, SEO, keywords, and meta descriptions in mind.
Heading, paragraph length and text formatting all play into excellent web copy. The tone of voice and personality are paramount to your brand as well.
A website's messaging must be spot-on to connect with and convert its ideal client. If the written content is done well, it will be smooth to read and scan (rarely, everyone reads every word on a page).
Are you curious about why you need help with writing? Read our blog for our 4 reasons to hire a professional copywriter.
Using AI to generate written content is a good starting point, but it must be finessed. We prefer human-written content because it’s more authentic and thoughtful. AI can be helpful with editing or trimming too-wordy content.
Are you writing your content yourself? Read our blog post BUILD BRAND TRUST: Top 4 Principles to Writing Website Content that Search Engines Love!
11. Should I provide the images for the website?
This question is similar to #10 (content writing) and should be approached similarly. Gather your images, graphics, videos, and brand materials (logo, fonts, colors). Ask the designer if your logo and photos can be used for the new design.
If you are a photographer, you will likely provide all the images on your site since this is your discipline, and you’ll need to display your portfolio.
You will need new custom brand photography if you are trying to uplevel or rebrand your business. Most web designers aren’t professional photographers, so they outsource to a brand photographer responsible for creating the branded imagery for their sites.
Visual content is hugely influential on your website. It’s another primary way people and search engines find your website (when the image files are strategically named for SEO and accessibility).
Find out if you need a professional photographer and ask for referrals. We have referrals in the DC, Maryland, and Virginia areas and can help you find others if you’re located elsewhere!
Be aware: there are different kinds of photographers. Some only do headshots, and others focus more on lifestyle imagery. Some only take product imagery (e-commerce), food, landscape, or editorial images, etc.
For our website photography, we hired a fashion and brand photographer. The type of photographer you choose depends on the visual brand you’re conveying to your potential client and the content you are shooting.
As web designers, we provide visual direction for images, including a shot list for the web pages, posing guides, and the best colors to wear. Hair and makeup are recommended, too. Read about our day of personal brand photography and everything that went into it.
If our client is local, we will art direct the photoshoot to get optimal results. Often, photographers who are not web designers do not think about how the images are displayed on a website, so we work with them to shoot images that work well on the website pages and layout.
If you can’t book a shoot, you may need to pay for stock images or use an illustrative approach. This is sometimes the better option, but it depends on your business. If you go the illustrated graphics route, we customize them with your brand colors. We optimize your photos and illustrations for the web, including sizing, naming, and uploading, so that your images load fast, are accessible, and are SEO-friendly.
What about AI images? You can use AI to generate visual content, but it’s not copyrighted like the real-life photos you have taken. Even though AI is still relatively new, it already feels over-used.
12. Do you have a portfolio I can see?
Many design companies showcase their work on their websites. Look at previous client work and note their client site's design styles and user experience.
Some companies only feature a few projects on their websites, so if you want to see more of their work, ask!
We highlight select web, logo, and graphic design projects because we seek that work. Along with images, we categorize our case study pages and write a summary of the project and what each entails.
When bidding on graphic design and print work, we give direct links to this type of client work, but it’s not front-facing on our site. It is a common practice in the design industry to create and maintain a niche, clarity and direction.
When looking at designers portfolios, ask yourself these questions:
Is their work modern? Is it attractive?
Are the websites they built responsive? (see question #15)
Does the work align with what you’re looking for?
How is the user experience? Can you navigate easily?
Is the writing clear and compelling?
Do the visuals look exceptional and professional and tell a strong story?
Can they design in various styles? Or do they have just one style? If it’s just one style, make sure it’s one you like. All our website designs differ because they’re created to align with our client’s businesses, target markets and industry competitors.
Does their business have good reviews from past clients? Check their Google Reviews (if they have a Google Business Profile—which I strongly recommend every one of our clients create or update). If they don’t have online reviews, ask them for client testimonials.
13. Which content management system (CMS) do you use?
The content management system (CMS) creates and organizes content on your website. It’s highly unlikely you are getting a website coded from scratch.
It’s important to know what CMS your designer uses to develop your website, especially if you will add content and maintain it post-launch.
Does the CMS support business growth? Can you make updates on your own?
Can you add on e-commerce? Can you add on scheduling software? Can you add on membership or digital products? Can you downgrade if needed?
Do you want all-in-one software, or do you prefer connecting multiple software? Does the CMS have all the functionality your business needs now and might need in the future?
