HIRING A DESIGNER · NEW JERSEY · 13 MIN READ
Questions to ask a web designer
The questions that separate a site you own from one you rent, and my own answer to each.
Before you sign, ask a web designer seven things: who owns the site and the domain, and from when; what the full price includes; what it costs every month after launch; whether you can edit it yourself; how long you are locked in; what happens if you do not like it; and who actually builds it. Get every answer in writing.
Most regrets about a website start with a question nobody asked. Who holds the domain. What a small change costs. How long the agreement runs. By the time those answers matter, the money is spent and the site is live.
This is the list I would want a friend to carry into any call, including a call with me. Each question says why it matters and what a straight answer sounds like. Where my answer is already written on this site, I link it. Where it is not written down yet, I say so instead of making something up. For price ranges, read how much a website costs in NJ.
Who holds the keys
Your domain is your address online. The site is the building on it. Ask who holds each one, and from when.
Who owns the site, and from when?
Ownership has a date. At signing, at launch, and at final payment are three different deals.
Listen for: A date, and a line in the agreement you can point at. The red flag sounds friendly: we keep it in our account.
My answer: Your domain is in your name from day one. The finished website is yours outright when the build is paid in full. Both halves are in the terms.
Whose account is the domain in?
A promise is not a registration. The registrant is the name a domain is legally registered to, and it is public.
Listen for: The registrar named out loud, and a login you can use. You can check the registrant yourself with a WHOIS lookup at lookup.icann.org.
Not written down yet: my registration steps and who holds the login. Ask me on the call.
Who owns the Google Business Profile?
For a local business that profile sends more calls than the site does. Few checklists ask.
Listen for: You are the owner. The designer is a manager you can remove. Same for analytics and Search Console. Here is what a profile setup covers.
Not written down yet: who holds those logins on my builds. Ask me on the call.
What happens if I stop paying?
Some plans switch the site off the month the billing stops. That is a rental.
Listen for: The site, the words and the domain stay yours and keep working. Then ask where it is hosted after that, and who pays.
My answer: After day 90 you pick a plan or you stop. The website is still yours. So is the editor. That is on the growth plan page. Third party tools keep their own terms, which the terms say plainly.
Not written down yet: where a site is hosted after you stop. Ask me on the call.
If it already happened to you
If a designer is holding your domain now, start with facts. Look up the registrant at lookup.icann.org, then contact the registrar, not the designer, and ask what proof of ownership they need. Keep every invoice. If it becomes a dispute, talk to a lawyer. I am not one, and this is not legal advice.
Own the address, or you own nothing.
What it really costs
What is the full price?
A quote with a scope attached is a price. A quote with no scope is an opening bid.
Listen for: One written number before work starts, and the list of what it buys.
My answer: You will know the complete project price before any work begins. No required add-ons. No surprise bills. The whole list is on the offer page, and market ranges are in the cost guide.
What will I pay each month?
Monthly is where a cheap build turns expensive. Year three is where you feel it.
Listen for: The monthly number in writing, and what you still own if you cancel it.
My answer: Ninety days of growth come with the website. After that, month to month. After that you pick a plan or you stop, and nothing is billed unless you pick one. What each plan costs is on the growth plan page.
When do I pay you?
Paying for all of it before seeing any of it is the oldest trap in this trade.
Listen for: Money that follows work you have looked at.
My answer: Pay in full and you go to the front of the line. Or pay half to start and half at launch. The balance is only due when your site is live and working the way we agreed. The steps are on how it works.
The sticker is not the bill.
How you get out
How long am I locked in?
A long term signed before you have seen work is a bet on trust nobody has earned yet.
Listen for: Month to month, or a term with a written way out of it.
My answer: No 12 or 24 month agreement you have to sign before you have even seen the work. Plans after day 90 are month to month. It is in the terms.
Can I read the contract first?
The web page sells you. The agreement is what governs you.
Listen for: Yes, here it is, before you pay anything. Ask for the ownership, refund and cancellation lines.
