Questions to ask before you hire a web designer
Lists like this usually run to twenty-five questions and are written by people who build websites. Mine included. The tell is that the author answers every question well.
So here is a shorter set, chosen because different providers give genuinely different answers. My own answers are further down, and so are the questions I come out badly on.
The questions
For each one, what a weak answer sounds like matters more than the right answer, which depends on your situation.
Who does the work, and what happens if they are not there
Ask who will write, design and build it, by name. Then ask what happens if that person is unavailable for three weeks. A weak answer describes a team without naming who is on yours, or treats the second half of the question as rude. A solo operator and a twelve-person studio have opposite strengths here, and the question is which trade you would rather carry.
Who writes the words
Ask whether copy is included, and if it is not, when they need yours. A weak answer is “you send us the content”. That is not a plan; it is the most common reason a project stops for a month. Whoever you hire, get this settled before anyone draws a layout.
What you own, and what stops working if you stop paying
Ask for the list: domain, hosting, code, content, accounts. Then ask the second half, which people forget — whether the site goes down, or goes stale, if you stop the monthly payment. A weak answer is “you own everything” with no detail, or a maintenance plan described as a requirement rather than a choice. Do you own your website? has the five checks for a site you already have.
Is there a credit in the footer
Ask whether their name goes in your footer with a link, on every page. Plenty of providers do this and it is negotiable. Worth knowing because Google’s spam policies list widely distributed footer links as a link-spam technique, and Google publishes how to qualify a link so it is not counted toward rankings. Both checked 15 September 2026. This is not a claim that a credit will get you penalised — it is a reason to decide deliberately rather than after launch.
What would you tell me not to do
Ask what they would talk you out of. A provider who has never declined a job, or who agrees with every idea in the first call, is selling capacity. The useful answer names something specific they would push back on, and why.
My answers
You talk to me. I write, design and build it, and the person on the email is the person doing the work. I write the copy first and you approve it before I design.
At handover you get the files, the accounts and the notes, and you do not need a subscription to keep the site live — after launch you run it, or you stay on a subscription for additional work and cancel whenever you like. No footer credit unless you want one. If a rebuild is the wrong job, I say so before you spend.
Where I answer badly
The section the other lists leave out. Every one of these is checkable on this site.
“Can I see three sites you have built for a business like mine?”
I cannot. I have one published project, and it is a redesign for a film and photography studio. If your business is nothing like that, I have no comparable work to show you, and an agency with forty case studies has a real advantage on this question.
“Can I see a first site you have built from nothing?”
Not a published one. My case study is a rebuild of an existing site. If you have never had a website, you are taking more on trust with me than with someone who can show you three.
“Can I talk to a couple of past clients?”
There is no reference list on this site and no client quote anywhere on it. I am not going to substitute private introductions for published proof and call that the same thing.
“What happens if you are hit by a bus?”
There is no account manager, no junior and no offshore team. That is the point of the offer and it is also the risk: no cover. A studio has someone else who can pick the project up. I do not.
“Can we meet at your office?”
No street studio, and I do not claim in-person meetings. The work runs by email and on calls.
“Have you worked with businesses in Melbourne?”
Nothing published outside Sydney.
“Can you build it in WordPress?”
No. I do not use WordPress. If your team already runs WordPress and wants to keep editing it the way they do now, I am the wrong choice and you should rule me out early.
If that is the job
Tell me about the website