How to choose a web development team: 7 questions before you sign

A student with a template and an agency that assigns a project manager to every email will both offer to build you a website. Prices can differ tenfold, and the promises sound the same: fast, high quality, inexpensive. The difference shows up not in the conversation but three months later. Here are 7 questions that will help you choose a web development team and see that difference before you sign.

1. Can you show examples of similar projects?

Ask not for images from a portfolio but for live addresses. Open them yourself: try the forms, view them on a phone, check the speed with Google PageSpeed Insights. A beautiful picture in the portfolio and a slow-loading site are often the same project.

2. What exactly is included in the price?

Design? Content upload? SEO basics? Testing on phones? If the answer is a bulleted list, the supplier works to a process. If the answer is “we will agree”, you will build the process. At your own expense.

3. How long will it take and who sets the deadlines?

A good answer sounds something like this: “a business website - 3-5 weeks, you see the design after the first, content goes in during the third”. There are two bad answers: a vague one (“it will depend on workload”) and an unrealistically fast one (“in three days”). In both cases you will pay later with waiting or with quality.

4. What happens when the project ends?

Will you get all the access details? Will you be able to change the content yourself? How much does help cost when you need it? The answers to these questions often become clear too late, when you are already dependent on a single supplier and their moods.

5. How does communication work during the project?

It is good when you have one contact person, get a short update on progress every week and are spoken to without jargon. Everyone is communicative in a sales conversation, so ask specifically: what will the third week of the project look like? Who sends what, when, and where do you see interim results?

6. Will the site be ready for growth?

Today you need a brochure site, in a year bookings or a shop. Ask directly: what will we do when we need more? If the answer is “we will redo it from scratch”, the money saved today will cost dearly later. A well-designed site can be extended in parts, without building everything at the start.

7. What warranty applies after launch?

You notice a bug a week later - is fixing it included, or is it a new invoice? A serious supplier fixes their own mistakes in the first weeks as part of the job. The other question is new requests, for example moving a block or adding a section: how they are priced is worth agreeing in advance.

Red flags worth worrying about

These signs almost always mean problems later:

• A price without scope - “a website for €300” without a list of what is included usually ends in extra invoices.
• No contract, or a one-sentence contract - work, deadlines and responsibility are either defined in writing or simply do not exist.
• Everything registered in their name - the domain and the hosting account must belong to you. Otherwise, when you change supplier, you lose the website too.
• Silence about support - if the team does not talk about what happens after launch, after launch you will be on your own.

A checklist before you sign

Before signing, check: you have seen the supplier’s live work, not only images; you have the scope and estimate in writing; you know the timeline and the stages; the domain will be registered in your name, and the code and all access will be handed over to you; you know how much support will cost after launch. If even one point is vague, keep asking until it is clear, or choose another supplier.

If you are not a technology person

Good news: you hardly need technical knowledge here. Judge behaviour, not terminology. Whoever answers uncomfortable questions about money, deadlines and ownership clearly will behave the same way in the project. And if a specific question is answered with “we will see later”, it is likely that later it will cost more.

Pay attention also to what they ask you. A serious supplier first takes an interest in your business, customers and goals, rather than immediately showing a catalogue of templates. Whoever does not find out what the site has to achieve cannot plan it properly either.

If you still have doubts, ask the supplier to explain their offer as if telling a friend. Whoever understands what they are doing will explain it simply.

In short

All seven questions test the same thing: does the supplier tell you in advance what you will get, when, for how much, who will own everything and what happens after launch. A good supplier answers them before you even ask. Want to check how we answer? Get in touch or look at the pricing, our website development service and examples of our work.