Two website proposals can look remarkably similar. Both promise responsive design. Both mention SEO. Both show polished portfolio work. Both promise support.
One may still represent a completely different service from the other. To choose a web design agency or independent designer, look beyond the homepage. Ask the same practical questions of each supplier.
1. What problem are we actually solving?
A useful web partner should want to understand why the project exists. If the conversation goes directly from “we need a new website” to choosing colours, something important has been skipped.
Put the problem and your priorities in a short website brief so each supplier has the same starting information.
2. Who will actually do the work?
Ask whether the person selling the project is also involved in delivery. For a small independent studio, you may work directly with the designer. At a larger agency, several specialists may be involved.
Neither model is inherently better. Understand what you are buying.
3. Can you show relevant live work?
A portfolio image is useful. A live website is better. Open it on your phone. Read a service page. Try the navigation. Look at the contact process. Ask what problem the project was intended to solve.
Our Selected Work links to live Smartcon websites and explains their purpose, including that they belong to our own businesses.
4. What is included in the price?
Get this in writing. Ask specifically about page count, content, image preparation, responsive design, forms, analytics, Search Console, on-page SEO, redirects, hosting, domain work, revisions and post-launch support.
Our guide to comparing website costs by scope explains why similar totals can cover different amounts of work.
5. Who writes the content?
If you are expected to supply final copy, make sure you have the time to do it. If the designer shapes or writes the content, ask what that includes. Good website copy is not filler added after the design.
6. How will existing SEO be protected?
This matters particularly for a redesign. Ask what happens to existing URLs. If pages are being renamed, merged or removed, there should be a migration plan. If the answer is simply “we install an SEO plugin”, keep asking questions.
Our redesign service considers the existing site as part of the project. The pre-launch checklist gives you practical points to discuss with any supplier.
7. How do you approach performance?
Ask how images, fonts and scripts are handled. You need evidence that performance is treated as part of the build rather than something tested at the very end.
8. How do you approach accessibility?
Ask about semantic headings, keyboard navigation, focus states, contrast, form labels, alternative text, responsive text and touch targets.
9. Who owns the website when the project ends?
Clarify domain ownership, hosting access, source files where applicable, CMS access, analytics, Search Console, licensed assets and what happens if you change supplier later.
10. What happens after launch?
Ask what support is included, how edits are handled, whether ongoing support is optional or mandatory, and whether there is a minimum contract. There is no single correct model. There should be a clear one.
11. Are basic UK website requirements being considered?
A professional build should not forget routine company details, privacy considerations or cookie handling where relevant. A web designer is not your lawyer, but they should not ignore the basics.
GOV.UK sets out the company details required on limited company websites. The ICO’s guidance on cookies and similar technologies is a useful reference when discussing which technologies a site will use and how they should be handled.
12. Does the process feel proportionate to the project?
A five-page business website should not require fourteen workshops simply because an agency has a fourteen-workshop process. Equally, a complex migration should not be treated like filling in a template.
Look for a process that matches the problem. For a professional practice, for example, our professional websites service focuses on explaining the offer and giving prospective clients a clear route to contact.
What should make you cautious?
Be careful when scope remains vague, ownership is unclear, nobody asks about the existing site, rankings are dismissed during a redesign, mobile is treated as an afterthought or every project appears to use the same visual system.
These are reasons to ask another question, not automatic proof that a supplier is poor.
The best supplier is the one whose model fits the job
Do not choose a web designer because they are cheapest. Do not choose one simply because they are most expensive either.
When you have competing offers, our guide to comparing redesign proposals by scope helps make the work and assumptions behind each price visible.
Choose the team whose work, scope, communication and process make sense for the website you actually need. You can review how Smartcon Works approaches a project alongside the work and scope before deciding whether to start a conversation.