How to choose the right web design agency – 16 questions to ask, from someone who has been both client and supplier

Why so many regret their website project

The most common problems with website projects are rarely about the design. They are about unclear ownership, costs that appear out of nowhere, support that goes quiet after launch – and the realisation, far too late, that the agency never really understood the business.

A website is also a broad project and a moving target. "A business website" covers everything from five pages to a platform with hundreds of CMS entries, integrations and several languages. Neither you nor the agency can specify every detail in advance – and checking that the foundations are right, that the responsive layout holds at every breakpoint and that the code is clean takes time and needs good processes.

So choosing the right web design agency is less about who has the best-looking portfolio and more about who takes ownership of the end result – not just of the invoice. Asking the right questions at the start exposes problems before they become expensive. This guide gives you sixteen concrete questions to ask – whatever the agency and whatever the platform.

The 16 questions at a glance:

• Can you show similar projects in my industry?
• Who does the work – employees or subcontractors?
• What is included in the price – and what comes on top?
• What happens when something unexpected comes up in the middle of the project?
• How do you work when I don't know exactly what I want?
• Who owns the code, the design and the domain – and what do I get if the collaboration ends?
• What does your process look like, how am I involved – and what do you expect from me?
• Do you understand SEO – properly?
• How do you quality-assure the things nobody sees?
• How do you handle accessibility and GDPR?
• Which platform do you recommend – and why?
• What happens after launch – and does the meter start running with every question?
• Can a non-technical user update the website?
• What in my project would you advise against?
• What would you have done differently in one of your recent projects?
• Do we need an ongoing collaboration – or is a project enough?

Why we wrote this guide – we have sat on your side of the table

Before I started SEOS Design, I was on the client side. I bought websites, SEO, PPC and digital services for the companies I worked for – and was almost always disappointed. The final invoice was higher than the quote, the agency rarely understood the business behind the website, and the support tailed off as soon as the project had been delivered.

After enough projects like that, I came to a simple conclusion: this could be done better. That is why SEOS Design was started – as the agency I had been looking for myself but never really found.

So the sixteen questions below do not come from an agency trying to sell itself. They come from someone who has been a dissatisfied client and learned exactly which questions reveal whether an agency keeps its promises – and which ones only produce fine words.

Before you call the agencies – what you need to work out yourself

Before you compare quotes, you need answers to three things. Without them you get vague quotes that are impossible to compare:

• What is the purpose of the website? Lead generation, e-commerce, employer branding, information? The answer decides what you actually need – and what you do not need to pay for.
• Who owns the content internally? Who will update the website after launch, and how technical is that person? This affects the choice of CMS.
• What is your timeline and your real budget? Vague answers here lead to vague quotes – and expensive changes late in the project.

With that settled, you are ready to start asking the right questions.

Question 1: Can you show similar projects in my industry?

Has the agency never done a project in your exact industry? That does not rule it out – ask it instead to describe how it would approach your specific challenges. An agency that can talk concretely about your product logic, your customers and your risks has understood the problem, whatever its portfolio. An established agency that only points to old case studies and cannot think afresh about your particular project has not.

Red flag: The portfolio is full of mock-ups but has no live websites. Or an agency that can neither show relevant case studies nor reason concretely about your industry – "we can build anything" without being able to say how.

Question 2: Who does the work – employees or subcontractors?

Many agencies win the project with senior people and deliver it with junior freelancers or subcontractors. That is not wrong in itself – but you should know about it. It affects communication, accountability and what happens if key people leave in the middle of the project.

Ask: "Who on your team will work on my project, and what is their role?" and "Do you use subcontractors – and if so, for what?"

Red flag: Unclear answers about who actually does the design, the code and the copy. Or a team that is presented at the sales meeting but does no hands-on work on the project.

Question 3: What is included in the price – and what comes on top?

We often hear that the final invoice for a website project came in well above the quote. That is almost always because the scope was not clearly defined from the start.

Ask for a specification: Will you own everything that is produced? Will the supplier get to grips with the strategy and the customer journey before designing and developing? How many pages are included, and how many rounds of revisions? Who is responsible for the copywriting? Who sources the images? Is an SEO analysis included? What does the technical SEO cover? Is the copywriting based on the SEO analysis? How is the website quality-checked before launch? Is CMS training included? Which third-party costs come on top?

Red flag: "We'll deal with it as we go" as the answer to what is included. That is a reasonable answer for some things, depending on how clear your brief has been – but not for everything. A quote should clearly specify the deliverables.

The impossible requirements spec

Here is an uncomfortable truth that most guides skip. The usual advice is to demand a watertight quote. The problem is that, for most website projects, there is no such thing. You simply cannot list every detail before something has been built: large projects need an iterative process. In smaller projects – landing pages and websites for small companies or startups, where the client is still thinking out loud and needs advice – this is often the rule rather than the exception.

That does not mean you should accept woolly quotes. It means that if all you look for is more clauses, you are looking for the wrong thing. What you actually need is an agency that handles uncertainty well – one that plans for reality to depart from the document and does not reach for a supplementary quote every time it does. The questions below are designed to reveal exactly that difference.

Question 4: What happens when something unexpected comes up in the middle of the project?

No project goes exactly to plan. This question reveals the agency's basic attitude: is the unexpected a problem to solve or a line on the invoice? An agency that takes ownership draws a reasonable line – small things are included, bigger changes are discussed first. You want an agency that takes ownership of the project and genuinely wants to deliver good results. You want a partner, not a supplier counting hours. You will hear the difference straight away.

Red flag: Answers that immediately point to future agreements, or "we think of everything, so we never end up in that situation".

Question 5: How do you work when I don't know exactly what I want?

