Questions to Ask a Web Designer Before You Hire

Before you hire a web designer, ask how the finished site will help customers understand your services and contact you. Then ask what you will receive, what you need to supply, and what happens after launch.

Use these eight questions in your first conversation. Ask for examples where a demonstration would help, and have the agreed answers included in the proposal. That gives you something concrete to compare when two designers describe their work differently.

1. What should a customer be able to do on this website?

Explain which services you want inquiries for and what makes an inquiry useful. An appointment request may need different information from an estimate for a job that requires photos or measurements.

A useful answer connects that customer task to specific pages, content, and contact options. Ask the designer to walk through a visitor's route from a service page to the next step.

Agree on what you can measure after launch, too. A submitted form, a contact-button click, and a booked job are different events. Decide who will review the inquiries and record what happened next.

2. Can you show a relevant project and explain your contribution?

Ask to explore a working site. Choose a project with a similar customer task, even if the business sells something different. Open the navigation on your phone, find a service, and look for the contact route.

Have the designer explain which parts they handled: page planning, copy, design, development, forms, or an existing site's rebuild. Ask whether the current site still represents their delivered work.

For example, JPA's portfolio describes the actual work contributed to each project. Roberts Investigative Services includes service content, navigation, contact forms, metadata, and redirects. Those are inspectable deliverables; they do not establish a traffic or sales increase.

3. What is included, and who writes and approves the content?

Request a page list with the purpose of each page, the features included, and the number of revision rounds. Clarify whether copywriting means editing supplied text or preparing new content from your business information.

Name the person who supplies photos, service details, prices, and project examples. Choose one person on your side to collect feedback and approve the work. Ask what happens if you add a service page after approving the original plan.

JPA's Website Foundation scope defines the pages, copy, features, and revisions before the build. You review business facts, offers, images, and claims before the approved pages are built.

4. What does the schedule depend on?

Ask for milestones you can use: when content is needed, when you review the design, when the site is ready for checks, and who authorizes launch. Make sure your own availability fits the feedback dates.

A useful schedule identifies dependencies. Missing domain access, unfinished copy, a booking integration, or delayed approval can affect the launch date. Ask how a changed requirement will be assessed and communicated.

JPA describes a typical small business website as taking 3–6 weeks after kickoff, with the actual schedule set in the proposal. Scope, access, content, and approvals can change that timing.

5. How will you show that the site is ready to launch?

Ask for the launch checklist and a walkthrough of the agreed customer actions. On a phone, can you read the service details, use the menu, and complete the inquiry form? Can the receiving team confirm that a marked test inquiry arrived?

Discuss accessibility checks, including keyboard navigation, visible focus, and form labels. W3C's Easy Checks provides an initial review; it also explains that simple checks do not establish comprehensive accessibility.

For a redesign, ask which old page addresses will redirect and how those destinations will be checked. Have the designer identify unresolved issues before you approve launch.

6. What will I control, edit, and be able to move?

Ask whose accounts will hold the domain, hosting, website platform, and analytics. Establish what access you receive and which changes you can make without requesting developer help. A short editing demonstration is useful evidence.

Then ask about leaving: what files, content, data, and instructions can be handed over, in what format, and at what cost? Confirm whether another provider could maintain the site and which paid tools or licenses would need attention.

Have the proposal identify the handover items and any platform limitations. This question should be answered for the specific system being proposed, before you rely on an assumption about portability.

7. Which costs sit outside the project quote?

Request separate lines for the build and continuing costs. Check domain registration, hosting, paid software, photography, and ongoing support. Identify who bills for each item and who manages renewal.

Ask how extra pages, additional revisions, and features added after approval will be quoted. The answer should explain how you approve a change before the additional work starts.

For JPA, hosting, domains, paid tools, photography, advertising, and ongoing care are outside the base website project fee. Compare each proposal against your required work so an omitted task does not become an unexpected expense later.

8. Who handles the website after launch?

Ask who answers support requests, which checks or edits are covered, and how response times are agreed. Clarify the process for reporting a problem with delivered work and the price of later changes.

Website care and ongoing SEO need their own scope. At JPA, care covers the maintenance, checks, edits, and support named in a separate agreement. Local Growth covers agreed local search, content, profile, and reporting work. Neither should be assumed from a website-build quote.

Request a handover walkthrough and a named contact so you know how to manage the site once the project ends.

Bring these items to the first conversation

• Your current website, if you have one, and the parts you want to keep.
• The services you sell and the customer actions the site needs to support.
• Available copy, photos, brand assets, and project examples.
• Required forms or integrations, plus your budget and target launch date.
• The person responsible for providing materials and approving the work.

Talk through your website with JPA

Website Foundation projects start at $2,500, with a fixed quote for the agreed work. You'll work directly with Steven Roberts to define the pages, content, features, revisions, and launch requirements.

Request a website quote and share what you need the site to do. The form requests a call; we'll arrange a time to discuss the scope before preparing your quote.