Choosing
What to ask a website developer before hiring
Most hiring mistakes come from questions nobody asked. Here are fifteen to put to any developer, with what a good answer looks like and when to walk away.
“How to choose a website designer” and “what to ask a website developer before hiring” are the same worry from two sides. You are about to hand over money and trust to someone whose work you cannot yet see. The questions below are meant to be asked in a call or in writing; the answers are worth saving. They apply to any provider, including me.
About the work
1. Can I see sites you built that are live today? A good answer is a list of addresses you can open on your own phone. A warning sign is screenshots only, or sites that no longer exist. How to judge a developer’s portfolio explains what to look at.
2. What was your part in each one? Designer, developer, content, search, or all of it. A good answer is specific. A vague answer may mean the work was a team’s and not theirs.
3. Who will actually do my project? One person, a team, or a subcontractor. Any of these can be fine; not knowing is not.
About the process
4. What are the steps, and what do you need from me at each? A good answer has stages and dates. What to prepare before a project shows what you will be asked for.
5. How many rounds of changes are included? And what does an extra one cost? “Unlimited” deserves a question: for how long and under what limits?
6. How will we communicate, and how quickly do you reply? Honest providers say when they are unavailable and do not promise instant replies.
7. What happens if content is late? A good answer explains how the schedule moves.
About ownership and cost
8. Who owns the files, the design and the code when it is finished? The answer should be in writing. Who owns your website, domain and hosting covers it.
9. Whose name are the domain and hosting in? The answer should be yours.
10. What is the total price, including tax, and what is not in it? How to ask for a website quotation lists what a complete answer includes.
11. What do I pay after launch, and what is optional? A good answer separates the one-time fee from renewals, maintenance and any search work.
About results and honesty
12. Will my site rank on Google? The only honest answer is that nobody can promise it. A provider who promises page one is either misinformed or selling. Realistic expectations for SEO says what can be promised.
13. What does your search work consist of, exactly? Look for a list of deliverables, not a phrase. See comparing website packages.
14. What happens after launch, and for how long are fixes covered? A good answer states the period and what falls inside it.
15. What is not included? If the answer is “nothing”, ask again.
What a good provider does with these questions
A good provider is glad to be asked, answers plainly, says “I do not do that” without embarrassment and puts the answers in writing. A poor one gets defensive, changes the subject or answers a different question. How you are treated before you pay is a good preview of how you will be treated after.
My own answers to most of these are on the developer-for-hire page and the pricing page, and the Work page shows two live sites. Ask me the rest: message or call Harman.