1. Verify the portfolio, not just the screenshots

  • Ask for links to live sites, and open them on your phone.
  • Ask what exactly the agency did on each project: design, build, both, or only part of it.
  • Look for work similar to yours in type and complexity, not only in industry.
  • Treat headline numbers such as "500+ projects" or "98% satisfaction" as claims until you've seen evidence. Asking for examples is reasonable.

2. Get ownership in writing

The most painful disputes are about access, not design. Before you pay, confirm:

  • The domain is registered in your name, on an account you control.
  • Hosting and platform accounts (Shopify, Vercel, a WordPress host) are yours, or transferable on request.
  • You receive the source code or theme files, and the rights to use them.
  • Paid licences (themes, plugins, fonts) are in your name or clearly listed.

3. Make the scope concrete

  • Number of unique page designs, and number of revision rounds for each.
  • Who writes the content and supplies images, and by when.
  • Which features are included: forms, bookings, payments, integrations, languages.
  • Which devices and browsers will be tested.
  • What is explicitly not included.

4. Ask what "SEO-friendly" actually means

Almost every agency says it. Ask for specifics:

  • Will each page have a unique title, meta description and one H1?
  • Will the content be in the HTML, or rendered by JavaScript in the browser?
  • Is an XML sitemap and structured data included?
  • If you're replacing a site, who handles redirects from old URLs?

Be wary of anyone who guarantees rankings or a number of backlinks. Search results depend on competition and on Google, so nobody can promise positions honestly. Our guide to prerendering JavaScript websites explains one of the technical questions worth asking.

5. Understand the price and timeline

  • Is the price fixed for the agreed scope, or estimated?
  • What does a change of scope cost, and how is it approved?
  • What is the payment schedule, and what triggers each payment?
  • What does a faster timeline cost?
  • Which recurring costs will you pay after launch?

Our website cost guide breaks down what drives price, with our own published rates as an example.

6. Ask what happens after launch

  • Is there a fix period for bugs found after launch?
  • How are later changes requested and priced?
  • Who updates dependencies, plugins or apps, and how often?
  • Will you get a short handover so your team can edit content?

Red flags worth pausing on

  • Guaranteed first-page rankings or "1,000 backlinks" packages.
  • The agency registers the domain in its own name.
  • No written scope, or a scope that only says "website".
  • A portfolio with no live links and no explanation why.
  • Pressure to decide today.

Ask us the same questions

We'd rather you used this list on us than not. Our services and per-page pricing are published, and you can book a call to ask anything else before committing.