26 questions to ask a web design company before working with them.

A website is a big investment. So you want to be sure that the web agency you choose to design and build that website knows its stuff.

We’ve already covered what to look for in a web design agency. So here, we share all the questions to ask a web design company before you start working with them.

Take a read. Then give prospective agencies a good grilling to find out whether they’re up to the task of building a website that does big things for your business.

Questions to ask a web design company

1. Do you offer any services other than web design?
2. Have you worked on websites in the same industry as mine?
3. Can I see some examples of other websites you’ve designed and built?
4. Do you build custom sites or do you use website templates?
5. Can I reach out to past clients?
6. How will you get to know and understand our business?
7. What do you think of our existing website?
8. How will my new website support my marketing strategy?
9. How will you ensure my website has a good user experience?
10. Who will be my point of contact?
11. How will we communicate over the course of the project?
12. How long will the design and development of my website take?
13. What is your website project process?
14. What will you need from me?
15. How many rounds of edits and revisions are included?
16. Will my website be optimised for SEO?
17. Can you build an e-commerce site?
18. Which content management system (CMS) do you use?
19. How does website hosting work?
20. Are your web designs responsive?
21. Are your websites accessible?
22. Can you design and develop a website that fits my budget?
23. What does the quote include?
24. Are there any recurring website costs I need to consider?
25. Will I be able to update my site once it’s live?
26. Do you offer ongoing support and maintenance and how much does that cost?

Questions about capabilities and expertise

1. Do you offer any services other than web design?

First on our list of questions to ask a web designer and developer, it’s all about what they can actually do for you.

A web design agency usually provides web design and web development services at a minimum. They know how to make your site look pretty and pack all that essential functionality into the backend so it works beautifully for users too.

But — depending on the kind of website you want to build — there are other services that may come in handy. Here are a few ideas:

Branding.

With branding services, you get a distinctive visual identity — a logo, colour scheme, fonts and imagery that tell customers, in an instant, exactly what you stand for.

Copywriting.

The words on your website need to be clear and persuasive. Professionally written text describes your offering and persuades website visitors to take action.

Animation.

With animation expertise on the team, your web agency can bring eye-catching motion and engaging videos to your website.

Graphic design.

Graphic designers can create branded social media assets and printed marketing materials that reflect the brand identity on your website.

Photography.

No website is complete without beautiful, high-quality photographs. An agency photographer can help you get the shots you need.

SEO.

If your agency has SEO expertise, you can be confident that your site will show up in search engine result pages.

2. Have you worked on websites in the same industry as mine?

This isn’t a deal-breaker. Good web designers and developers are good at turning their hand to most types of projects.

However, if you see that your web design agency has worked with businesses in your industry before, it can reassure you that they’re the right team for the job.

They probably already have insight into your audience and competitors — which means they have a head start on agencies without industry-specific experience.

3. Can I see some examples of other websites you’ve designed and built?

A web design agency with a long and successful track record will be able to show you lots of previous projects. These should be websites that they’ve designed and built and that are currently online.

Most teams don’t put all their work up on the agency website. So if you want to see more examples of what they can do, just ask.

When browsing these websites, here are some things to consider:

• Is it easy to navigate the site and find what you’re looking for?
• Does the site load quickly and does it have the latest website functionality?
• Does each website have a distinctive brand identity or are they a bit samey?
• Does the site work well across different devices?

4. Do you build custom sites or do you use website templates?

Template websites are cheap and fast to build. They’re suited to brands with a small budget and tight deadlines. But templates don’t offer the flexibility of a bespoke website.

Bespoke sites are coded from scratch so you have complete control over how your site looks and behaves. You can count on a unique appearance and scalability too.

A web design agency that designs and builds from scratch can certainly manage a template-based website. But the opposite isn’t always true. So it pays to know who you’re working with.

Here at Radical, we specialise in custom websites, so you can be confident of getting a website that looks and feels just like your brand.

5. Do you have any client reviews?

A long list of happy clients is a sure sign that a web design agency is doing something right. So ask your prospective web design team if you can contact some of their past clients to chat about their experiences.

