Choosing a web designer is one of the most important business decisions you'll make. Your website is often the first impression a potential customer has of your business, and you don't get a second chance at that. Here's how to find the right person for the job, and how to spot the ones who'll waste your time and money.
Start with their portfolio, not their price
A designer's portfolio tells you more than any sales pitch. Look for projects similar to your business, not just in industry, but in scale and complexity. Do their sites load fast? Do they work well on mobile? Are the designs clean and easy to navigate? If their own portfolio site is slow or looks dated, that tells you everything you need to know.
Ask about their process
A good designer has a clear process: discovery (understanding your business and goals), design (wireframes and mockups), build (development and testing), and launch. If they can't explain how they work in plain English, or if their process is just 'send me the content and I'll build it,' that's a red flag. Good websites come from strategy, not just technical skill.
Check they understand SEO
A beautiful website that nobody can find is useless. Your designer should understand at minimum: page speed optimisation, mobile responsiveness, proper heading structure (H1, H2, H3), meta titles and descriptions, image alt text, and clean URL structures. If they look blank when you mention these, keep looking.
What about ongoing support?
Websites need ongoing maintenance: security updates, content changes, performance monitoring. Ask what happens after launch. Will they be available for updates? Is there a maintenance plan? What are their response times? The designers who disappear after handover are the ones who leave you stranded when something breaks.
Red flags to watch for
Watch out for: prices that seem too good to be true (they are), designers who can't show you recent work, no contract or written agreement, poor communication before you've even hired them, and anyone who promises 'guaranteed #1 Google rankings'. Nobody can guarantee that, and anyone who claims they can is lying.
The right question to ask
Here's the best question you can ask a prospective web designer: 'Can you show me results from a project similar to mine, and walk me through the specific impact the website had on their business?' A great designer will have an answer. If they can't point to tangible results, you're hiring a decorator, not a partner.
At StanceDigital, we're always happy to walk you through our work, our process, and the results we've delivered. Start your project and we'll show you exactly what we'd do for your business.