At some point, a lot of business owners reach the same conclusion: they don’t want to build the website themselves. They may’ve tried, and it didn’t go well, they may not have the time, or the site may need more than they can realistically do on their own.
That’s a completely reasonable decision. But it comes with a genuinely hard problem attached: how do you evaluate someone’s design and development skill when you’re not a designer or developer yourself? You’re being asked to make a significant investment based on judgment you may not feel equipped to make.
We build websites for a living, so this is a strange thing for us to write about, honestly. But we’d rather you make a good decision, whether that’s with us or with someone else, than make a decision you regret because nobody told you what actually matters.
Start with what you actually need, not what sounds impressive
Before you start talking to designers, take a minute to work out what you want the website to do.
“I need a new website” isn’t really enough. A designer can take that in a dozen different directions.
Maybe the real problem is that people can’t figure out what you offer. Maybe you’re getting enquiries from the wrong people. Maybe your current site makes booking a consultation unnecessarily difficult.
Those are very different projects, even if all three get described as “we need a new website.”
The clearer you are about the problem, the easier it becomes to tell whether a designer actually understands it. Otherwise, you can end up choosing the person with the best presentation rather than the person with the best answer to your particular problem.
Look at their process, not just their portfolio
A strong portfolio tells you someone can produce good-looking work. It doesn’t tell you what it’s like to actually work with them, and that second part matters more than most people expect going in.
Ask specific questions about how a project actually runs:
- How many rounds of revisions are included, and what happens if you need more?
- What do you need to provide, and when? This is usually a bigger list than people expect. Business details and a description of what you do. Your logo, brand colours, and fonts if you have them. The actual words that go on the pages. Photos, team bios, testimonials. A sense of which pages you need and what the site should actually do, book appointments, sell something, just explain your services clearly. If you already have a site, add domain access, hosting, and analytics logins to that list too.
- None of that has to be perfect going in. But if a designer doesn’t mention any of it upfront, that’s often where a timeline quietly falls apart later, not because of anything they did, but because nobody flagged early on how much of the project actually depends on you.
- What happens after launch? Is there support included, or are you on your own the moment the site goes live?
- How do you communicate during the project, and how quickly should you expect responses?
A designer who can answer these clearly and specifically, without vague reassurances, is telling you something important about how organized the actual working relationship will be. Someone who gets vague or defensive about process questions is worth paying attention to, since that vagueness tends to continue once you’re actually mid-project.
Know what you’re really paying for
There’s no standard price for a website. Two designers can quote very different amounts and both be completely reasonable.
The problem is that it’s often hard to tell why.
Before you compare the numbers, find out what’s behind them. Ask whether you’re getting a custom design or starting from a template. Find out who’s writing the copy. Ask who’s supplying the photography and other images. Get a realistic timeline, too, and ask what happens if something on either side causes a delay.
Those details can make a surprisingly big difference to the final price.
A $3,000 website and a $10,000 website aren’t necessarily two versions of the same thing. One might include strategy, copywriting, custom design and ongoing support, while the other might be a straightforward template build that you’re expected to supply most of the content for.
The number at the bottom of the quote doesn’t tell you much until you know what’s included.
Trust your read of the actual person, not just their work samples
A portfolio tells you what someone can make. It doesn’t tell you what they’re like when you have a question on a Tuesday afternoon and the project isn’t going quite as planned. That’s why I’d pay attention to the person you’re talking to, not just the websites in their portfolio.
Do they listen? Do they ask about your business before suggesting a solution? When you ask something you don’t understand, do they take the time to explain it? And notice what happens when you disagree.
You don’t necessarily want a designer who says yes to everything. If you’ve hired them for their expertise, there will be times when they should tell you that an idea isn’t going to work and explain what they’d do instead.
That’s different from someone who simply dismisses your ideas. You want somebody who can have a different opinion without making the relationship difficult. The website matters, obviously. But you’re going to spend weeks or months getting there. Make sure you actually like working with the person who has to build it.
That’s why I’d pay attention to the person you’re talking to, not just the websites in their portfolio. (It’s worth knowing this cuts both ways too, here’s what clients are actually evaluating when they’re the ones sizing you up.)
A quick gut check before you sign anything
Before committing to a designer or agency, ask yourself:
- Do I have a clear enough sense of what I need that I could recognize whether their proposal actually addresses it?
- Did they ask me real questions about my business, or did they jump straight to talking about themselves and their process?
- Do I understand exactly what’s included in this price, and what isn’t?
- Based on how they’ve communicated so far, do I feel confident this will be a smooth working relationship, not just a good-looking end result?
- If something goes wrong mid-project, do I know what happens next?
If you’re unsure about more than one of these, it’s worth asking more questions before moving forward, not after.
When a template might actually be the better fit
Not everyone who’s considering hiring someone actually needs a fully custom build. If your needs are relatively standard, a clear brand identity, straightforward services, no unusual functionality, a well-built template with some professional customization can often get you a comparable result for meaningfully less time and cost.
That’s worth being honest with yourself about before you start interviewing designers, since it changes the whole calculation. If you’re not sure which direction makes more sense for your specific situation, we’re happy to talk it through, template or custom, without steering you toward whichever one happens to make us more money.
