How to choose a web design company

Choose a web design company on evidence, not promises. Visit websites they have built, find out who will own everything once the work is done, get the price and the scope in writing, and ask plainly what happens after launch. The checklist below works with any company you speak to, including us.

A good company will be glad you asked. One that dodges these questions has told you something useful before you have spent anything.

Start with websites you can visit today

Screenshots and mock-ups show what a designer can draw. Live websites show what a company can deliver, keep running and stand behind. Ask for links to real sites built for real businesses, then open them yourself.

When you visit each one, look past the colours and ask practical questions:

• Does it open quickly, or do you wait for the page to appear?
• Can you find the phone number, the address or the contact form within a few seconds?
• Does it work on any screen? Try it on whatever you have to hand, then narrow your browser window and see whether the menu, text and buttons still make sense.
• Do the forms send, and do the links go where they say they will?
• Does it still look cared for, or are there broken images and out-of-date notices?

Look for range as well. If every site in a portfolio looks the same, you may get the same layout with your name on it. If the sites look different from one another because the businesses are different, the company is probably designing around its clients.

Checking the small screen matters for more than looks. Google's own documentation explains that it mainly reads the mobile version of a site when it indexes and ranks pages, so a site that falls apart on a small screen can also be harder to find. You can browse the live work we have built on our portfolio and judge it the same way.

Find out who will own the domain, website and content

This is the question buyers most often forget, and the one that causes the most trouble later. Ask three things directly:

1. Whose name is on the domain? The domain should be registered to you or your business, with contact details you control. ICANN, the body that oversees domain names, puts the responsibility for a domain and its use on the person who registers it, and expects the registrant's contact details to stay accurate. If the company registers it in its own name, you may struggle to move it later.
2. Will you get full admin access? Not a limited editor account, but the top level of access, so you can add users, change settings and hand the site to someone else if you ever need to.
3. Who owns the words, photos and design files? Anything you paid for should be yours to keep and reuse.

Get the answers in writing. For what it's worth, our answer is simple: your website, domain and content are yours, and you get full admin access.

Ask for a written quote that lists what's left out

A spoken figure on a call isn't a quote. Before any work starts, you should have a written document that sets out:

• the pages and features included, by name;
• what is not included, such as copywriting, photography, extra pages or online payments;
• whether domain and hosting are part of the price, and for how long;
• what renewal costs after the first year, and what it covers;
• how and when you pay;
• how many rounds of changes are allowed, and what happens if you need more.

The exclusions matter as much as the inclusions. Two quotes that look far apart can be close once you add the items one of them left out. If a company won't put the scope in writing, assume the scope will move.

We send a written quote before any work starts, and our pricing page lists what each package includes, including the first year of domain and hosting and the renewal from the second year.

Ask what happens after launch

Launch day is the start of the website's life, not the end of the job. Ask:

• When do the domain and hosting renew, and who pays for them?
• Who keeps the software, security and backups up to date?
• If something breaks, who do you contact, and how?
• Can you make small changes yourself, and will someone show you how?
• If you leave, will they hand over everything without a fight?

Renewals deserve special care. ICANN tells registrants that if they choose automatic renewal they also need to keep their payment details current. A domain that lapses because a card expired, or because renewal reminders went to a former supplier's inbox, can take your website and email down with it.

If you'd rather not handle updates yourself, ask whether the company offers ongoing care, and what it covers. Ours is described on our website care plans page.

Notice how they communicate before you sign

The way a company treats you while it is trying to win your business is usually as good as it will ever get. Pay attention to the early signs:

• Do they ask about your customers and goals, or only about your budget?
• Do they explain things in plain words, without hiding behind jargon?
• Is it clear who you will deal with day to day?
• Can you see progress as it happens, or do you wait until the end for a reveal?
• Do they agree meeting times that suit you, especially if you are in different time zones?

Distance matters less than clarity. We are a remote team and work with clients over video calls, email and WhatsApp, with meeting times agreed to suit your working day, and you see progress on a private link as the site takes shape.

Check how fast their own website loads

A web design company's own website is the one project it controls completely. If that site is slow, cluttered or awkward on a small screen, think carefully about what yours might be like.

You don't need technical skills to check. Google's free PageSpeed Insights tool looks at how a page performs on both mobile and desktop and suggests improvements. Paste in the company's address and a few of the client sites from their portfolio, and compare.

Read the results sensibly. Google separates lab data, collected in a controlled setting and handy for finding problems, from field data, which reflects how real visitors experienced the page. A single score is a snapshot; what you are looking for is a pattern of sites that feel quick when you use them. We build every website to load fast and be found on Google, and you are welcome to run the same check on ours.

Questions to ask any web design company

Take this list into every conversation and write down the answers, so you can compare like with like:

1. Can I see live websites you have built for businesses like mine?
2. Whose name will the domain be registered in?
3. Will I get full admin access when the site goes live?
4. Will I own the content, photos and design files?
5. Can I have a written quote that lists what is included and what isn't?
6. What will renewal cost after the first year, and what does it include?
7. Who looks after updates and backups once the site is live?
8. Who do I contact if something goes wrong, and how?
9. How will I see progress during the build?
10. How do you agree the timeline, and what could change it?
11. What do you need from me, and when?

That last question leads straight into planning, which we cover in what to prepare before a website project. If you are still deciding what to build at all, read website, online shop or app: which does your business need? When you are ready to put us through the same checklist, you can ask for a written quote.