My answer: My published terms are on the terms page, and you can read every word before we talk.
Not written down yet: a sample agreement you can read on the site. Ask me on the call.
What if I do not like it?
An exit before launch beats any apology after it.
Listen for: A refund or an approval point that sits before the site goes live.
My answer: Love it or your money back. A full, no-strings refund until the day you approve your live website. In writing, on the terms page.
Do you work with my competitors?
No other checklist asks this. It decides whether your builder also works for the shop down the street.
Listen for: A plain yes or no, and where the limit sits.
My answer: One business per trade, per town. When your trade is taken in your town, we turn the next one away. On the offer page.
Not written down yet: exactly how a trade and a town get drawn. Ask me on the call.
Do you promise a Google ranking?
Everyone cannot be at the top of Google at once. Someone is not telling you the truth.
Listen for: No, and here is the work I will do each month instead. Be careful with anyone who promises results next week.
My answer: Quoted from the terms: we do not, and cannot honestly, promise a specific Google ranking position, a set number of new customers, or a guaranteed revenue figure.
Read the exit before you sign.
Who builds it
Who builds it, and who answers?
A sales rep, then an account manager, then someone you never meet is three handoffs.
Listen for: A name, and the number you call after launch.
My answer: The person on the call builds the site, fixes the profile, and reads your scorecard with you. I work in English and Spanish. That is on my about page.
Can I change things myself?
A ticket for every sentence is a tax on your own words. It is why so many sites go stale.
Listen for: Show me the editor on a screen share before I sign. Then ask what it costs when you want help.
My answer: Edit it yourself, like a Word doc. Forever. That is one of the 18 deliverables.
Not written down yet: what the editor is called. Ask me on the call.
How many rounds of changes?
Round three is where a cheap quote becomes an invoice.
Listen for: A number of rounds, or approval page by page until it is right. Either is fine in writing.
Not written down yet. Ask me on the call.
Can I see your live sites?
A screenshot is a picture of a website. A URL is the website.
Listen for: Live links you open yourself on your own phone, and a past client you can call.
My answer: Every build on my work page carries a label saying what it is, including the ones nobody paid for.
Not written down yet: whether you can call one of them, and which builds go on that page. Ask me on the call.
How long will this take?
A date only means something once someone says what has to happen first.
Listen for: A range, plus the list of what they need from you to hit it.
My answer: On the Complete Build: Most sites go live within 30 days after I have your photos and words. Every page comes to you for approval first, step by step on how it works.
Will it work for screen readers?
Some of your customers use a keyboard or a screen reader. So do some of the checks on your site.
Listen for: The name of the standard they build to, and how they test it. A yes is not an answer.
Not written down yet: which standard my client builds are tested against. Ask me on the call.
Get a name and a number.
How you get found
How will Google and AI read it?
People ask an assistant now, and it reads your site and profile before it names you.
Listen for: Structured data, a real page for each town you serve, and a profile that matches the site. More in will ChatGPT recommend my business.
My answer: Built so Google and AI can read what you do and where. Your Google Business Profile set up right, so Maps sends you people. Both are on the offer page.
How will I know it is working?
A report full of impressions is not a report about your business.
Listen for: Visits, searches and calls on one screen, and a human who reads it with you.
My answer: Visits, searches and calls on one dashboard. Every row open. That is on the growth plan page.
Found is built in, not bolted on.
Red flags
None of these makes someone dishonest. Each one means stop, and ask one more question.
- The domain registered in the designer's own name or account.
- A 12 or 24 month agreement, signed before you see any work.
- A promise of a Google ranking, a lead count, or a revenue number.
- No live sites you can open yourself, on your own phone.
- Payment in full before there is anything to review.
- A fee for every small edit, or a queue to wait in.
- No monthly number in writing, just a range.
- We will sort that out later, on who owns what.
Any one of these is a stop.
My answers, in one place
Every answer of mine that is already in writing, and where. The last row is what most pages leave out.
