Web Design Company Interview Guide

March 31, 2023

Your Web Design Company Interview Guide

To get you to that point where you feel super comfortable and in control, I’m going to review 10 categories I feel you should discuss with your potential web developers. 

1. References
2. General site building practices
3. Site updates
4. Hosting
5. Your domain name
6. Scope of work
7. Browser and device compatibility
8. Timeframe
9. Pricing
10. Your exit plan. 

Within each of these categories, I’ll also give you specific questions to ask, so you know exactly what web lingo to use, and you can understand what you might be getting from this relationship. 

Bear with me as I go all teacher on you here because there’s a lot of stuff to cover, and it’s really specific. Alright, let’s go into the categories individually.

1. Check References

If you are going to employ somebody, you should check their references. You do it even though you know those people will only give you the most glowing, amazing references. 

I suggest doing the same thing when hiring a web designer: call a few of their clients and see what it was like to work with them. 

• Were they happy with the design and process?
• Was the work completed in a timely manner?
• Did they pay what was expected? 
• Would they hire the same company if they had to do it all over again?  

Even if they answered the other questions positively, if they tell you they wouldn’t work with them again, that’s a good indicator that this might not be a great company to work with. 

Look for references in their portfolio.

Call the businesses they have listed in their portfolio.

If the company does not have a portfolio, then they’re probably not an awesome company. I would never hire any designer without a portfolio. 

I mean that from the bottom of my heart. It doesn’t matter if they’re an employee for my company or a subcontractor. I have to see their work. I have to see proof of work they have completed for someone else before I’m going to hire them. 

They have to have worked for other companies, not just on a school project, unless you’re planning on getting into a relationship with a student to give them experience, and you feel like you can mentor them through this project. That’s a different story.

Be objective.

Of course, as you are speaking to these people, if they grant you the time to speak with them, just make sure you are clear and objective in their review of the company’s performance. 

People don’t always have the best memory, so try to put yourself in that person’s shoes and see the project through their eyes. See the project through the developers’ eyes. Just like any other review, make sure you feel like it applies to your situation before you allow it to sway you one way or the other. 

2. General Site Building Practices

Learn about the process the web company uses for building websites. Ask questions to get a good understanding of how their business runs. 

Will they do all the work on your project, or will they use subcontractors?

It may be a value of your company to only work with someone who has great knowledgeable staff members. I know it’s a value I have in my company. We seldom use subcontractors. We almost always work with people on our staff to provide services to our clients because I’ve found it’s the best way to control the process and the quality of work. If that’s not something you care about, it’s okay. 

If they’re using subcontractors, it’s really good to know what parts of your project they might be contracting out because those parts could potentially cause delays. 

Are they designing you a custom site, or will they use a template to build your site? 

I mean that in two ways. 

1. Are they designing from scratch, like creating the artwork or pulling it from a design library?
2. Will they code your template from scratch or use a base framework?

Either way is okay. Just keep in mind if you’re used to one system, it’s good to understand what they’re doing to get the system you want in the end.

Are any parts of your site going to be built from scratch? 

I know I just talked about templates being built from scratch, which is a separate thing. I’m talking more about functionality. Let’s say you’re going to have an event section, and it’s going to be robust. 

Will the company you’re working with build specific functions from scratch? 

Building from scratch has its pros and cons. 

Obviously, you can make it however you want it to be. But, if something goes south with your developer, if they get hit by a bus or stop responding to your emails, there won’t be someone else to pick up and work in their code. 

Be sure to take note of what your developer says, then make the best decision for you. Obviously, you get to make your own decisions, not me. This is all you. If you think it’s best to build it from scratch, do it. But, if you can find another widely used and accepted system, you might use it instead. 

What platform does the company build sites on?

Are they going to build you something on Squarespace, Wix, WordPress, or something completely custom? You need to understand that so you can be confident you’ll be able to work the system and it will be able to extend in the future if you need it to. 

Just because they can do what you need to have done now in a system doesn’t mean you can do all the things you’ll want in the future. 

If you’re unsure what platform is right for your site, I want you to hop over to a couple of other podcasts we have. 

• 5 Decisions You Need to Make Before You Build Your New Website – I take you through the decisions you need to make about your new website and talk about the different systems you might use. 
• Wix, Weebly, Squarespace, WordPress – What’s the Difference? – I go into different parts of those operating systems and talk through their pros and cons. 

If you’re unsure what system is right for you, listen to those podcasts. They will serve you well. 

The other person who should be serving you well is your web developer. They should be helping you make these decisions. You need to make it clear to them what you want to do with the future of your website. That way, they can ensure they’re building it the right way to achieve those goals. 

Let’s walk through an example.

Say you want to build your website on WordPress. If you are building your website on WordPress, you need to ask your web design company what page builder they use. You want to ensure they use the page builder you are familiar with. Then, you don’t have to learn how to use another one (unless you hate the one you have). 

