Questions to Ask a Web Designer Before Your Website Is Built
A portfolio shows how a website looks, and the questions which matter after launch are about who builds it, who can change it and what it depends on. The six which I would ask a web designer, and the answers worth listening for.
Mike Lopez
Designs and builds websites and B2B software
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I think the most useful questions to ask a web designer are about the months after the launch, because a portfolio already shows how their websites look, the way my own projects page does, and what it leaves out is who will be able to change your site, what the site depends on and whose name the accounts are in. Most of the websites which I have been asked to fix had looked fine on the day that they went live, and the trouble started with the first change that the owner wanted to make.
These are the six questions which I would ask, in the order that a project meets them, with what a good answer sounds like for each.
Who builds the site, and how the design reaches the build
Ask who will build the site and how the design reaches them, because a design can be handed to a developer, built by the designer or rebuilt in a page builder, and each of those changes what you receive. I would listen for a plain description of the handover, such as a Figma file with every page at desktop and phone size and the styles named, and I would ask to see a page from an earlier project next to the live version of that page, since the differences between the two are what you would live with.
What you will be able to change yourself
Ask which parts of the site you will be able to edit after launch, and ask to see the editing screen of one page from a site which they built. On the WordPress sites which I build on my own theme, each section of a page has its own labelled fields, so a heading, a paragraph or a photo can change while the layout stays put, and I believe a good answer to this question always comes with a screen which you can look at before you sign.
I would be careful with the answer that you can edit everything, since a site where every block can move is also a site where one edit can shift the layout of a page, and a clear list of what you can change is the more useful answer.
What the site depends on
Ask which plugins, page builders and outside services the site will need, and who will pay for each licence after the first year. A paid plugin mostly needs a yearly licence to keep receiving updates, security fixes included, so a site which depends on four of them comes with four renewals, and I would want to know whose card those renewals go on before the build starts.
Whose name the accounts are in
Ask whether the domain, the hosting and the site’s files will be in your name, and whether you will have the administrator login from the first day. I think the answer should be yes to all three, with the designer added as a user on your accounts, because a website which lives on someone else’s hosting account can only move when they agree to move it.
How fast it will be on a phone
Ask what the site will score on a phone in PageSpeed Insights, Google’s free test, and ask to run the test on one of their live sites while you talk. I aim for 90 or more on the mobile score for the sites which I build, and I would rather hear a number with a reason, such as large photos on the home page, than a promise that the site will be fast.
What happens after launch
Ask who updates WordPress and the plugins after launch, how often the site is backed up and where those backups are kept, and what happens when something breaks on a weekend. A good answer names a routine, such as monthly updates which are tried on a copy of the site before the live one, and it tells you what you can do on your own while you wait.
| Question | A good answer sounds like | Worth a follow-up |
|---|---|---|
| Who builds the site? | A named person and a handover which you can see | “Our team”, with no names |
| What can I edit myself? | A list, and a screen to look at | “Everything” |
| What does the site depend on? | Each plugin and licence, with its yearly cost | “Just the usual plugins” |
| Whose name are the accounts in? | Yours, with the designer added as a user | Hosting on the designer’s own account |
| How fast is it on a phone? | A PageSpeed score with a reason | “It will be fast” |
| What happens after launch? | A routine for updates and backups | “Just message me” |
Where to start
I would send these six questions in writing before the first call, so every designer whom you talk to answers the same ones, and then put the answers side by side. The differences between two careful answers tell you more than the portfolios do, and I think a designer who answers all six plainly has mostly been through the months after a launch before. When you are comparing a freelancer with a studio, my notes on freelance vs agency web design cover the rest of that decision, and how long a website takes covers the timeline question which usually comes next.
Frequently asked questions
What should I ask a web designer before hiring them?
Ask who will build the site, what you will be able to edit, what the site depends on, whose name the accounts are in, how fast it will be on a phone and what happens after launch. The portfolio covers how the site will look, so these questions cover the rest.
How do I know if a web designer is good?
Open one of their live sites on your phone, run it through PageSpeed Insights and ask them to show you its editing screen. A designer whose live sites hold up on a phone and whose editing screens are tidy has thought about the people who use the site after them, and I think that is most of what good means.
Should my web designer host my website?
I would keep the hosting in your own name and add the designer as a user, so you can change designers whenever you like and the site stays where it is. A designer can still set the hosting up and look after it for you on your account.
What should a web designer give me at the end of a project?
The administrator login, the design file, a list of every plugin and service with its renewal date, and a short guide to editing the pages. For a project which is led by user research the questions change a little, and I covered those in questions to ask a UX designer.