At Design Powers, we build websites on the Squarespace platform. Read why we recommend it for small businesses.
The CMS platform you need comes down to what your business needs. Read our WordPress vs Squarespace: How to Know Which One is Right for Your Business blog post if you’re looking to compare those two platforms.
After several years of working exclusively with WordPress, we switched to Squarespace and have yet to look back (although we do need to revisit WP here and there and still follow along with it in WP groups). The blog post mentioned and linked above delineates why we switched.
Like most things in life, every CMS has its pros and cons.
14. Do you build custom sites or use pre-bought templates?
Web designers offer templates, complete custom-coded websites, CMS sites, and a mix. Is your website genuinely custom-made and coded from scratch? Or is it a website built on a CMS (see question #13) and customized from an existing theme or template?
It’s rare to code websites from scratch when not creating enterprise-level websites. Developers may still do this (as we learned how to do in college or a web development course), but design firms mostly use CMS platforms as a starting point and customize from there.
CMS platforms are the way to go. Knowing how your site will be developed is essential because not all CMS platforms are equal. Do you need a specific design, tech feature or functionality?
Ask about features and limitations and what can and cannot be done.
Even though we use Squarespace, we do not use their templates, which are minimal and only starting points. We start with a blank site and custom-design every website we build.
That said, we are confined to the limitations of the Squarespace platform; however, they add new features nonstop. As Circle members, we have the first look at new features, provide feature requests, and are active in the member-only forum to give feedback.
If your business needs tech functionality outside the scope of Squarespace, is planning on publishing a high volume of pages that are outside the recommended limits, and can’t be satisfied with an appropriate industry-specific platform or software, we will let you know if Squarespace is not the right fit.
We can usually tell whether we’ll be a good fit from the first contact form submission and phone call, so reach out if you need some advice.
15. Are your web designs responsive?
Google’s Mobile Index makes having a mobile-friendly design non-negotiable.
A website that responds for desktop, laptop, tablet, and mobile with one HTML code on the same URL is Responsive Web Design (RWD). This means the website layout adjusts depending on the device screen size it displays.
Here is an easy way to tell if the website is responsive: Open the website in a browser window > Adjust the size of the browser window > Look at the content on the page and see if it’s moving along with the browser size. If the content is not adjusting, it’s not responsive.
Separate desktop and mobile versions with non-responsive elements or adaptive web design (based on fixed sizing) are not best practices. You want your site to be genuinely responsive, meaning elements scale proportionally based on the user's screen size.
Squarespace’s code is responsive and does most of the heavy lifting. In version 7.1, the desktop and mobile layout can be edited independently; however, the tablet has spacing formatting issues (we fix this with a workaround). We advocate for a tablet breakpoint editor in the Squarespace forum, and thankfully, the Squarespace community of developers is so amazing they’ve come up with alternative solutions. However, the tablet spacing issues are not obvious or easy to fix for beginners.
That said, we optimize for different device screens to ensure everything displays optimally before going live. Read about the main reasons your website needs to be responsive.
16. Do you follow SEO best practices when building the site?
Search engine optimization should be included from the beginning of your site development.
SEO strategies like logical navigation, fresh, high-quality, helpful content, strategic page titles and meta descriptions, proper URL structure, correct heading text formatting, image optimization, alt tagging, mobile-friendliness, keyword research, and on-page SEO help your site rank higher on Google and other search engines.
Ask if your web designer builds in SEO from the project's onset. If they don’t, your website won’t be built with the framework you need to be found online over time organically.
SEO strategy is essential in web design. We constantly read up on, watch webinars, and test SEO tried-and-true methods and the latest trends and tools to share our knowledge with our clients.
It’s a lot to keep up with, and many agencies’ niche in just SEO services. Yet, we’ve seen SEO agencies' websites that don’t even do the basics of SEO and do things incorrectly, like using multiple H1 headings on one page.
We have experience integrating all the basic best practices into every website we build. To learn more about SEO, check out our SEO blog posts.
17. Will you develop or integrate marketing strategies?
Your website is your most important digital marketing sales tool.
Ask your designer these questions:
How will the website convert website visitors into leads and generate more sales?
What strategies will you use?
Can you integrate or develop my marketing strategy?
Here’s a comprehensive intro to online marketing guide for more info.
Not all designers are marketing and strategy experts. Marketing strategy is usually included because it goes hand in hand with content writing and visual design, but marketing plans are also outsourced if they contain more than the website.
