1. Who will own the website when it is finished?

Ask whether you will own the domain, the design, the code and the content, and whether you can move the site to another host or another provider without penalty. Some template platforms and agency arrangements keep you tied to a monthly fee to keep the site online. There is nothing wrong with a subscription if it suits you, but you should know before you sign whether leaving means starting over.

2. Who exactly will do the work?

A large agency may present a senior team in the pitch and hand the build to someone you never meet. A freelancer may do everything personally, which is fine until they are unavailable. Ask who designs, who develops, who writes, and who you will speak to when something needs changing. At Digital8 the answer is one person for design, development and systems, with a named collaborator for branding, and we say so on the About page. Whoever you choose, you want the same clarity.

3. Can I see a site you built for a business like mine, and speak to the client?

Portfolios show what a studio can make look good. A conversation with a past client tells you what it was like to work with them and what happened after launch. A studio confident in its work will offer a contact or a written recommendation without hesitation. Read what Karabe’s commercial director wrote about working with us and ask any studio you shortlist for the equivalent.

4. What is included in the price, and what is not?

Website quotes vary widely in Winnipeg, and the number on the proposal is only meaningful next to the list of what it covers. Ask about copywriting, photography, stock image licences, the number of pages, forms and integrations, revisions, and whether search engine basics such as titles, descriptions and a sitemap are part of the build or an add-on. A proposal should define deliverables, responsibilities, timeline and ongoing costs before work begins.

5. What will it cost per year to keep the site running?

Hosting, domain renewal, software licences, plugin updates, security patches and support are the costs that surprise people in year two. Ask for a realistic annual figure and who is responsible for each item. A well-built site can have very modest running costs; a site built on a stack of paid plugins may not.

6. How will you decide what goes on the site?

Design is the visible part. The useful part is deciding which questions your customers need answered before they enquire, and in what order. Ask how the studio approaches structure and content. If the answer is “send us your text and we will make it look nice”, the site will look nice and say little. If the answer involves your customers, your services and the action you want people to take, you are talking to the right people.

7. Will it work well on a phone, and will it load fast?

Most visits to a local business website come from a phone, often on a slow connection. Ask to see the studio’s recent sites on your own phone. Check how quickly they load, whether text is readable without zooming, and whether the contact button is easy to reach. Google measures these things too, and they affect where you appear in search results.

8. What will you do for search visibility, and what will you not promise?

Be wary of guarantees about ranking. No honest studio can promise a position on Google, because search results depend on competition, reputation and content the studio does not control. What a studio can promise is a sound foundation: descriptive titles, crawlable links, structured data, fast pages, a sitemap and a clear page structure. Ask which of these are included, and ask how the studio would measure results afterwards.

9. How do we communicate, and how quickly do you reply?

Ask how reviews and feedback work, whether you will see previews as the site takes shape, and what a normal reply time looks like. Then notice how the studio handles your first enquiry. The speed and clarity of that reply is a good predictor of the whole project.

10. What happens after launch?

A website is not finished at launch; it is started. Ask who makes changes, how updates are priced, what happens if something breaks, and whether you will be able to edit basic content yourself. Ask, too, how the studio hands over: passwords, files, documentation and a clear explanation of what keeps the site running.

A short checklist to take into your first meeting

  • Ownership of domain, design, code and content, with no lock-in.
  • Named people for design, development, content and support.
  • A client you can talk to, or a written recommendation.
  • A proposal listing deliverables, exclusions, timeline and ongoing costs.
  • A realistic annual running cost.
  • A content and structure approach based on your customers’ questions.
  • Fast, readable pages on a phone.
  • Search foundations included, with no ranking guarantees.
  • Clear communication and reply times.
  • A defined handover and plan for after launch.

Why we wrote this

Digital8 is an independent web design and development studio in Winnipeg. We are one of the options you will find when you search, and we would rather you choose well, even if that means choosing someone else. If you would like to ask us these ten questions, start a conversation; Daniel replies personally, usually within two business days.