The next best thing? Online reviews, on Google and TrustPilot. Plus the testimonials and case studies on an agency’s website.

An agency that doesn’t have any reviews or case studies is cause for concern. They could just be starting out — or they may not provide a service worth shouting about. Either way, there are better companies out there for you to choose from.

Questions on web design strategy

6. How will you get to know and understand our business?

A great business website starts with an in-depth understanding of that business. So your agency needs to know all about your values, customers and competitors — the problems you’re currently facing and what you want to achieve in future.

With this information, a team can approach your project with strategy, rather than instinct. They understand what you and your customers need in a website. And how to make your website and business stand out from the competition.

So find out how your web design agency plans to learn about your business.

Here at Radical, we ask our clients to complete our website brief template. We then jump on a call where we ask you lots of questions, clarifying and expanding on the information you’ve included in the brief.

If you have any research on your customers or competitors, any brand guidelines or marketing plans, it’s great if you can share these with us too. This gives us the best possible understanding of your business, so we can craft a website strategy that works.

7. What do you think of our existing website?

Got a website that needs a refresh or redesign? Then get a web design agency’s take on it as part of the vetting process.

Do they identify the same problems you see on your site? Can they pick out the parts worth keeping? And do they highlight issues you hadn’t even spotted?

If you already have a site up and running, it’s also important to find out about how your web design company plans to manage the website migration process. Ask how they’ll ensure a seamless experience for the customers using your site. And how they’ll protect your SEO rankings.

8. How will my new website support my marketing strategy?

A good website helps you achieve your marketing and conversion goals.

It’s optimised for SEO so it attracts organic traffic. It features links to your social media profiles. You can get users to sign up to your email marketing list and integrate the website with your email and CRM platforms.

The website should feature a resources section where you can upload blog posts, podcasts, webinars, ebooks and any other content you want to provide for your audience. It should also be easy to add pages to your website. That way, you can create landing pages relevant to your advertising campaigns.

A good web design agency will be able to explain all the ways your new website will support your marketing efforts, giving you the tools and data you need to get the right marketing messages to your customers at the right time.

9. How will you ensure my website has a good user experience?

Customers are liable to abandon a brand after just one bad experience. So next, ask your web designer about user experience (UX).

Good UX website design helps users find what they’re looking for and complete the desired action on your website, with minimal friction. Great UX gives them a memorable and enjoyable experience that encourages them to return to your site in future.

Here at Radical, UX principles are built into every website. We approach a project by putting ourselves in the shoes of your users. We consider how they’re feeling when they land on your website, the things that are motivating them and the problems they’re trying to solve.

We then create navigation, layouts, information hierarchy, functionality, user journeys and aesthetics that meet the needs of your users — to get them returning to your site again and again.

Questions about the web design and development process

10. Who will be my point of contact?

Will you be communicating directly with a lead designer or developer? Or does the agency assign a project or account manager to each client?

Your web design agency should have a clear and concise answer to this question. Because there should be no doubt about who you can turn to with questions or concerns during the website design and development process.

11. How will we communicate over the course of the project?

This is another really important question to ask a web design company — because getting a great website relies on good communication between agency and client.

So find out whether you can communicate over your preferred channels — whether that’s email, video call, phone call or instant message. Clarify which communication software the agency likes to use.

Also, get a sense of how often the agency will be in touch. How often will you get updates? And at what times of the day and week will your agency point of contact be available?

12. How long will the design and development of my website take?

The time it takes to build a website depends on the complexity of that website — and when your web design agency can start work on it.

Find out when a prospective company could schedule your project to begin. And ask them — once they have a good understanding of what you’re looking for — how long it’s likely to take.

A good agency will put a schedule in place, with project milestones along the way. This helps you keep track of progress and feel confident that everything is moving along at the right rate.

It takes the Radical team an average of two to four months to design and build a website. Small brochure websites with a handful of pages can be completed in a matter of weeks. Big e-commerce websites take longer.

We can give you accurate timescales, providing an overview of project tasks and deadlines, before we start work on the project. We also outline exactly what we need from you — and when — to ensure things run as smoothly as possible.

