How to choose a web design agency:10 questions to ask

A website is an investment you will live with for years. Many agencies look alike online, so the real differences show up in the answers to a few direct questions. Use these ten in your first conversations and compare the answers side by side.

Before you start: a one-page brief

Agencies can only compare like with like if they get the same information. Write down, on one page:

• Goal: what the website must achieve, such as more enquiries, online sales or bookings
• Audience and languages: who your customers are and in which languages they should be served
• Pages and features: for example services, portfolio, booking, shop, blog, contact form
• Examples: two or three websites you like, and why
• Budget range and deadline: a range is enough, and it helps agencies propose the right scope

10 questions to ask

1. Can I see websites you built for businesses like mine? Ask for live links, not only screenshots, and open them on your phone.
2. Who will actually work on my project? Who designs, who builds, who is your contact person, and is any part outsourced?
3. Who owns the website, the domain and the content? The domain should be registered in your name, and you should receive all logins and files.
4. What exactly is included in the price? Number of pages, languages, texts, images, forms, rounds of changes and training, and what costs extra.
5. What are the yearly costs? Hosting, domain, licences, maintenance and updates. Ask for a written overview.
6. How do you handle SEO? At minimum: page titles and descriptions, fast loading, a clean structure, a sitemap and redirects when an old site is replaced.
7. Will it work well on phones and for everyone? Most visitors use a phone. Ask how speed and accessibility are tested.
8. Can I update the content myself? Which system is used, and is there training or a short manual?
9. What happens after launch? Support, response times, security updates and what happens if something breaks.
10. What do the process and timeline look like? Ask for the steps, your part in each step and a realistic launch date.

Red flags

• A price before anyone has asked about your goals
• No live examples, or examples that all look like the same template
• The domain or hosting registered in the agency's name, not yours
• Promises like “guaranteed first place on Google”
• No written quote or contract
• Pressure to decide today

How to compare quotes fairly

Put the offers in one table: what is included, one-off costs, yearly costs, timeline, ownership and support. The cheapest quote often leaves out texts, languages or SEO basics, and the most expensive is not automatically the best. Our website cost guide shows what published price guides say.

How we work

At Vanzasoft you receive a written quote that lists what is included and the running costs, your domain and logins in your own name, and one contact person throughout the project. We have been building websites since 2016; see our portfolio.