Buyer's guide
Ten questions to ask a web design agency
Ten questions that show how an agency works and what your site will be like to live with. The most revealing is the simplest: can we see something you built three years ago that is still running well?
By Claire Donnelly · Last reviewed 11 August 2026 · 5 min read
The short version
- Ask to see a site they built three years ago, not one they launched last month
- Find out who actually designs and builds it, and what is subcontracted
- Check what you will be able to change yourself without ringing them
- Ask whether another agency could pick the site up if you parted company
- A specific example beats a reassurance on every one of these
What these are for
The quote is a separate job. What a website costs, how many page designs you are buying, who writes the copy and what the ongoing fees are is covered in our guide to what a business website costs. Read that when you are comparing numbers.
These ten are about the agency, and about what the site will be like to own – after launch, when the excitement has passed and you want to change your opening hours on a Friday afternoon.
Ask them in a meeting, and listen for specifics. Good agencies answer these with examples, because they have lived through the situations the questions describe.
The ten questions
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1. Can we see a site you built three years ago?
Anybody can show you last month's work. A site that is still live, still loads quickly and still looks current tells you the agency builds things that last rather than things that photograph well on launch day.
Red flag: Every example is recent, or several of the portfolio links no longer work
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2. Who will actually design and build it?
Some agencies design in-house and subcontract the build, or the reverse. That is not automatically a problem, but you should know who you are relying on and who you speak to when something is wrong at four on a Friday.
Red flag: Evasiveness about what is done in-house, or "our partners" with no further detail
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3. How do you decide what goes on each page?
You want a process - what your customers need, what you want them to do next - rather than taste. An agency that starts with structure produces a site that works. One that starts with a look produces something you admire and nobody uses.
Red flag: An answer entirely about design trends, or simply "we'll send you some concepts"
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4. What will we be able to change ourselves?
Being unable to edit your own opening hours is a slow and expensive irritation. Ask exactly which parts you can edit, whether you can add a page without them, and what training comes with handover.
Red flag: Every change, however small, returns to them as a billable job
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5. How do you handle it when we are holding things up?
Most projects slip because the client is busy, not because the agency is slow. A good one has a process: deadlines for content, a point at which they proceed with placeholders, and a conversation rather than silence.
Red flag: No process at all, and no mention of what happens when content arrives late
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6. How will we know whether it worked?
A website is an investment rather than decoration. Ask what they would measure - enquiries, calls, form completions - and how you will see it. If success means only that the site launched, you have no way to judge it a year later.
Red flag: Success described in terms of looking modern, or of awards
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7. Could another agency take this over?
Sites built on standard platforms with conventional code can be picked up by anybody. Heavily customised or proprietary builds lock you in, and you discover it at the worst possible moment. Ask what it runs on and how unusual the setup is.
Red flag: A proprietary platform, or a build so bespoke that only they could maintain it
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8. What do you do about accessibility?
A site that is hard to use with a keyboard, a screen reader or poor eyesight turns away real customers, and larger clients increasingly ask their suppliers about it. Building it in costs little; retrofitting it costs a great deal.
Red flag: Accessibility offered as an optional extra, or confused with being mobile-friendly
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9. What happens to speed once we add a year of content?
New sites are quick because they are empty. Ask how images are handled when your own team uploads them, what happens as pages accumulate, and whether anybody checks performance after launch.
Red flag: Speed discussed only as a launch-day score, with no plan for afterwards
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10. What would you talk us out of?
Every experienced agency has things it advises against - a feature nobody uses, a page nobody visits, a budget better spent elsewhere. One that agrees enthusiastically with everything is selling rather than advising.
Red flag: Every idea you float is a great idea, including the ones that contradict each other
What the answers usually reveal
Two patterns come up repeatedly.
The first is the agency that talks beautifully about design and vaguely about everything else. The site will probably look excellent and be awkward to run, slow once populated, and difficult for anyone else to take on. That is a fine trade if you know you are making it.
The second is the agency that answers every question with a process. Slightly less exciting in the meeting, considerably better to live with for five years.
Neither is wrong. What matters is knowing which one you are buying, because the difference does not show up in the quote – it shows up in the second year, when you want to add a page and cannot remember who to ring.
Common questions
Should we go with a local agency?
It helps for the early conversations, when being in a room together speeds up decisions considerably. It matters much less afterwards. Availability and responsiveness beat proximity, and a good remote agency is better than a nearby one that stops answering.
Is it a problem if they subcontract the build?
Not necessarily - plenty of good agencies do. The problem is not knowing, because it affects who fixes things, how quickly, and what happens if that relationship ends. Ask, and expect a straight answer rather than a defensive one.
They have asked for a big deposit. Is that normal?
A deposit is entirely standard, since they are committing time. What matters is that payments are tied to stages you can see - designs delivered, build complete, site live - rather than to dates on a calendar.
We already have a site. Should we redesign or repair it?
Ask two agencies and expect two answers, because rebuilding is easier to sell. If the structure is sound and the content is decent, targeted work on speed, mobile and calls to action is often far cheaper. If it fights you every time you edit it, rebuild.
Written by Claire Donnelly
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