We strategize and develop a plan for your website, including online marketing tactics such as email newsletter captures, campaigns and paid ads. SEO and marketing are heavily intertwined.
We also partner with marketing strategists who help execute marketing plans in other online outlets such as social media and TV.
18. How many pages will my new website have?
Most small service-based businesses have a 5-page foundation:
Home
About
Services
Blog
Contact
Plus, legal policy pages. Some websites are only one page long and have multiple sections. The type of website and content you have will help you figure out how many and what pages you need.
If you have an existing website, read question #2 (will you review my existing website before building my new website?) for more info.
If you have an e-commerce website, it will have more pages (each product is a page). If your site is centered around a blog, it will have more pages (each post is a page). The content dictates how many pages are necessary.
Web designers create a site map and layout the page hierarchy to ensure the best user experience and a clear picture of all the pages on the site. Check out our website writing blog post to learn more about site maps and page lists.
Ask your web designer if a custom 404 page, terms and conditions, privacy policy, cookie policy, and any other landing pages are included in your build. Some designers charge extra per page.
We always include legal pages and delineate the pages needed in the Power Plan. It’s not uncommon to add pages after a website goes live—it's never really done. You always want to add new content and update existing content.
19. Can you build an e-commerce site?
The design of an e-commerce site differs from that of a brochure website. Not all web designers do e-commerce, and some only specialize in it.
If you plan on building an e-commerce store, schedule a time to discuss tech functionality with your web designer. It’s essential to understand the CMS platform's opportunities and limitations.
Ask your web designer if your CMS supports online stores and accepts online payments. Depending on federal and state laws, specific website payment processors only accept certain types of currency or business. It’s also important to ask about the in-person point of sale and if that syncs with online sales.
You want to manage the online store yourself or hire a dedicated store manager. E-commerce can be a big undertaking depending on your inventory, shipping process, taxes, extensions, commerce policies, auto emails, etc.
If you aren’t ready to add products or create a store but might in the future, you want to ensure you can add an online store to your existing site when ready. Otherwise, you must build and link another store site to your primary site.
Build a foundational site on a platform that lets you grow with your business. Squarespace has many add-on features, such as e-commerce and is perfect for digital products and small stores.
If you’re only focused on selling and managing large amounts of inventory online, you’re probably better off using Shopify, as this platform was solely designed for that purpose. Not sure what to do? We can help point you in the right direction. Contact us.
20. How many rounds of edits and revisions are included?
The designer should establish checkpoints throughout the project so that you can review and approve the work.
What happens if the first draft version of your site comes back and you don’t love it? Request changes by giving your designer constructive feedback.
Typically, designers offer 2–3 rounds of revision. You may pay an hourly rate based on changes until they’re complete if you need more.
Our process alleviates endless rounds of mockups because we require the written content to be completed and approved before proceeding to the design phase. Then, we get the design approved before proceeding to the build phase.
This step-by-step approach makes it easier to do final content and design edits on the almost-finished website that are usually minimal in scope because we’ve already been through 1–2 edit rounds in the design before building!
We can do this because we have extensive design experience and a straightforward approval process. We allow enough time for review and edits at every phase.
Our process suits small–to medium-sized businesses with 1–3 main decision-makers. It does not work well for organizations with a board or multiple management approvals because there are too many cooks in the kitchen.
21. Is my website secure? Will my domain have an SSL certificate?
Website maintenance includes avoiding glitches, hackers, and spam. Updating your site’s software and plugins, getting routine backups, and having an SSL certificate are necessary to ensure ongoing performance.
Ask your website what CMS platform (view question #13) it will be developed with. This will determine how many security measures you need to take.
We love Squarespace because it doesn't require manual updates like WordPress. Squarespace has a dedicated full-time team that keeps it secure, keeps us worry-free and saves time. They have a helpful knowledge base. Plus, they include an SSL certificate for your domain with every plan. Sometimes, other domain hosts require you to pay an additional SSL certificate fee.
We still get occasional spam through contact forms and blog comments, but there are reporting tools to help mitigate that. ReCAPTCHA keys (I am not a robot checkbox) are built-in (and optional) on contact and newsletter forms. We can take other measures to limit spammy activity, such as auto-email confirmations for newsletters.
Overall, Squarespace does a great job, and nothing has been hacked yet (fingers crossed)—we can’t say the same for WordPress. Although you can’t wholly back up a Squarespace site, there are a few manual measures to back it up, such as making a site copy, having your page content in another document, taking screenshots, and exporting your blog.
