15 questions to ask before you hire a web developer

Scope: what am I actually buying?

1. 1How many pages, and which ones? "A website" can mean 3 pages or 30. Ask for the page list in the quote.
2. 2Is the design custom or a template? Both are fine at the right price. What matters is that you know which, and whether you approve the design before the build.
3. 3Who writes the text and supplies photos? Content is the most common cause of delays. Agree who does it, and what happens if it is late.
4. 4How many rounds of changes are included? Two or three rounds is normal. Ask what an extra round costs.
5. 5Will it work well on phones and load fast? Most of your visitors will be on mobile. Ask to see a past site on your own phone.

Price: what will it cost this year and next?

1. 1Is the price plus GST or including GST? An 18% difference is not small. See our guide to GST on website development.
2. 2What are the yearly renewals? Domain, hosting, email, paid plugins and maintenance. Many cheap quotes recover their margin on year-two renewals.
3. 3What is not included? A good quote lists exclusions: ad spend, stock photos, third-party subscriptions, extra pages.

Timeline and payments

1. 1What is the go-live date, in writing? Counted in working days from when they have your content.
2. 2How are payments split? 50/50 or three milestones is normal. Be careful with 100% upfront.
3. 3Who is my single point of contact? A name and a WhatsApp number, and the hours they reply.

Ownership: the questions people forget

1. 1Will the domain be registered in my name? The only acceptable answer is yes.
2. 2Do I get the admin login, hosting access and the code at the end? Ask for it in the agreement. Our website handover checklist lists everything you should receive.

After launch

1. 1What support is free after launch, and for how long? Fixing their own bugs should be free for a reasonable period.
2. 2Who keeps it updated, backed up and secure? WordPress sites in particular need updates. Ask what a maintenance plan costs and what it covers, or whether you can do it yourself.

Answers that should worry you

• Guaranteed "first page of Google" or a fixed number of leads.
• A price that is far below everyone else’s with no list of what is included.
• "We will register the domain for you" without saying in whose name.
• No written quote or agreement, only a WhatsApp message with a number.
• No past work you can open and use yourself, or no physical address.