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12 Questions to Ask a Website Designer Before You Hire Them
These 12 questions to ask a website designer before you hire them show who can bring you the right enquiries and who will leave you with a pretty site.
Before you hire a website designer, ask what happens before design starts, who writes the words, what results past clients got, how people will find you on Google and in AI answers, who owns the site and domain, and what happens after launch. The answers show whether you're buying strategy or a pretty template.
You've got three quotes open in three tabs. They all sound fine, they use the same words, and they're miles apart on price. You have no idea how to compare them, so you're about to go with whoever replied fastest or whoever your friend used.
I get it. You only buy a website every few years, and nobody teaches you what to ask. Then the new site goes live, it looks lovely, and nothing changes. One practitioner put it perfectly on my form recently: people "are landing though not converting".
I'm Hayley from Third Raven & Co, a brand and website strategist based in Cairns and working Australia-wide. I'm on the receiving end of these conversations all the time, so here are the 12 questions I'd want you to ask me. If you're still deciding whether you need a designer at all, start with whether you're ready for a brand designer or need strategy first.
What should you ask about their results?
1. Can you show me websites that brought in more enquiries?
Ask for the result, then check it. A portfolio of screenshots tells you someone can design. You want a named client and a change you can look up yourself. For example, Beneath the Palms Midwifery was booked out for the year within three months of launch and added two new services.
2. How will we know if the website is working?
Listen for enquiries, bookings and where they came from. If nobody plans to measure anything, you'll never know what you paid for. I can tell you Seaside Explorers gets 49% of its website sessions from organic search because someone is tracking it.
3. Have you worked with businesses like mine?
Your exact industry matters less than whether they understand how your clients decide. A nervous first-time parent chooses very differently to someone with a burst pipe. If you're in health or wellness, I've written a separate guide to choosing a website designer for a health or wellness business.
What happens before the design starts?
4. What do you do before you start designing?
This one sorts the strategists from the template-swappers fast. A good answer covers who your best clients are, why they pick you and who they compare you to. If the whole answer is "send me your logo and some sites you like", you'll get a nicer-looking version of the problem you already have.
5. Who writes the words?
If the answer is "you supply the copy", be honest with yourself about when you'll do that. Copy is what holds most projects up, and it does the most to convince someone to book. Ask who writes it, how they'll learn your voice and how many rounds of changes you get.
6. What does the process look like from start to finish?
You want clear stages, dates and what they need from you at each one. Vague timelines are how a website ends up sitting nearly finished for months. Here's how my website process works if you'd like something to compare against.
Not sure what your website is actually costing you?
Four Questions. Two minutes
How will people actually find your website?
7. What do you do for Google, specifically?
Ask for details: a page for each service, proper page titles, your Google Business Profile, and how fast the site loads on a phone. "We install a plugin" isn't a plan. Ask about timing too, because SEO takes a while and anyone honest will tell you so. Iconic Balloons moved from position 40 to 18 with an SEO clean-up alone, and that's the kind of before and after to ask for.
8. How do you set the site up for AI answers?
Plenty of people now ask ChatGPT or Google's AI who to see before they search. Those tools quote websites that answer real questions in plain words. If your designer looks blank at this one, that's useful to know.
Who owns what, and what happens after launch?
9. Who owns the website, the domain and the content?
You should own all three, and it should say so in writing before you pay a deposit. Check the domain is registered in your name. If you ever part ways, you want to walk away with everything and without a fight.
10. Can I update the website myself?
Ask them to show you how you'd change a photo or add a blog post. Then ask what it costs when you'd rather they did it for you.
11. What happens after launch?
Ask how long they're around for questions and bugs, who looks after hosting and backups, and what you'll keep paying each year. A website that goes live and gets forgotten goes stale quickly.
12. What will this cost all up?
Get the full number in writing: what's included, what isn't, and what triggers extra charges. Then compare like for like, because a cheaper quote without copy or strategy is a different job. My guide to what a service business website should cost in Australia breaks it down.
What should you send a website designer before you hire them?
Copy this list into an email and send the same questions to everyone you're considering:
- Can you show me websites that brought in more enquiries?
- How will we know if the website is working?
- Have you worked with businesses like mine?
- What do you do before you start designing?
- Who writes the words?
- What does the process look like from start to finish?
- What do you do for Google, specifically?
- How do you set the site up for AI answers?
- Who owns the website, the domain and the content?
- Can I update the website myself?
- What happens after launch?
- What will this cost all up?
What are the red flags when hiring a website designer?
The biggest red flags are a guarantee of page one on Google, a portfolio with no results behind it, no questions about your clients, vague answers on who owns the site, and a price with no written scope. Any one is worth a follow-up question. Two or more, and I'd keep looking.
Nobody controls where Google ranks you, so a guarantee is either a misunderstanding or a sales line. If you're still weighing up what kind of help you need, compare a website builder, a freelancer or a studio first.
Good designers love being asked these questions
A good designer won't flinch at this list. I'd love it if you sent it to me, because it tells me you care about the outcome and it makes our first chat far more useful.
Pay attention to how they answer as much as what they say. Are they clear? Do they admit what they don't do? Are they curious about your business? You'll live with their work for years, so pick the person whose answers make you feel calmer. That thinking is what True Bearings is built on: strategy first, then the website, so clients choose you before they've met you.
What questions should I ask a web designer in the first meeting?
Start with the four that tell you the most: what happens before design starts, who writes the words, what results past clients got, and who owns the site and domain once it's finished. Their answers show how they think and whether they've considered your clients at all. Save the finer details, like hosting and support, until you're down to one or two people.
How do I know if a website designer is any good?
Look past the portfolio. Ask for a named client and what changed for them after launch, then check it yourself by searching that client's service and town on Google. A good designer can explain why they made each decision and will ask plenty about your clients. If they can only talk about how the site looks, you're seeing half the picture.
What should be in a contract with a website designer?
The contract should spell out what's included, how many pages, who writes the copy, how many rounds of changes you get, the payment schedule and the dates. It should also say you own the website, domain and content once it's paid for, and what support you get after launch. If something you discussed isn't written down, ask for it to be added.