How do they use plugins?

Next, you need to ask them how they use plugins. There are two different schools of thoughts with plugins. 

The School of Lots of Plugins

Some web developers use lots of plugins. They use them all the time to add features, like featured posts, or to add additional formatting to the website. 

That is not the School of MayeCreate, but some people do it that way. 

Usually, if somebody is putting lots of plugins on your site, it’s not ideal because it tends to slow down the load of your site. It’ll take longer for your site to load. 

It also tends to be an indicator of a less experienced designer because they don’t know how to get in and modify the template, using the core system of WordPress to make it do what you want it to do. 

The School of Plugins as Needed

More experienced developers tend to use plugins the second way, which is as needed. 

Many of the features you need from your website would be derived from extending the features of the core WordPress functionality. 

I’m not saying don’t ever use plugins – they are absolutely awesome and will save you time and money – just don’t use them for every living thing. If you do, you can end up slowing down your site and potentially creating security risks with all those extra loopholes for hackers to get in through those plugins. 

3. Site Updates

By site updates, I mean the things they’re going to do for you after the website is live. Questions you should ask include, 

• How long will they support your site after it’s taken live? 
• How long is their grace period for you to ask questions about how to use the site?
• Will they provide training, and in what format?
• Are plugin updates included, and if they are, how much will they cost per year?
• Are software updates included?

For some platforms, this isn’t going to be a problem. Wix, Weebly, Squarespace, those companies are providing all those updates for you. However, if you’re building a custom WordPress site with a developer, the software will have to be updated periodically. 

4. Hosting

Once again, if you are using Wix, Weebly or Squarespace, hosting is included in the platform. However, if you’re building a WordPress site, a Joomla site or a Drupal site, there will be hosting involved. You should ask your company about this. 

• Where is the site going to be hosted? 
• How much does it cost? 
• Can you have a username and password to log in to your FTP space and your site hosting admin area? 

I’m not talking about the admin area of your website. I’m talking about the admin area of your hosting company’s website. That way, if things do go south, you have all the details you need to move your website and let somebody else take over. 

5. Domain Name

If you already own your domain name, you can skip this section. If you don’t own a domain name right now, you need to understand who will own your domain name once it’s purchased. So just ask. 

• If the company is buying a domain name for you, do they own it, or do you own it?
• If they own the domain name, will they keep it, even if you don’t do business with them anymore? 
• What will your domain name cost?
• How often will you pay for your domain name? 

Some companies charge you every year, and others charge you every two years. It’s just nice to know for budgeting purposes. 

6. Scope of Work

You need to understand who’s doing what and what’s included in your estimate.

• Who is writing the content? 
• Is editing included? 
• Is search engine optimization included, or is it a separate cost?
• How many revisions are you allowed for different parts of the site?

A word about revisions.

A design company cannot make money if they have to redo something a million times. 

There’s nothing wrong with the company setting a boundary and telling you when you’ve reached the end of the revisions process. 

It’s actually a benefit because, as the client, it forces you to decide, come to terms with what you’re doing, and move on to the next thing. Everybody needs closure in one phase of the project before they move to the next phase of the project to be happy with it in the end. 

You just need clear communication.

Suppose you’re not satisfied at the end of your revision cycle. 

• Do you just request more revisions and they’re billed hourly? 
• What does that do to the timetable of the project? 

Definitely ask those questions if you are designing for a group of people or if you’re a super picky person. 

Adding things to your site during the build.

The next question to consider is if you need to add something to your site during the build process, how will that work? Especially if you’re building something a little bit more complicated. 

For example, recently at MayeCreate, we built our Better than DIY Website Program learning management system, which allows people to watch all the course content online. 

As we’re going through it, I’m learning more about my expectations for this learning management system. I’m adjusting the scope of my project. So, what would that look like if it was something you had to do? 

If you have a super simple website and want to add a page, you can ask your company what that would mean for your project. They’ll probably tell you it’s a specific dollar amount. 

Now, if you are like me and doing a more robust programming feature on your website, like a learning management system, it’s good to understand what might happen if you need to change your mind or adjust features. 

Making changes after the build starts.

Learn what types of changes to your site incur additional costs and which are included in the original estimate. 

If it’s something like changing a color on every single title across the board, you may think it will take a lot of time. But, if you build websites, like MayeCreate builds websites, you know it’s two clicks, and all of it will change. There are lots of little things like that throughout a website you might think would be a huge bother, but they’re not. 

On the other hand, there are things you might not think would be a huge deal that are. Maybe you want to reformat the whole footer of your site. Well, that takes time because it was set up and programmed to look like it does. So just be sure to ask what types of things incur charges and which don’t. 

7. Device and Browser Compatibility

Back in the day, this used to be a way bigger discussion. Now, most web developers should be doing this, but it’s always good to check they are actually doing it. Ask these questions to find out what you need to know. 