Who owns the site and the domain
Your domain is in your name from day one. The finished website is yours outright when the build is paid in full. Written down on the terms page.
What the build costs
You will know the complete project price before any work begins. No required add-ons. No surprise bills. See everything included.
What happens after 90 days
Ninety days of growth come with the website. After that, month to month. You pick a plan or you stop, and nothing is billed unless you pick one. The numbers are on the growth plan page.
When you pay
Pay in full and you go to the front of the line. Or pay half to start and half at launch. The balance is only due when your site is live and working the way we agreed. See how the build works.
How long you are locked in
No 12 or 24 month agreement you have to sign before you have even seen the work. Plans after day 90 are month to month, in the terms.
If you do not like it
Love it or your money back. A full, no-strings refund until the day you approve your live website. In writing, on the terms page.
Your competitors
One business per trade, per town. When your trade is taken in your town, we turn the next one away. On the offer page and my about page.
A Google ranking
No. From the terms: we do not, and cannot honestly, promise a specific Google ranking position, a set number of new customers, or a guaranteed revenue figure.
How long it takes
On the Complete Build: Most sites go live within 30 days after I have your photos and words. The steps are on how it works.
Who does the work
The person on the call builds the site, fixes the profile, and reads your scorecard with you. I work in English and Spanish. More about me.
What is still not in writing
The registration steps and who holds that login. The profile, analytics and Search Console logins. Where a site is hosted if you stop. The name of the editor. Rounds of changes. A client you can call. An accessibility standard. Ask me all seven, and ask everyone else the same.
Ask everyone the same questions, me included.
Take this to your call
Print this page and only the list below comes out, with a blank line under each question. Take it into every call you have booked, mine included.
- Who owns the site, and from when?
- Whose account is the domain in?
- Who owns the Google Business Profile?
- What happens if I stop paying?
- What is the full price?
- What will I pay each month?
- When do I pay you?
- How long am I locked in?
- Can I read the contract first?
- What if I do not like it?
- Do you work with my competitors?
- Do you promise a Google ranking?
- Who builds it, and who answers?
- Can I change things myself?
- How many rounds of changes?
- Can I see your live sites?
- How long will this take?
- Will it work for screen readers?
- How will Google and AI read it?
- How will I know it is working?
Two quotes, one list, same questions.
Questions about hiring a web designer
What is the most important question?
Who owns the website and the domain, and from when. If the domain sits in the designer's own account, they control your address online. Ask for the answer in writing, and check the registrant yourself with a WHOIS lookup. With me, your domain is in your name from day one, and the finished website is yours outright when the build is paid in full.
Should a designer register my domain?
They can help, but it should be registered in your name, in an account you can log into. A designer only needs enough access to point the domain at your new site. They do not need to own it. Ask who holds the login, and get that answer before you pay anybody.
Is a monthly website plan bad?
Not always. Ask what you own if you cancel. With some rental plans the site and the words go away the month you stop paying. Ask for the monthly number in writing, and ask what happens on the way out. With me, after 90 days you pick a plan or you stop, and the website is still yours.
Can anyone guarantee a Google ranking?
No. Nobody controls Google's results, and anyone who promises a position is not being straight with you. Ask instead what work gets done each month, and how you will see it. My terms say it plainly: we do not, and cannot honestly, promise a specific Google ranking position, a set number of new customers, or a guaranteed revenue figure.
What if I do not like the site?
Ask what the exit is before you sign, not after. You want a refund or an approval point that sits before launch. Mine is written down: love it or your money back, a full, no-strings refund until the day you approve your live website.
Freelancer or agency: which is better?
Either can work. Ask who actually builds the site, and who picks up the phone after launch. At an agency that is often an account manager rather than the builder. With me, the person on the call builds the site, fixes the profile, and reads your scorecard with you.
Get every one of these in writing.
START HERE
Ask me every one of these.
Fifteen minutes on the phone. Bring the list, and hold me to every answer on it.
Get your free Visibility Report Love it or your money back. A full, no-strings refund until the day you approve your live website.