The most important questions to ask a web designer are: can I see sites you’ve built for businesses like mine, who actually builds it, what exactly is included in the price, who owns the domain and website, what SEO is included, and what support I get after launch. Clear, specific answers to those six tell you more than any portfolio.
I’m a web designer and SEO consultant in Clapham, and these are the questions I’d want answered if I were the one hiring. Below you’ll find all 15 questions to ask a web designer, why each one matters, what a good answer sounds like and the red flags to walk away from. At the end I’ll answer every one of them myself, so you can see what straight answers look like when you’re choosing a web designer in London or anywhere else in the UK.
Key takeaways
- Ask to see work for businesses like yours, and ask who will actually build your site.
- Get the full price in writing, including hosting, domain, copywriting and anything billed yearly.
- Make sure you own the domain, the website and the content, with your own logins.
- Ask what SEO is built in. A site nobody finds on Google won’t bring you enquiries.
- Walk away from anyone who guarantees first place on Google or won’t say who owns what.
What questions should you ask a web designer before hiring?
Before hiring, ask a web designer about five things: their experience, their process, the price, ownership and what happens after launch. Here are the 15 questions to ask a web designer on your first call, grouped so you can tick them off as you go.
- Can I see websites you’ve built for businesses like mine?
- Who will actually design and build my website?
- Can I speak to one of your past clients?
- What does your process look like, step by step?
- How long will it take, and what do you need from me?
- How many rounds of changes are included?
- What exactly is included in the price, and what costs extra?
- How and when do I pay?
- Who owns the domain, the hosting account and the website?
- Will I be able to update the website myself?
- What SEO is included in the build?
- Will the site be fast and work properly on mobile?
- Will my site be ready for Google AI Overviews and ChatGPT?
- What support do I get after launch?
- Will the site have a privacy notice and proper cookie consent?
Questions to ask about their work and experience
These first three questions tell you whether the designer has done this before, for a business like yours, and whether the person you’re talking to is the person doing the work.
1. Can I see websites you’ve built for businesses like mine?
A portfolio shows you what you’re likely to get, so ask for live websites, not just screenshots. Click around them on your phone. Do they load quickly? Is it obvious how to call or send an enquiry? A beautiful homepage means little if the contact button is hard to find.
2. Who will actually design and build my website?
With some agencies, the person who sells you the website is not the person who builds it. That’s not automatically bad, but you should know. With a freelancer, you usually deal with one person from the first call to launch day, which makes feedback faster and nothing gets lost in a handover.
3. Can I speak to one of your past clients?
Reviews are useful, but a two minute chat with a past client is better. Ask them one thing: would you hire this person again? Google gives exactly the same advice for hiring an SEO in its guide Do you need an SEO?, suggesting you check business references and ask past clients whether the service was useful and easy to work with.
Questions to ask about the process and timeline
A good web designer can explain their process in a couple of minutes without jargon. Vague answers here usually turn into delays and surprise invoices later.
4. What does your process look like, step by step?
Listen for a clear order: getting to know your business and customers, planning the pages, design, build, your feedback, testing and launch. If the first thing they want to talk about is colours rather than your customers, that tells you what they’ll be optimising for.
5. How long will it take, and what do you need from me?
Ask for a timeline and for a list of what you need to supply, such as your logo, photos, service details and text. Late content is the most common reason a website project drags on, not the build itself. I’ve written a full breakdown of how long it takes to build a website if you want to plan your launch date properly.
6. How many rounds of changes are included?
Most designers include a set number of revision rounds. Find out how many, and what happens if you want more. This one question prevents most arguments, because both sides know where the line is before the work starts.
Questions to ask a web designer about price and payment
The headline price rarely tells the whole story. These two questions to ask a web designer make sure the quote you compare is the real one.
