Hiring a web designer is a lot like hiring a contractor: everyone has a portfolio, everyone has a price, and it's genuinely hard to know who's good until the job is already underway. We've watched business owners pick based on price alone, only to discover mid-project what "cheap and fast" actually meant — a vague scope, a designer who stopped answering emails, or a mockup that looked great and fell apart the moment someone opened it on a phone.
"Ask to see the contract before you ask to see the portfolio. Most red flags show up in the fine print, not the mockups."
Questions to Ask Before You Hire
A short, direct list of questions during the first conversation tells you more about a designer than an hour of scrolling their portfolio ever will.
"What's included, and what costs extra?"
A vague quote is the single biggest source of small business web project disputes. Get a written scope that spells out number of pages, revision rounds, stock photography, copywriting, and who owns the final files — before you sign anything. For a general sense of what fair pricing looks like, see our website cost breakdown.
"Can I see a site you built more than a year ago?"
Anyone can show off their newest work. A site built 12–18 months ago that still looks current and still loads fast tells you whether the designer builds things that age well, not just things that photograph well in a portfolio.
"Who will actually maintain this after launch?"
Some designers hand you the keys and disappear; others offer ongoing maintenance as part of the relationship. Neither answer is wrong, but you need to know which one you're getting so you're not caught off guard six months in.
"What platform will this be built on, and can I edit it myself?"
Custom code, WordPress, Squarespace, and Webflow all have different tradeoffs for cost, flexibility, and how easily you can make small edits yourself later. Compare the options in our platform comparison guide before committing.
Portfolios full of templates with swapped logos
If every project in a portfolio uses the same layout with different colors and a new business name dropped in, that's a template shop, not a design partner. There's nothing wrong with template-based builds if that's what you want and the price reflects it — just go in with clear eyes.
No mention of mobile or accessibility
If mobile responsiveness and basic accessibility don't come up unprompted, ask directly. These aren't optional extras in 2026 — they affect how many customers can actually use your site and how well it ranks in search.
Rule of thumb: if a first call runs 30 minutes and the designer spends fewer than 10 of them asking about your customers, that ratio tends to hold for the whole project.
Trusting the Fit, Not Just the Price
The cheapest quote and the most polished portfolio are both weak predictors of a good working relationship. What actually matters is whether the person on the other end of the conversation listens, explains tradeoffs honestly, and gives you a scope you can hold them to. Get that right, and the design decisions tend to take care of themselves.
Vetting a few designers right now?
Bring us your shortlist and the questions above — happy to be one of the calls, or just a second opinion on what you're hearing.
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