SIDENOTE: Need to know more about domains? Read our blog post: Understanding the Differences Between Domain Names, Registration, Hosting, Transfer and Connection
22. What training and support do you offer after launching the site?
If you want to make changes and updates yourself, ensure your web designer uses a user-friendly and easy-to-use web platform so you can own and maintain your site yourself. Regardless of the platform, you will need some training.
Ask your web designer about website training lessons. Some designers offer 1:1 training, group workshops, and custom video tutorials for clients.
Or, if you prefer to send edits and updates rather than do them yourself, ask your web designer if they offer a post-launch support or maintenance package for long-term support. Some designers don’t support their website builds post-launch, others only help for a limited time, and others are happy to provide ongoing support.
After the website launches, we include a complimentary two-hour website training session to help you learn how to self-manage and update your website. However, we can’t cover everything in this training, as teaching a beginner how to do your job in two hours (which you’ve spent a decade learning) is a lot to explain and absorb.
We offer add-on or standalone training for Acuity Scheduling setup and troubleshooting and Email Campaigns setup and training. I teach the training sessions online (so we can screen share) because I use the platform daily and keep up with all the weekly updates. I can often help business owners set up their tech processes more efficiently to set things up more automatically, saving them time and money in the long run.
If you prefer to create the content and let us format and set it up on the website, we offer a website membership that includes a monthly update. This is perfect for small businesses with too much on their plates as it is.
23. Do I own the site and its contents after it goes live?
Like social media platforms, you own the content you upload but not the platform. With Squarespace, you pay a subscription fee and have access to the features on that plan.
The designer may start the website trial for you (to get a more extended trial period, for example), and then they should transfer the site ownership to you once the project is complete. The site owner has the highest level of permissions.
Ensure your domain name registration and web hosting are registered in your name with your payment information—not the designers. These accounts must be controlled so you can update them as needed.
Find out if your business will be required to lock into an ongoing contract post-launch (common with WordPress because it must be updated monthly or risk security breach) or if the designer plans on delivering the completed site after launch (common with Squarespace because it can be self-managed).
Often, designers create graphics for your site (e.g., logo, illustrations, icons). You should own these files instead of licensing them and have a copy saved so you don’t need to ask for them when you need them. Check the contact terms to make sure you will own the chosen final design upon payment. This is important if you want to trademark.
After the final payment, we will transfer the site ownership to you and provide all the logo file formats you need and that you own. We also create a visual style guide page on your website that’s easy to follow should you need to DIY or hire another designer or assistant to help you make social media graphics.
You will only own the fonts on your site if you purchase them from the type foundry and upload them via custom code. Fonts are generally licensed and come with a subscription service.
If we use Adobe Fonts, they are only available via subscription in Creative Cloud and Squarespace. If we use free Google Fonts, you can download them for free. If we use a custom font we’ve purchased, you will have to buy it, too.
24. Is my website ADA-accessible?
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was established to make all spaces accessible, including websites. Ask your web designer what their accessibility testing process looks like—optimizing your website to create a smooth user experience for all visitors, including persons with disabilities.
Also, if you are a government agency or a business with many employees (15+) or must comply with AA or AAA standards, consider hiring a design agency specializing in ADA compliance specifically for websites. We cannot guarantee that our websites are fully compliant, although we do have accessibility basics built-in.
This is such a big question to answer we wrote an entire blog post about web accessibility. Read it for more specific information about:
What does it mean to have an accessible website
Factors impacting successful web accessibility
Legal and ethical importance of web accessibility
How do I evaluate my website’s accessibility?
Top 10 reasons web accessibility is important
Basic things web designers can do to improve accessibility include:
Using logical site navigation and URL structure
Using descriptive page titles
Not duplicating content, pages, and descriptions
Using quality content
Providing accurate HTML headings in the proper order
Good page hierarchy
Using descriptive text links
Not using text as images
Optimizing images: Compressing image files, naming image files descriptively and using alt text
Using a high contrast ratio for text
Using legible font sizes
Having enough space for buttons to be clickable
Providing a site map and accessibility policy
No broken links
We do everything in the list above on all web builds.
25. One last question for YOU…
Do you feel more prepared and better understand what questions to ask your potential web designer before starting a project? We hope so!
Do you have a question you want to ask a website designer that we haven’t answered? Ask away in the comment section below or schedule a call with us.
