Most people choose a web designer based on a nice portfolio and a reasonable quote. Then they discover they do not own their domain, the price was not fixed after all, and there is no way out of a monthly contract. Here is how to avoid that.
We are a small web design studio. We have also, at various points, been in the same position as you: needing something built and unsure who to trust. So this guide is written honestly, from that side of the table. Some of these questions apply to us too, and you are welcome to ask them.
Some designers register domains in their own account and keep them there. If you fall out, or want to move on, they hold your domain and you have nothing. The correct answer is that the domain is registered in your own name, to your own email address, at a registrar you can log in to directly. If a designer registered it on your behalf, it should be transferred to your account on or before the day the site goes live. Anything less than that is a warning sign worth taking seriously.
The code, the images, the text, everything: it should be yours outright. Not licensed to you, not held on the designer's servers and available only while you keep paying, but genuinely yours, with full rights to take it to another developer if you choose to. Get that in writing. A single clause saying "all work transfers to the client on final payment" is enough. If a designer will not give you that, find another one.
Fixed price is better for almost every small business. You know what you are paying before a single line of code is written. Hourly billing sounds reasonable but in practice the hours are hard to verify, scope changes are common, and revisions add up fast. A 20-hour estimate can easily run to 40 by the time every small change gets counted. If the price is not fixed, ask for a very tight written scope and a maximum cost. Without those, the quote is not really a quote.
"A few weeks" is not a timeline. Ask for a specific date in writing. Some designers have a proper process: deposit paid, start date confirmed, delivery date locked. Others have a loose queue of clients and will keep nudging yours back whenever something more urgent comes along. If you need the site by a particular date, say so at the start and get written confirmation that it is achievable. If they cannot commit to a date, that tells you something useful.
Writing good website copy takes longer than almost anyone expects, and it is harder than it looks. Find out before anything starts whether copywriting is included in the price, or whether you are expected to supply all the text yourself. If it is not included and you end up writing it at the last minute, the quality of the finished site will show it. If it is included, ask to see examples of copy the designer has written for similar businesses.
Designers get ill, change careers, close their business or simply go quiet. It happens, and it is not always anybody's fault. But you need to know what you are left with if it does. Ask: if you were no longer available tomorrow, could another developer pick up my site and work on it? If the answer involves proprietary systems, unusual setups or files only the original designer can interpret, that is a real risk to weigh up. A site built in a standard, widely understood format is much easier to rescue.
A contract does not need to be 40 pages. A short, clear document covering the scope, the price, the payment terms, the delivery date, who owns the files, and what happens if either side wants to stop is enough. Read it before signing. Ask about anything that is vague. Watch particularly for: rolling monthly contracts with long notice periods, clauses that tie access to your own site to continued payments, and open-ended revision rounds that sound generous but in practice mean neither side ever reaches a clear finish line.
WordPress, Squarespace, Wix, Webflow, a custom build, something else: each choice has different implications for what you can do yourself, what it costs to maintain, and how straightforward it is to update or move later. Ask what platform the designer recommends and why they recommend it for your specific needs. Ask specifically: can I fix a typo or update my opening hours without calling you? If the answer is no, you are buying ongoing dependency alongside the website, and that has a cost.
Domain registration, photography, stock images, a working contact form, SSL security, Google Business Profile setup, SEO basics, hosting for the first year: these may or may not be in the quote. A persuasive headline number can hide a long list of extras that push the real total significantly higher. Get the full scope in writing before you commit. At AI Speed, our standard package at £1,499 covers a five-page site delivered in seven days, including copywriting, mobile design, contact forms and Google Business Profile setup. Hosting is optional at £50 a month with no contract. We say so upfront because the whole point is that you know the number before you agree.
Anyone can show screenshots or mock-ups. Ask for the actual live URLs. Load them on your phone, on mobile data, not wifi. Do they open quickly? Do they look as good on a small screen as on a desktop? Is the contact information easy to find without scrolling? Does each page have one clear action? Real live sites reveal things that portfolio screenshots hide. A designer who cannot point to live, working examples should be asked why.
Most web designers are honest and working hard. The market for small business websites also attracts some operators who rely on clients not knowing what to ask. A buyer who asks clear questions before signing is much harder to mislead, and these questions protect decent designers too: they filter out mismatches early and create the clarity that stops most disputes from starting. If you have questions for us, the contact page is the right place. If you are weighing up options, our pricing page sets out exactly what is in each package.
We will answer all of them. Fixed prices from £1,499, delivery in seven days, everything in writing. Based near Faringdon, serving Oxfordshire, Swindon and the whole UK.
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