A website is one of those purchases you make rarely and live with for years, which makes it hard to judge. You cannot test drive it, and most of what separates a good build from a bad one is invisible until something goes wrong. So rather than trust a nice-looking pitch, run every designer you consider past this checklist. It works the same whether you are hiring a solo freelancer in Hove or a full studio.
1. Will you actually own the site?
This is the most important question and the one people forget to ask. Some designers, especially the cheap monthly deals, keep you renting forever. Stop paying and your website disappears, taking your search ranking with it. Ask plainly: if we go our separate ways, do I keep the website, the code and the domain name? The right answer is yes. If it is anything else, walk on.
Make sure the domain is registered in your name and that you hold the logins, not your designer. It is your address on the internet, and you should own the keys to it.
2. Bespoke or template, and which do you need?
There is nothing wrong with a template if it genuinely fits and the price reflects it. There is something wrong with paying bespoke prices for a template with your logo dropped in. Ask which you are getting.
- Template. Faster and cheaper, but you share a design with countless others and hit limits as you grow.
- Bespoke. Built around your business and how your customers behave, costs more up front, and does not box you in later.
A good designer will tell you honestly which one your situation calls for, even when the honest answer is the cheaper one.
3. Do they understand getting found, not just looking nice?
A beautiful site that nobody can find is an expensive ornament. Ask how they handle SEO and local search. You want to hear about page structure, sensible titles and descriptions, fast loading, mobile performance, and setting up your Google Business Profile so you appear for "your trade in Brighton" searches.
Design gets people to trust you once they arrive. SEO is what gets them there in the first place. You need both, and plenty of pretty sites quietly skip the second.
4. Can they build what you actually need it to do?
If you only need a shopfront that explains what you do, most competent designers can manage. But the moment you need the site to work, take bookings, handle payments, manage stock, connect to your other software, the field narrows fast. Plenty of designers make lovely brochure sites and quietly hope you never ask for a working booking system.
Be clear about what you need now and where you might go next, and ask directly whether they build that themselves or bolt on a third-party plugin and hope it holds. If bookings and payments matter to your business, hire someone who genuinely builds them.
5. What happens after it goes live?
Launch day is the start, not the finish. Ask what support looks like afterwards:
- Who keeps it online, updated and backed up?
- What does a small change cost in six months, and how quickly does it happen?
- Is there a clear, reasonable monthly fee, or will you be chasing someone who has moved on to the next project?
A designer who vanishes the day the invoice clears is a false economy. You want someone who is still there when you need a quick edit before a busy weekend.
6. Does their portfolio hold up?
Anyone can talk a good game. Their past work cannot. Look at real sites they have built and, crucially, click through them. Are they fast? Do they work properly on your phone? Do they still look current, or dated? If you can, find a business similar to yours in their portfolio and see how that site actually performs.
Ask to speak to a past client, or read genuine reviews. A designer proud of their work will happily point you at both.
7. Are they easy to actually work with?
You are going to spend weeks talking to this person, so the human side matters more than people expect. In your first conversation, notice: do they listen, or just talk? Do they explain things in plain English, or hide behind jargon? Do they reply promptly? Are they straight with you when something is a bad idea?
This is where hiring local can genuinely help. A Brighton or Hove designer who knows the area understands your customers and local search, and being nearby makes it easy to meet, stay accountable, and build a relationship rather than fire emails into the void. A great remote studio can absolutely do the job, but "local and reachable" is worth real weight when it is close.
The quick version
Before you sign, make sure you can answer yes to these: I will own the site and domain. I know whether it is bespoke or a template, and I am happy with that for the price. They take getting found seriously. They can build everything I need it to do. I know what support costs afterwards. Their portfolio stands up. And I found them easy and honest to deal with.
Tick those and you are hiring on substance, not on whoever had the slickest sales pitch.