• Will they optimize the site to display correctly on multiple browsers and devices? 
• Is there anything they won’t optimize for? 

For example, maybe you have software in your office that refuses to work if it’s not on Internet Explorer. I am so sorry if that’s the case. Because here’s the deal. Internet Explorer is dead. There is no Internet Explorer anymore. We don’t optimize for it anymore. There will never be another release of Internet Explorer, so we don’t build websites for it anymore. 

There is your browser compatibility public service announcement.

8. Timeframe

Timeframes are where some companies can get a little squirrely, which should give you a good idea of who you want to work with. At MayeCreate, we love a timeline, but not everyone does, so here’s what you need to ask. 

• How long does a project like yours typically take? 
• Can they provide a sample project timeline? 

Some people do not like doing this (watch out for those folks). 

I love doing this because this is how we get work done on time. I feel like it’s mandatory, or else you’re not going to know when your stuff is due to them. And then you could hold up the project because you didn’t know. 

Get clear deadlines.

Nothing is worse than being the client on a project and having people not tell you when your stuff is due. Then they call you up a day before saying they need something from you, leaving you frustrated. You don’t have time to figure it out and are now under pressure to make this decision.

Friend, I don’t want you to feel that way. So ask for the calendar. If they don’t provide one, well, maybe they’re not the right person to work with. 

What to do if a project is delayed.

The last question I want you to ask your company about the timeframe is what happens if the project isn’t completed on time. 

I don’t want to play the blame game here. But what happens if the company is the holdup? You also need to know what happens if you’re the holdup. 

How a missed deadline can snowball.

One of MayeCreate’s strengths as a company is fulfilling our deadlines. However, we have a lot of clients who get held up during their regular jobs, which makes perfect sense, because that’s what they do to get paid. Then they don’t have time to do things like write their content or review their pages, or they have to move a meeting back because something else came up. 

That’s totally forgivable. 

But at a certain point in time, something has to give in the project because the MayeCreate team runs multiple projects simultaneously. Sometimes, if due dates move back, your project completion date has to move back too, because we have other work we promised to other clients in the same timeframe and their projects are running on time. 

If you’re working with a smaller company, you need to empathize with them. If you’re not making deadlines, they won’t get paid for your project. They’re going to have to take on other work. You can’t be surprised if it takes priority over yours. 

9. Pricing

• Are stock photos or other graphic elements included in the cost of building your site? 
• Is the estimate a fixed bid, meaning the price will stay the same unless the scope of work changes?
• Do you own your site once it’s paid in full?

This is super important because some companies write contracts saying they own your site, even after it’s paid in full. I think that’s total crap. If you paid for a house, you would get the house. I think if you pay for the website, you should get the website, but you have to check the contract, or else you won’t know. 

Be clear on the pricing structure.

You might have a sliding range if your estimate is not a fixed bid. This would mean there is a clause in your contract that says the estimate for the site is $X, not to exceed 20% or 10%, or whatever percentage of that cost. 

That can get tricky, and then you could end up paying 20% more on your website. If you have a $10,000 website, 20% more is a lot more money. So make sure you pay attention to that clause. 

Uncover hidden costs

Last but not least, on pricing, make sure you understand any other annual or monthly costs not covered in the estimate. I did a podcast over just this type of thing, The Hidden and Recurring Costs of Building a Website. You can listen to it and learn the exact items that often come up on an annual or recurring basis for your website. 

10. Exit Plan

I know you’re at the beginning of the relationship with your company, and you haven’t really made a relationship at all. But friends, if I’ve learned anything in my 17 years of business, it’s that even the best of friends need an exit plan if they’re doing business together. Especially if you’re doing this with a friend or a family member, you need to have a mutual agreement about what might happen on these topics if it doesn’t all work out.

• What happens if you want to move to another company after the design process? 
• What are your rights in the business relationship if you want to end it?
• Once the site is completed, can you switch hosting companies?
• If the business relationship does end, what is the offboarding process, and does it cost money? 

There are certain things we absolutely do for our clients for free. There are other things we will not do for them for free. For example, I will give you all your files and grant you access to everything. It’s your stuff. I should never keep it from you. 

On the other hand, if you feel like I should be moving your site to a new web hosting place, or if your new provider starts calling me and asking me how I built the site and wants me to counsel them through moving it to another server, (yes, this happens), I’m not going to do it for free. I’m sorry, I’m just not. They’re going to have to figure it out on their own. If you choose them to take care of your site, they should know how to do that. 

How to use this guide  

Friends, you now have all of the questions you need to be able to evaluate your web designers. 

In the long run, future you will thank today’s you for asking all these questions, no matter how meticulous they seem, and having this conversation with a prospective company. 

If you feel like you want to use these questions to interview my company to build your website, you can do that. You just need to talk to Stacy. She is the gal to know because she will get you a site outline and an estimate and take you through the whole website planning process.