7. What exactly is included in the price, and what costs extra?
Ask for a written list. Is copywriting included? Stock photos? SEO setup? Contact forms? Then ask about ongoing costs: hosting, the domain renewal, premium plugin licences and any maintenance plan. Two quotes can look similar until you add up the yearly extras. If you want a feel for typical prices first, see my guide to how much a website costs in London.
8. How and when do I pay?
A deposit upfront with the balance due before or at launch is common. Be wary of anyone who wants 100% upfront with nothing in writing, and equally of open-ended hourly billing with no estimate. You want to know the total before you start, and exactly when each payment is due.
Want straight answers to all 15? Comparing quotes is hard when every designer words things differently. Book a free consultation and I’ll go through your project, give you a fixed price and tell you exactly what’s included, what isn’t and who owns what. If I’m not the right fit, I’ll tell you that too.
Who owns my website, domain and content?
You should. Your domain should be registered to you or your business, and you should have your own logins to the domain, hosting and website. Ownership is the question most small business owners forget to ask, and it’s the one that causes the most pain if the relationship ends.
9. Who owns the domain, the hosting account and the website?
Ask this directly and get the answer in writing. Some businesses only discover their domain is registered in the designer’s name when they try to move on. Also check whether the site is built on a platform you can take elsewhere, such as WordPress, or locked into a system only that designer can use.
10. Will I be able to update the website myself?
You should be able to change text, swap photos and add a blog post without paying someone every time. Ask which content management system they use and whether they’ll show you how it works at handover. If only the designer can edit the site, you’ve bought a dependency, not an asset. My WordPress vs Wix vs Squarespace comparison explains why platform choice matters here.
Will my new website show up on Google and in AI answers?
Only if it’s built for it. A new website doesn’t rank by itself, and a designer who treats SEO as “something for later” is leaving you with a brochure nobody finds. These three questions are the ones most guides skip, and they matter most if you want the website to bring in enquiries.
11. What SEO is included in the build?
Ask specifically: will you research the keywords my customers search for? Will each service have its own page with a proper title and meta description? Will you set up Google Search Console and submit a sitemap? “It’s SEO friendly” is not an answer. I wrote more about this in whether your web designer should also do your SEO.
12. Will the site be fast and work properly on mobile?
Most of your visitors will arrive on a phone, often in a hurry. Ask how the designer handles image sizes, page speed and mobile layout, and ask to see one of their live sites on your own phone. A click-to-call button on mobile is a small detail that wins real enquiries.
13. Will my site be ready for Google AI Overviews and ChatGPT?
This is a 2026 question, and the honest answer is that good SEO is the foundation. Google’s own documentation on AI features and your website says there are no additional requirements to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode, and that a page must be indexed and eligible to show in Google Search with a snippet. It also says you don’t need special AI text files or markup. So be wary of anyone selling a mysterious “AI package” instead of clear pages, helpful content and a technically sound site.
What happens after launch?
Launch is the start, not the finish. Things come up once real visitors use the site, so agree now what support you get and what it costs.
14. What support do I get after launch?
Ask whether bug fixes are included for a period after launch, how quickly they respond and what ongoing help costs. Also ask what they’ll do to help the site get found: is there an option for ongoing SEO, or are you on your own once the site is live?
15. Will the site have a privacy notice and proper cookie consent?
For UK businesses this isn’t optional. The ICO’s guidance for small organisations says visitors must be told that cookies are being used and what they do, and that you need their agreement for cookies that aren’t strictly necessary. The ICO’s cookie guidance adds that you can’t set non-essential cookies on your homepage before the visitor has consented. Ask how the designer will handle analytics and cookie consent on your site.
