In short
- Decide what the website is for before you speak to anyone. A site that must bring enquiries is a different purchase from one that must exist.
- Ask who owns the site, the domain and the design; who writes the content; whether old addresses will be redirected; and what search set-up is included.
- The red flags are the same everywhere: no portfolio you can visit, no answer on ownership, prices with nothing itemised, and promises about rankings.
- Compare what is included, not the totals. The cheapest quote often leaves out the parts that make the site work.
Decide what the website is for
Most bad web-design decisions come from not answering this first. Write down, in one sentence, what the site must do for the business: bring enquiries for these services in these places; sell these products; reassure people who were referred; take bookings. Then write down how you will know it is working, calls, forms, bookings, sales.
That sentence decides everything else: whether you need a designer, a developer or an agency; how much structure the site needs; whether search matters from day one; and what a fair price looks like. Our guide to what a website costs sets out the published ranges for each route.
The questions to ask
- Who will own the website, the domain and the design?You should. Walk away from any arrangement where the designer keeps the domain, or where the site cannot be moved to another host.
- Who writes the words and supplies the photographs?The commonest cause of a website that takes a year. If it is you, the quote should say so; if it is them, ask who and how.
- What happens to our old pages?If you have an existing site, every old address must redirect to the right new page, or you lose the search visibility you have. Ask how they handle it.
- What search set-up is included?Page titles, descriptions, a sensible structure, a sitemap, Search Console. These are basic and often left out of cheap quotes.
- Will it be fast on a phone?Ask to see one of their recent sites on your own phone, on mobile data.
- What is included after launch, and what does it cost?Hosting, updates, backups, security, small changes. Get the running costs in writing.
- Can we speak to two recent clients?Not testimonials on the site: actual people. Ask them how the project went and what happened after launch.
- What will you not do?An honest designer will tell you what is out of scope and what they would recommend someone else for.
Red flags
- Promises about rankings. Nobody can guarantee a position on Google. A designer who does is either naïve or selling.
- No portfolio of live sites you can visit. Screenshots are not a portfolio.
- A price with nothing itemised. You cannot compare it, and you cannot hold them to it.
- “Pay monthly” with no answer on ownership. Some of these arrangements are fine; some leave you with nothing if you stop paying. Ask.
- Stock templates sold as bespoke. Templates are not wrong, they are often the right choice, but you should know which you are buying.
- No mention of redirects, speed or search. The site will look fine and be invisible.
Comparing quotes that look nothing alike
Put the quotes side by side and tick what each one includes:
| What to look for | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Number of pages and which ones | A page per service and place is where enquiries come from. |
| Copywriting and photography | Usually the biggest hidden cost and the commonest delay. |
| Redirects from the old site | Protects the rankings you already have. |
| Search set-up and tracking | Without it you cannot tell whether the site is working. |
| Design: template or bespoke | Both can be right; the price should reflect which. |
| Ownership of site, domain and design | Non-negotiable. |
| Running costs after launch | Hosting, updates and changes, every year. |
| Timescale and what you must supply | The realistic one, not the hopeful one. |
The cheapest quote is usually the one that leaves the most out. The most expensive is not necessarily the best. The right one is the one that includes what your sentence from the first section needs.
Local or remote?
A web designer does not need to be in York to build a site for a York business. But there are practical advantages to someone local: they can visit, photograph the premises, understand the area pages and sit with you when the site launches. The decisive factor is not the postcode; it is whether they can show you live sites that work, explain what they will do and answer the questions above without hesitation.
If you would like to put those questions to us, our web design page explains how we work, and the work page shows sites you can visit.
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