13. What is your website project process?

Designing and developing a website is a complicated business. So another thing to ask your web designers and developers is what the process looks like. That way, you know exactly what to expect and there are no surprises along the way.

Here at Radical, our process looks something like this:

Learn.

We get to know you and your business by asking lots of questions and conducting research.

Plan.

We identify the web pages you need and their relationship to one another. We create a document that details the things your website will do — and how it will do them.

Design.

We design and present every page of your website as part of an online prototype. We review these mockups with you, making changes where necessary.

Build.

Our developers code your website, building a working website that matches the final prototype designs.

Test.

We check that every element of your website is working as it should, resolving any issues that we find. You can also test the website for yourself and provide any final feedback.

Launch.

Your new website goes live!

14. What will you need from me?

Getting clear on the resources you need to provide to your web design agency helps a project to run without any road bumps.

They’re likely to want a website brief. Here, you’ll describe what you want from your new website — its functionality, the number of pages and the business goals you want to achieve. You’ll also share information about your business, its history, customers and competitors.

An agency may also ask for website content. This includes copy (the text you want to put on your website) and photographs.

Here at Radical, our professional writers can provide website copy for you. We can also recommend a number of professional photographers if you don’t already have a bank of high-quality images for your business.

15. How many rounds of edits and revisions are included?

Find out how often you’ll get a chance to give feedback on the website throughout the design and development process. And ask about the website quality assurance processes an agency has in place.

You want reassurance that your web design team is invested in a high-quality finished product — and that they won’t leave you with a website you’re unhappy with.

Here at Radical, we don’t have a set number of edits and revisions. Our process is designed to ensure that — by the time it comes to launch — there are only the smallest niggles left to address.

We work with you as a partner, consulting you at every step of the way, and getting your seal of approval before moving on to each new step of the website project process.

Questions about web technology and functionality

16. Will my website be optimised for SEO?

The next essential thing to ask your web developer is how SEO-friendly your site is going to be. Your new site should be optimised so that it shows up in search engine result pages (SERPs) and helps you get lots of lovely organic traffic.

Every web design agency should approach a new website build or a website refresh with an SEO strategy. They should be up-to-date with the latest SEO news and know how to implement SEO best practice.

That means things like clean code, small file sizes, a shallow site structure, top-notch site security, schema markup and site maps. It also means SEO-focused page content and optimisation.

At Radical, we’re SEO web design pros. We have the design, development and content writing expertise you need to create a site that both users and search engines will fall in love with.

17. Can you build an e-commerce site?

An e-commerce website is way more complex than a simple brochure site. It tends to be bigger and feature more advanced functionality, like secure checkout and customer accounts.

So if you want a new e-commerce website, check that your web design agency has experience building online stores. Find out whether they follow product page and e-commerce checkout best practices. Look at other examples of e-commerce websites they’ve created to judge their user experience and security.

A good e-commerce website provides a frictionless experience for customers, making them more likely to make a purchase and return to your store again.

18. Which content management system (CMS) do you use?

When it comes to a CMS, web design agencies often have their favourites. They may lean towards WordPress, Craft CMS or one of various other options. Find out which CMS your prospective web design company uses. Then, do a little research to find out its pros and cons.

The Radical team prefers to work with WordPress. We feel this framework gives us the flexibility we need to create unique, scalable websites. And the CMS also provides an easy user experience for you. So you don’t need to be a tech whiz to add and update content once the site is live.

19. How does website hosting work?

Next on our list of questions to ask a web developer, we’re looking at hosting.

There are lots of different options for website hosting. The hosting option you choose impacts site speeds, performance, uptime and security. It also affects scalability — if you want to make your website bigger and better, or support more web traffic in future, you need a hosting service that can keep up.

A good web design company will be able to advise you on the best hosting options for your needs, whether that’s a dedicated server, a cloud server or a shared server.

20. Are your web designs responsive?

There’s no excuse, in this day and age, for a non-responsive website. A site should look as good on a desktop as it does on a tablet as it does on a smartphone. And it should adapt to every make and model of device too.

Responsive design ensures that every website visitor gets a great user experience. It also supports your SEO efforts — because Google and other search engines prioritise responsive sites that work well for all users.

