10 Questions to Ask Before You Pay for a Website

A website is one of the first things a customer sees of your business, and one of the easiest things to buy badly. Before you pay anyone — including us — ask these ten questions. The answers will tell you quickly whether you are dealing with a professional or a gamble.

1. Will I own my website and my domain?

You must own both. If the designer keeps your domain in their name, or you cannot move your site elsewhere later, you are renting, not owning. Ask for this in writing before paying.

2. What exactly is included in the price?

“A website” can mean one page or ten, with content or without, with setup or without. Get a fixed, written quote that lists pages, features and what is not included. Vague quotes grow after you pay.

3. Will it work properly on a phone?

Most visitors arrive on phones. Ask to see the site on a phone before launch, not only on a computer screen. If it is hard to read or slow on mobile, it is not finished.

4. How fast will it load?

Visitors leave slow pages. Ask what the builder does about speed: image sizes, clean code, decent hosting. A beautiful site that takes ten seconds to open loses customers.

5. Can Google find it?

A website Google cannot understand will not show up in search. Ask whether titles, headings and structure are set up for search, and whether a sitemap is submitted. Be careful here: anyone promising a first-page ranking in days is not being honest.

6. Who writes the content?

Good design cannot save unclear content. Ask whether you provide the text or the builder writes it, and whether real photos of your business will be used. Never let anyone invent claims about your business.

7. What happens after launch?

Websites need updates, backups and small fixes. Ask what maintenance costs, what is included, and who you contact when something breaks. A site with no support plan slowly falls apart.

8. Is my site secure?

Ask about HTTPS (the padlock in the browser), backups, and updates. If your site takes any customer details, security is not optional.

9. Can I see previous work?

Ask for real examples of sites the builder has made, and open them on your own phone. If every example looks like a template with changed colours, expect the same for yours.

10. What do I get if I am not happy?

Ask about revisions before launch and what happens if the result does not match what was promised. A professional answers this plainly. Evasiveness here is a warning sign.

If a builder answers all ten clearly, you are in safe hands. If several answers are vague, slow down — a website bought in a hurry is usually bought twice.

Want a website built the way this article describes? See our small business website design service.

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