Eight questions to ask before you hire anyone to build your website

I build websites for a living, so you should read this knowing I have an interest. These are the questions I would want a customer to ask any web designer, me included. Ask them before you sign or pay.

1. Who owns the domain name?

Your domain (yourbusiness.com) should be registered in your name, with your email on the account. If the designer registers it in theirs, you can end up unable to move your own site. Ask to see the registration.

2. Who owns the site itself?

If you stop paying, do you keep the design and content, or does it disappear? Some arrangements are really rentals. Ask for the answer in writing.

3. What do I pay, and when?

Ask for a plain list: the build, any monthly fee, what the monthly fee covers, and what is extra. Month-to-month is easier to leave than a long contract. If there is a minimum term or a cancellation fee, you should know before you start.

4. What happens if I want to leave?

Can you take the site and domain with you? Is there a fee? How long does it take? A designer who is confident in their work will have a straight answer.

5. What exactly am I getting?

How many pages, which services, whether it works on phones, who writes the words, who supplies photos, whether a Google Business Profile or review setup is included. Vague promises ("a complete online presence") hide gaps.

6. How do changes get made?

Can you edit your hours or phone number yourself? If you send a request, how fast is it done, and is that included or billed by the hour? Ask what a typical small change costs.

7. What will you promise about results?

A careful designer will promise effort, process and communication, not rankings. If someone promises first place on Google or a set number of leads, walk away. No one outside Google controls that.

8. Can I talk to someone who has used you?

Ask for real customers you can contact, and ask them directly about delays, surprises and what it was like to ask for changes. A reference who stays vague is also an answer.

One more check

Search the company's name along with the words "reviews" and "complaints". Look for patterns, not single bad days.

If you take away only one thing

You should end up owning your domain, your content and your site, and you should be able to leave without a fight. Everything else is negotiable.