Beyond the portfolio
Why the Portfolio Isn't the Whole Story
A portfolio tells you whether someone can make a site look good. It doesn't tell you who will hold the keys once the site is live. Here's a common one: a bakery owner pays a friend of a friend to build a site, and it looks great. Two years later the designer has moved on, the domain is registered in his name, and nobody knows the password to the hosting account. The bakery owner can't change the holiday hours, let alone the menu.
None of this means the designer was dishonest. Most of these situations come from things nobody thought to discuss at the start. That's the good news, because a few direct questions before you hire a web designer can head off most of the trouble. A good designer will be glad you asked. If someone gets defensive or vague when you bring these topics up, that tells you something too.
Ownership
Ownership: Who Owns the Domain, the Site, and the Logins?
Ownership is the first thing to settle, because everything else depends on it. If you own the pieces, you can always change designers, hosts, or direction later. If you don't, every change runs through someone else. Ask about these three things before you hire a web designer, and get the answers in writing.
1
Is the domain registered in my name?
Your domain name is your address online, and it ends up on your truck, your business cards, and your email. It should be registered to you or your business, in an account you control, even if your designer helps you buy it. ICANN, the organization that oversees domain names, says the registrant takes sole responsibility for the registration and use of the domain, so you want that registrant to be you. I help my clients buy their domain through GoDaddy in their own name for exactly this reason. That way the renewal reminders go to you, not to someone who may not be around in five years.
2
Will I get my own admin login?
For a WordPress site, ask for an administrator account in your own name, not a shared login and not a promise to send one later. You should also have access to the hosting account, or at least a clear answer about who has it and how you'd get it. You may never use these logins yourself, and that's fine. The point is that you could if you needed to.
Here's the rule of thumb I give everyone: if you can't log in to it, you don't fully own it.
3
Who owns the content, photos, and design?
Ask who owns the text, photos, and design once the project is paid for. In most cases it should be you, but some agreements say otherwise, especially when a designer uses a custom theme they reuse for other clients. Stock photos and paid plugins come with licenses, too. Find out whose name those licenses are in and whether they move with the site if you part ways. Imagine a landscaper who switches designers and learns the photo licenses belonged to the old one, so half the site's images have to be replaced.
Hosting
Hosting: Where Will Your Site Live?
Hosting is the service that keeps your website online, a bit like renting space for a shop. Some designers host the sites they build, some ask you to sign up with a hosting company yourself, and some leave it to you without saying much at all. Any of those can work. What matters is that you know which one you're getting before the site goes live.
Hosting questions worth asking
Who will host the site? Get the company name, and find out whose account the site lives in.
What's included? Ask whether support, security, and backups are part of hosting or handled separately.
How are backups handled? WordPress's own documentation recommends backing up both the database and the files regularly, and keeping copies in more than one place.
Can I move the site if I leave? You should be able to take a full copy of your site to another host without a fight.
I host the WordPress sites I build, with support and security handled as part of hosting, and I still tell clients to ask me all four of these. A good host should be easy to leave, even if you never do. If the answer to "Can I move it?" is complicated, ask why before you go any further.
After launch
Updates and WordPress Website Maintenance After Launch
Launch day feels like the finish line, but a website is more like a car than a painting. WordPress, its themes, and its plugins all release updates, many of them security fixes, and someone has to apply them and make sure nothing breaks. If nobody is assigned that job, it usually doesn't happen. Say you run a small accounting office and your site hasn't been touched in two years: it still looks fine, but it may be running old software that's easier to break into.
So ask plainly what WordPress website maintenance looks like after launch. Who applies the updates, and how often? Who checks that the contact form still works afterward? And when you want a new page, a fresh photo, or updated service details, how is that work handled and billed? There's no single right answer, but there should be a clear one, written down before the project starts.
Also ask what you'll be able to do yourself. Some owners want to edit their own hours and blog posts, and others never want to log in at all. Neither is wrong, but your designer should know which one you are, so they can set things up to match. A short walkthrough after launch saves a lot of "How do I...?" emails later.
Making a website or marketing decision soon?
Talk it through with someone who'll give you an honest opinion before you commit.
Good answers
What Good Answers Sound Like from Website Designers for Small Business
You don't need to be technical to judge the answers. Good website designers for small business tend to answer these questions quickly, in plain English, and without being asked twice. Many will bring them up before you do. You're not grading the exact answer so much as how clear and comfortable it is.
A few red flags to watch for
"Don't worry, I'll take care of all that."
It sounds reassuring, but it isn't an answer. Ask what "all that" includes.
The domain or hosting is in their name "to keep things simple."
Simple for whom? Ask for it in yours.
No admin access, with no date attached
Waiting until the project is paid for is reasonable. Waiting with no end in sight isn't.
Nothing in writing
If ownership, hosting, and updates aren't in the agreement, they aren't really agreed.
Price matters too, and it's fair to compare quotes. Just compare what's actually included, not only the total. A cheaper quote that leaves you without your own domain or logins can cost more later, when you need to rebuild or untangle it.
Bring this list
A Short List to Bring to Your First Conversation
Whether you hire a professional website designer, a small agency, or someone a friend recommended, these questions travel well. Print them out or keep them on your phone, and jot down the answers as you go. Comparing two or three designers side by side gets a lot easier when you've asked them all the same things.
Seven questions to ask before you sign
1
Whose name will the domain be registered in?
2
Will I have my own administrator login to the site, and access to the hosting account?
3
Who owns the text, photos, and design once the project is paid for?
4
Who hosts the site, and what does hosting include?
5
How are updates and backups handled after launch?
6
How are changes billed after the site goes live?
7
If we part ways, how do I get a full copy of my site?
The bottom line
So, What Should You Ask Before You Hire a Web Designer?
Ask the questions that protect you after the designer's part is done. A good-looking site matters, but it matters more that you own it, can get into it, and know who's keeping it running. The right designer will answer all of this without hesitation, and those answers will tell you more about working with them than any portfolio.
That's my honest answer when someone asks what to check before they hire a web designer. You don't need to become a tech expert, but you do need clear answers, in writing, before you sign. If you want to go back a step first, my article on whether your small business needs a website at all is a good place to start. And if you'd like to talk through your own project, I'm happy to sit down for a free, no-pressure conversation.
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