Written by IILL Editorial
Last updated: 30 July 2026
Comparing only the first-screen design when choosing a website agency leaves important problems for after launch. You need to know who owns the domain, whether you will receive the copy and source code, how existing search URLs will move, and whether enquiries actually reach the right person.
A good agency does not simply claim to do everything well. It separates what it will handle, what costs extra, and what it cannot guarantee.
1. Can you open the real portfolio sites?
Ask for live URLs, not just thumbnails. Check the agency credit in the footer, the launch date, whether the work was a new build or a partial redesign, and whether the agency still operates it. Some work may be confidential, but you have little evidence if every case study exists only as an unverifiable claim.
Ask: “What part of this project did you deliver directly, and which result can I open today?”
2. Does the agency understand your customers’ questions?
Healthcare sites need clear specialties, clinician profiles, booking, and medical-advertising review. Legal sites need practice areas, lawyer profiles, consultation paths, and careful publication of cases. Tax and employment sites need dated regulatory information and safe handling of sensitive data. Look at the questions an agency asks in the first meeting, not just whether it can recolour an industry template.
Compare the relevant scope in our professional website hub, hospital website service, and law firm website service.
3. Does the estimate name specific work units?
“Planning, design, and development included” is not enough. The estimate should separate the page list, number of pages of copy, photography, mobile designs, features, data migration, revision rounds, search setup, analytics events, and operating period.
Check: Are included work, excluded work, and the unit used to calculate extra charges all stated?
4. Who owns copywriting and fact-checking?
An agency can draft the copy, but the client must verify experience, qualifications, figures, prices, and regulated claims. On the other hand, if the agency only repeats “send us all the copy,” it is unclear who owns the information architecture and persuasive flow.
Check: Who handles the interview, draft, fact check, and final approval?
5. Are the design method and revision rules visible?
A template, a semi-custom build, and a fully custom design require different amounts of work and produce different results. Copying a reference site creates copyright and operational risk as well as weak brand differentiation.
Check: Will mobile screens be reviewed separately? Which design stages are open to revision? Will you receive the original design files?
6. Can the agency explain its technology choice plainly?
No single choice among a hosted builder, WordPress, Astro, and custom development is always correct. The answer depends on who will edit the site, publishing frequency, booking and payment needs, languages, security, and budget.
Ask: “Why does this technology fit the way we operate, and which constraints will be difficult to change later?”
7. Is the domain registered to the client?
The domain is your brand address and the basis for email and search. If it is registered in an agency employee’s account, moving it after the contract ends may be difficult.
Check: Registrant name, billing account, DNS access, and who receives expiry notices.
8. What do you own across source, content, and licences?
Receiving source code is not the same as owning every right. Paid fonts, images, plugins, and templates may be non-transferable or require annual fees.
Check: At contract end, which source repositories, design originals, photo originals, documents, accounts, and paid licences will be handed over?
9. Does a redesign begin with an inventory of old URLs?
Changing every address when a new design launches can turn existing links and search visits into 404 errors. Google’s site-move guidance recommends mapping old URLs to new URLs and updating permanent redirects, canonicals, and sitemaps.
Check: Does the estimate include an old-URL inventory, a one-to-one redirect map, and post-launch checks for 404s and indexing?
10. Is there a concrete SEO task list?
An “SEO optimised” badge does not define scope. Ask which of these are included: page titles and descriptions, canonicals, robots rules, sitemaps, structured data, internal links, image descriptions, performance, and search-tool setup.
An agency that explains how it divides technical fixes from ongoing content is more credible than one that guarantees first place for a keyword.
11. Can enquiries and campaigns be measured?
Installing GA4 alone does not reveal the consultation path. Calls, messages, form starts, completed submissions, and advertising UTM parameters need separate events. A test submission should also appear in the report.
Check: Event naming, rules that keep personal information out of analytics, account ownership, and post-launch verification.
12. Is responsibility for security and privacy defined?
Enquiry forms handle names and contact details. Healthcare, legal, tax, and employment enquiries can contain more sensitive information. HTTPS is only a start: review data minimisation, access, retention and deletion, backups, spam protection, updates, and incident response.
Check: Who can see the data, where is it stored, and when is it deleted?
13. Are pre-launch QA and approval criteria documented?
“We test everything” is less useful than a checklist covering devices, browsers, keyboard use, forms, 404s and redirects, search metadata, performance, analytics, and notifications.
Check: The definition of a critical defect, known limitations, the client’s final approval, and the observation period after launch.
14. Does maintenance separate included and paid work?
Do not rely on the phrase “free maintenance.” Fixing a typo, changing a team member or address, adding a page or feature, updating security, and responding to an outage require different amounts of work.
Check: Term, monthly allowance, response time, emergency threshold, hosting and paid-tool costs, and termination conditions.
15. Can another agency take over?
A good contract works when the relationship ends as well as when it continues.
Ask: “If we end the contract, when and in what format will we receive the domain, source, data, original designs, analytics and search accounts, and operating documentation?”
Find disqualifying risks before chasing a perfect score
| Area | Weight | Signal that should stop the evaluation |
|---|---|---|
| Problem understanding and real work | 20 | Neither the work scope nor a live URL can be verified. |
| Estimate, schedule, and approval | 20 | Included work, exclusions, and extra-charge rules are absent. |
| Ownership and handover | 20 | The agency avoids domain ownership and end-of-contract delivery. |
| Search, analytics, and QA | 20 | It promises rankings but has no setup or verification list. |
| Security and operations | 20 | Nobody owns personal-data storage or maintenance. |
Even with a high score, reconsider an agency that presents false case studies, guarantees results unconditionally, or refuses to transfer ownership.
Checklist to copy before a consultation
- Live portfolio URLs and the scope delivered directly
- Included and excluded pages, copy, photography, features, and migration
- Material owners, final approver, and schedule by stage
- Design method, mobile screens, revisions, and original-file delivery
- Reason for the technology and the parts your team can edit
- Owners of the domain, hosting, repository, and analytics accounts
- Paid fonts, images, plugins, and annual renewal fees
- URL migration, SEO setup, and post-launch search checks
- CTA, form, phone, and messaging conversion tests
- Personal-data collection, storage, deletion, and security updates
- QA list, launch approval, and incident response
- Maintenance SLA and the handover list at contract end
Before meeting an agency, use the website production cost guide and production timeline guide to summarise your scope on one page. You can then compare the same questions and conditions instead of trying to reconcile different sales language.
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