Questions to Ask a Web Designer Before You Sign

Why these questions, and not others

Many lists of questions for a web designer are about style and process. Those matter, but they're easy to judge from a portfolio. The questions below cover what a portfolio can't show you: who ends up owning what, what the site costs after launch, and what happens when something goes wrong. They're the ones that decide whether a website is an asset you own or a subscription you can't leave.

The questions, and what a good answer sounds like

Ask	Why it matters	A good answer
Whose name will the domain be registered in?	The registered owner controls the domain. Everything else depends on it.	Yours, or your business's, from day one.
Who owns the design, the copy and the code when I've paid?	Without it in writing, you may be licensing a site, not buying one.	You do, and the contract says so.
If we part ways, what do I get?	A site you can't move isn't really yours.	Every login, the files and a list of what's held where.
What exactly does the price include?	"A website" can mean five pages or fifty, with or without the writing.	A written list: pages, copy, revision rounds, setup.
What isn't included, and what would it cost?	Photography, logos and integrations are where quotes grow.	Named extras with prices or rates.
What will I pay every year after launch?	Domain, hosting and updates continue long after the build.	Each yearly cost named, and who bills it.
How long will it take, and what slows it down?	Timelines slip on content and feedback more than on design.	A range in weeks, and what they'll need from you to hit it.
Who writes the words?	Writing your own copy can be the slowest part of a project.	A clear yes or no, priced either way.
Can I see live sites you built, and what you did on each?	Screenshots can hide slow, broken or abandoned sites.	Live links, each labeled with the real scope.
How fast are those sites on a phone?	The site has to work on the phone in a customer's hand.	Numbers you can check yourself at pagespeed.web.dev.
Will I be able to edit it myself?	Some sites are built for owner edits, some aren't. Neither is wrong.	A straight answer, and how changes work if not.
Who will I actually work with?	The person who sells the project isn't always the one who builds it.	A name, from first call to launch.
What happens if you're unavailable?	Every studio has sick days and slow weeks. Small ones especially.	Your logins and plain, documented code, so anyone can step in.
How do payments work?	You want to pay against progress, not hope.	A written schedule tied to stages of the project.

Red flags

The domain goes in the designer's name "to make things easier." It makes leaving harder. Our guide to what to do if a designer disappears shows why.
No written scope or price before work starts. Anything not written down is open to disagreement later.
A monthly fee with no ownership. Some sites are rented. That can be fine, but know that if you stop paying, you lose the site.
A portfolio of screenshots with no live links. Ask why.
Vague answers about who does the work. If they can't name the builder, they may not know yet.

How Elimenti answers them

If we're asking you to put these questions to every designer, we should answer them first.

Ownership: After the final payment, the site is yours. The domain and hosting are in your name, and the code is plain HTML, CSS and JavaScript any developer can work on.
Price: Projects start at $3,000, and most land between $3,500 and $4,500. Design, custom code, copywriting, a basic SEO setup and up to three rounds of revisions are included.
Extras: Photography is $85 an hour. Visual identity is quoted per project. We don't build online stores or self-editing dashboards.
After launch: Site Care is optional: $175 a month or $85 an hour, with a five-business-day turnaround. Domain and hosting renewals are billed to you by those companies.
Timeline: Most projects launch four to six weeks after kickoff. Content is the biggest variable.
Editing: You don't edit the site yourself. Changes go through Site Care. If you want to edit every week, a builder like Squarespace suits you better.
Who you work with: Hashim H., directly, from the first call through launch.
If we're unavailable: Your logins are yours and the code is plain, so any developer can pick it up.
Payment: By card through Stripe or by check, against a written proposal.
Proof: Every project on our work page is labeled with exactly what we did.

A checklist to take to every call

The domain will be registered in my business's name
The contract says I own the design, copy and code after final payment
I have a written list of what's included, and what isn't
I know every yearly cost after launch, and who bills it
I have a timeline in weeks and know what I need to provide
I've seen live sites they built and checked one on pagespeed.web.dev
I know who will build my site
I know what happens if they're unavailable
The payment schedule is in writing

Common questions

How many web designers should I talk to?

Enough to compare answers to the questions above, not just prices. Two or three conversations can show you the difference between a designer who answers plainly and one who doesn't.

Is it a problem to hire a one-person studio?

Not if the site is built so anyone can take it over: logins in your name, plain code and a list of what's held where. You get the person who designs your site on every call. Ask the continuity question and judge the answer.

What should the contract cover?

Scope, price, payment schedule, timeline, revision rounds, who owns the finished work and what happens to logins and files if either side ends the project. If an answer matters to you, it belongs in writing.

For prices across the market, read what a high-end website costs in Chicago. For how long a project takes, see how long a custom website takes. Our own terms are on the pricing page.

Ask us these questions Or (630) 509-8822

Questions to ask a web designer before you sign