Here at Radical, we build all websites using a fluid grid. This means that your website design flows to fit any screen size. We also use breakpoints to indicate when a design should shift to a different layout — for example, when content needs to be presented in one column, rather than two or three.

Another way we make beautiful, responsive websites? We take a mobile-first approach. So instead of starting with the desktop version, and then struggling to cram all that information onto a smartphone screen, we work the other way around. We start with the mobile version first, then scale up for larger screen sizes.

21. Are your websites accessible?

Another big consideration when designing a website is accessibility. Accessible websites are designed and built so that everyone — no matter their ability — can access and interact with them.

An inaccessible website can harm your brand reputation. It can also get you into trouble with the law. Some companies have been taken to court because their websites have failed to meet web content accessibility guidelines (WCAG).

So ask your agency how they incorporate accessibility principles into their designs. That might mean:

• Creating the right level of colour contrast and taking into account people with colour blindness
• Allowing people to interact with the website in a variety of different ways — via voice recognition, text-to-speech or keyboard
• Designing buttons that are easy to click
• Adding captions to videos and alt text to images

The Radical team knows website accessibility guidelines inside out. And web accessibility is something we’re passionate about. We believe that, with so much of our lives now lived online, the World Wide Web should be open to everyone.

Questions about website costs

22. Can you design and develop a website that fits my budget?

Once a web designer or developer has a clear idea of what you’re looking for in a website, they can tell you how realistic your budget is.

Be honest about your budget. Having the money chat isn’t always easy but it really does help make the process run more smoothly. It’s easier for your web design company to come up with a website project plan that they can stick to — because they’re clear on the figures involved.

23. What does the quote include?

Be clear on exactly what you’ll be paying for to ensure there are no unexpected extras further down the line. If your web design agency is incorporating extras — like animation, website content or branding — clarify that these services are all included in the quote total.

At Radical, we like to play things straight down the line. When you use us as your web design and development agency, there are no hidden costs. We’re upfront from the very start about what your website will cost and what your quote includes.

24. Are there any recurring website costs I need to consider?

Running a website is a long-term investment. You need to pay for your domain name and hosting on a monthly or annual basis. There may also be software licenses you need to consider — and the cost of ongoing maintenance and updates if you don’t have tech expertise in-house.

So ask your web design company about any ongoing costs. That way, you can factor them into your business budget.

Questions about post-launch support

25. Will I be able to update my site once it’s live?

An out-of-date website is bad for business. So it’s important that you can update business and product information — and add new content marketing materials — whenever you like.

A web design agency should be able to tell you what CMS they’ll be using and how user-friendly it is. Some CMS platforms are easier to work with than others — especially if you’re not particularly tech-savvy.

You should also ask:

• What updates will I need a developer for?
• Can I assign permissions and roles on the CMS?
• Will you give me any training on how to use the CMS?

26. Do you offer ongoing support and maintenance and how much does that cost?

If you don’t have a tech team capable of handling website maintenance, updates and security, you’re going to need some help managing your site over the long term.

Most web design agencies provide support packages for a monthly fee. Depending on the level of support you sign up for, they’ll keep your website running smoothly, add new content for you and even incorporate new website functionality as and when you need it.

So find out how much a support package costs. And check that you have the option to go with another web team for support and maintenance. A web design agency should never tie you in for eternity.

Here at Radical, we create bespoke support packages for our clients, based on their budgets and website needs. And if you want to go with another agency for website maintenance — or take updates in-house — that’s fine too.

Is Radical the right web design agency for your business? Ask us all the questions to find out!

Now you’ve read all the questions to ask a web design company, you hopefully have a good idea of how to find the right agency for your website project.

And if Radical is one of the names in the mix, we’re happy to answer any questions you want to throw at us.

Our designers, developers, animators and writers have worked on hundreds of websites. They create creative, innovative sites that promise to meet the needs of your customers and your business over the long term.

We’re good at the customer service stuff too. We pride ourselves on being straight-talking, sticking to quotes and deadlines and creating websites that our clients can be proud of.

Don’t take a word for it! Find out for yourself. Get in touch with the Radical team to chat about your website project.