Good answers vs red flags: a quick comparison
Use this table on your call. If you hear more answers from the right-hand column than the middle one, keep looking.
| Question | A good answer sounds like | Red flag |
|---|---|---|
| Can I see your work? | Live sites, ideally in your industry, with a story about what each one needed to do | Only mock-ups or templates, or “I’ll send some later” |
| Who builds it? | A named person you can speak to directly | A vague “team” with no names and no direct contact |
| What’s included? | A written list, including yearly costs like hosting and domain | A single number, with extras to be “sorted later” |
| Who owns the site? | “You do. The domain is in your name and you get every login” | Hesitation, or the domain is registered to the designer |
| What SEO is included? | Keyword research, page titles, meta descriptions, Search Console setup | “It’s SEO friendly” with no detail |
| Can you get me to number one? | An honest explanation of what affects rankings | A guarantee of first place on Google |
| What happens after launch? | A set period of free fixes and clear prices for ongoing help | Silence once the final invoice is paid |
That guarantee red flag comes straight from Google. Its hiring guide says that if someone guarantees their changes will give you first place in search results, you should find someone else.
What should a web designer ask you?
A good web designer asks you as many questions as you ask them. They should want to know what your business does best, who your ideal customers are, which services make you the most money, who your competitors are and how customers find you today.
If a designer jumps straight to a price without asking about your goals, they’re quoting for a website, not for your business. Before your first call, it helps to jot down answers to these:
- What should a visitor do on the website: call, book, buy or send an enquiry?
- Which services or products do you most want more of?
- Which areas do you cover, for example one London borough or the whole UK?
- Which two or three competitors show up when you search for your service?
- What’s your budget, and when do you need the site live?
How do you know if a web designer is good?
A good web designer shows you live work that loads fast and makes it easy to get in touch, explains their process and price in plain English, puts ownership in writing and talks about your customers before your colours. You should leave the first call understanding more than when you started, not feeling sold to.
One quick test: search Google for the designer’s own service and town. If they can’t get their own website found, ask how they plan to get yours found.
My own answers to these questions
It only seems fair to answer my own list. Here’s how I work when I build a new website:
- Who builds it: me. I’m a solo freelancer based in Clapham, London SW4, so you deal with the same person from first call to launch.
- What I build: brand-new WordPress websites. I don’t edit or redesign existing sites.
- Timeline: 2 to 4 weeks for a brochure site and 4 to 8 weeks for eCommerce.
- SEO: on-page SEO and competitor keyword research are included in every build, so the site is optimised from launch.
- Updating it yourself: I give you training at handover so you can edit it without me.
- Payment: 50% upfront and 50% before launch.
- After launch: 14 days of free bug fixes, plus optional monthly SEO (audit, keyword plan, on-page fixes, local SEO and map results, content and a monthly report) through my SEO consultant service.
Ready to ask your questions?
The right questions to ask a web designer all come back to one thing: will this website bring you more calls and enquiries, and will you stay in control of it? If a designer answers clearly on work, process, price, ownership, SEO and support, you’re in safe hands.
If you’d like a website that’s built to be found on Google from day one, book a free consultation and bring this list with you. You can also call or WhatsApp me on 07404 145722. I’ll answer every question honestly, even the awkward ones.
Frequently asked questions
How many web designers should I speak to before choosing?
Speaking to two or three is usually enough to compare prices, processes and how each person communicates. Use the same list of questions for each one so you’re comparing like with like.
Should I hire a freelance web designer or an agency?
Both can do great work. With a freelancer you usually deal with the same person throughout, which makes feedback quicker, while an agency may suit very large projects that need a bigger team. Ask either one who will actually build your site.
Is it normal to pay a web designer a deposit?
Yes, a deposit upfront with the balance due before or at launch is common. Be cautious if someone asks for the full amount upfront with nothing in writing.
Who should own my website’s domain name?
You or your business should. Ask for the domain to be registered in your name and make sure you have your own login, so you can move designer or host at any time without losing your web address.
Can a web designer guarantee first place on Google?
No. Google’s own advice says that if someone guarantees their changes will put you in first place in search results, you should find someone else. A good designer explains what helps you rank instead of promising positions.
What should I prepare before talking to a web designer?
Have your logo, a list of your services and the areas you cover, a few competitor websites and your budget and deadline. Knowing what you want visitors to do, such as call or send an enquiry, helps most of all.
