Websites are a lot like tattoos. The really good ones aren’t cheap, and the really cheap ones aren’t good! Most companies only hire a web design agency every 5-10 years, so make sure you don’t get taken in with lofty promises and too good to be true prices.

How do you do that? Ask the agency questions- and keep an eye out for any red flags.

What’s your process, and who will I be working with?

✅ Green light: A good agency will explain their process during one of the initial scoping calls, and give a rough ideal of lead times for the project. They should have a named project manager for you, or at the very least, a lead developer managing each build who will be your main point of contact. Bonus points if they insist on weekly check ins during the design and build process.

🚩 Red flag: “We can tell you once you’ve paid your first invoice.”

Do I own my website when it’s finished?

✅ Green light: Yes, and discussions of domain and CMS hosting will have been covered in the scoping call. A good agency will also make sure any and all permissions needed for fonts and visual assets are baked in.

🚩 Red flag: “No, that’s extra”, or “Yes, but only we can access on your behalf for an hourly fee”

 

How do you handle revisions and feedback?

✅ Green light: For example, you’ll usually see a homepage wireframe first—just layout, no design. Then a visual version with branding, images and placeholder copy (unless copywriting is part of the brief). You’ll have time to digest and feedback, and revisions will then be made. They are then approved, and then the process begins for the rest of the site. The process will then look something like:

• Homepage wire frame > feedback > edits made > full site wire frame > feedback > edits made > approved.
• Home page design > feedback > edits made > full site design > feedback > edits made > approved.

🚩 Red flag: “Revisions cost extra”, or “We don’t do revisions as it’s a template build”

What platform or CMS will you use—and why?

 ✅ Green light: We will use this particular CMS, and here’s why. Incidentally, at Fresh Pies we will build most sites in WordPress or Shopify. At Fresh Pies, we usually build in WordPress or Shopify. WordPress has been around since the dawn of the internet and powers almost half of all websites. It’s not glamorous, but it’s endlessly flexible, with a huge ecosystem of plugins and integrations. Shopify, on the other hand, powers over 7 million e-commerce stores globally. It’s brilliant for FMCG brands with fast turnaround sales. If you’re running a high-ticket store with fewer but more complex sales, a HubSpot CMS build might be a better fit.

🚩 Red flag: “Mentions the name of new headless CMS which launched last year”, or “we’ll do a complete custom build”

How do you build for mobile and accessibility?

✅ Green light: It’s baked in from the beginning, as over 65% of the worlds internet traffic is now on mobile devices, and accessibility comes as standard because it’s best practise.

🚩 Red flag: “Mobile versions or mobile responsive is extra”, or “accessibility isn’t important”

What’s included in the quote, and what’s extra?

✅ Green light: Here is a detailed quote of the scope of our work in a multi page document and the price breakdown, before we send the first invoice.

🚩 Red flag: “Can you give us specifics?”, or “we didn’t talk about it”

Will my website be SEO-ready from launch?

✅ Green light: SEO will be discussed from the beginning, and you can choose how stuck in with it we get, we offer on-page SEO, off-page SEO, technical SEO, international SEO, and LLM SEO.

🚩 Red flag: “That’s extra”, or worse, “No”

Can you show me work you’ve done in my industry?

✅ Green light: Here are multiple case studies of work we have done in your industry, and some adjacent ones with relevant features we think you’d find interesting.

🚩 Red flag: “No, but once you’ve built a few website they’re all the same”

What happens after launch—do you offer support?

✅ Green light response: Yes, and these are the support packages we offer if you’d prefer we maintain the site on your. We also train you on how to use your site and keep it updated.

🚩 Red flag: “No”

What’s your honest opinion of my current site?

✅ Green light: This element functions well, this element isn’t serving you, we can expand on this, we can take this idea and bring it up to date.

🚩 Red flag: “Awful, you need to scrap it and start again”

Bonus: Questions to Avoid

“Can you make it go viral?” – Sadly the V word no longer means what it used to. And also no, that’s not really how the internet works.

“How fast can you build it for £X?” – Some agencies will do an expedited build for a fee, but it’s not the norm.

“What can you do for £X?” – I remind you of the opening line to this article. And a good agency will want to do their best, please don’t make us feel sad by asking us to do a bad job. Our developers and designers are real humans who take pride in their work!

 

TLDR

If you’re asking smart questions, you’re already on the right track. Let’s build something that does your business justice.