Start with their work, not their promises
Look at live sites they've built, on your phone, not just screenshots. Do they load quickly? Is it obvious what each business does and how to contact them? Anyone can show a pretty mockup; a working website that wins enquiries is the actual product.
The questions that reveal everything
Do I own the domain and the website? Who hosts it, and can I move it? Can another developer take over if you disappear? What's included after launch? Straight, confident answers to those four questions tell you more than any sales pitch. Evasive answers tell you even more.
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Freelancer, agency or DIY
DIY builders are cheapest in money and dearest in your time. Agencies bring capacity and process at agency prices. A good freelancer or small studio usually sits between: senior attention without the overhead. None is universally right — match the choice to how much your business depends on the result. The same logic applies to platforms, covered in our WordPress versus custom-built comparison.
Red flags
Guaranteed number-one rankings — nobody can honestly promise that. Vague pricing with no written scope. No contract. 'Unlimited everything'. And any arrangement where you can't get access to your own domain, hosting or content — you should always be able to leave.
How a proper quote should look
Itemised scope, clear timescales, what's excluded, and payment stages tied to progress. If a quote is a single number with a logo on it, ask for the detail. Our own web design quotes are built exactly this way, because surprises are where projects go wrong.
If you already have a website
You might not need a designer at all. A website audit tells you whether your current site needs a few honest fixes or a genuine rebuild — considerably cheaper to learn that before signing a proposal than after.
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