Most clients – especially smaller companies and startups – do not have a finished requirements spec in their heads. That is normal, not a failure. An agency worth the name has a process for exactly that: a workshop, a prototype or a first phase that pins down the need before anything is built for real. An agency that expects you to deliver an exact specification of what you want has handed its own job to you.

Red flag: The agency demands a complete requirements spec before it will even give you a price. Or the opposite: it starts building without first pinning down what you actually need.

Question 6: Who owns the code, the design and the domain – and what do I get if the collaboration ends?

It may seem obvious – but it is not always the case. On some platforms and in some business models, the agency owns the website until you buy it out. Design files may stay with the agency. If you do not already own a domain and ask the agency for help registering one, they can later use that ownership to keep you tied to them.

Ask straight out: Do I get all the source code and all the design files on delivery? Is the domain registered in my name? What happens to my logins and access rights?

Then think a step further – projects sometimes go off the rails. Finances change, priorities shift, the chemistry is not right. So also ask: what do I get if we stop early, how is work already done paid for if I cancel, and who holds the logins while the project is running?

Red flag: Ownership is conditional on an ongoing agreement. You should own your website outright from the day you pay the invoice – not rent it (apart from third-party costs such as hosting and domain registration).

Question 7: What does your process look like, how am I involved – and what do you expect from me?

A clear process is one of the strongest signs of a mature agency. Ask them to describe the phases: discovery/strategy, structure/wireframes, design, implementation, review, launch. Ask how many feedback rounds are included and where feedback is handled, and whether you will have regular check-ins.

Then turn the question around: what do you expect from me? Delayed website projects are not always the agency's fault – the client's copy, images or decisions may be what is holding things up.

Red flag: "We'll get started and show you when it's done." Without iteration, the end result is rarely right.

Question 8: Do you understand SEO – properly?

Almost every agency says it "thinks about SEO". That is not an answer. Ask instead: "How do you handle page structure, internal linking and schema markup?" and "Do you set up Google Search Console and Analytics at launch, and how do you handle GDPR once the analytics tools are in place?" and "How do you check that the website can be indexed and crawled?"

Red flag: SEO is treated entirely as a separate service that costs extra. A solid technical SEO foundation should be part of every business website project. Ideally, an SEO analysis is done while the website strategy is being set, so that the structure and copywriting rest on a solid base from the start – but whether that is possible depends on the project budget.

Question 9: How do you quality-assure the things nobody sees?

You can tell in a second whether a website looks good. Whether it loads in 1.2 seconds, holds up at every breakpoint, has no broken links and is built so that Google can read it – that you cannot see. And that is exactly where sloppiness hides. Checking the foundations takes time, and a serious agency can tell you exactly how it does it. You want an agency that checks quality in two steps: automated processes (because they are efficient) and manual checks (because it does not trust technology blindly). We, for example, use Claude to test the website with Playwright, working from a clear prompt template of what to test, and once every error the test flagged has been fixed, we do a final manual check.

Red flag: If all you hear is "we'll fix that at the end", quality is not built into how they work – it is an afterthought.

Question 10: How do you handle accessibility and GDPR?

Since 28 June 2025, the Swedish Accessibility Act (tillgänglighetslagen) has applied to e-commerce and other designated consumer services in Sweden, and in practice its requirements are based on WCAG 2.1 level AA. GDPR is EU law and applies to everyone.

Ask: "Is the website WCAG 2.1 AA compliant on delivery?" and "Do you handle the cookie banner and consent?" and "How do you handle form data in relation to GDPR?"

More on what the law actually requires: The European Accessibility Act – how the law affects your website

Red flag: Evasive answers. Full WCAG 2.1 AA compliance does not come as standard with cheaper projects – but the supplier should be able to tell you clearly what is included in the price you have discussed, and should not need long to work out what full AA compliance would cost.

Question 11: Which platform do you recommend – and why?

An agency that only works with WordPress will recommend WordPress – whatever you need. An agency that is technology-agnostic, with expertise that is not tied to one platform, can base its recommendation on your actual requirements: content volume, in-house technical maturity, integrations, scalability and budget.

Ask: "Why does this platform suit my specific project?" and "Which platforms do you not work with, and why?" and "What are the disadvantages of the platform you are proposing?"

For a deeper comparison of the two platforms we are asked about most often, see: Webflow vs WordPress 2026 – which platform should you choose?

Red flag: An agency that cannot name at least two disadvantages of the platform it proposes is selling – not advising.

Question 12: What happens after launch – and does the meter start running with every question?

Launch is not the end of the project – it is the start of the website's life. Ask about support agreements and response times, how you will learn to use the CMS, who you call when something breaks, whether they offer ongoing SEO or technical maintenance, and what the warranty covers if bugs appear straight after launch.

Also ask the uncomfortable question straight out: if I get in touch in six months' time with a small question, does the hourly billing start straight away? The answer reveals whether the agency sees you as a finished project or as an ongoing relationship. The small questions always come, and you should not have to think twice before sending them.

Red flag: "We'll provide full documentation" as the only answer. Documentation is no substitute for a person who answers. A serious agency has a plan for the handover – and does not mind being contacted afterwards.

Question 13: Can a non-technical user update the website?

Whatever the platform, you should be able to update copy, swap images and add blog posts without calling the agency every time. Ask for a live demo of how the CMS looks from an editor's perspective – not from a developer's.

How many clicks does it take to publish a new blog post? Is the flow intuitive?

Red flag: The website requires technical skills for everyday updates. Or: the agency wants to handle all updates for you for an ongoing fee – without offering the option of doing it yourself.

Question 14: What in my project would you advise against?

A supplier says yes to everything. A partner speaks up. The question helps you work out which of the two you have in front of you. If the agency cannot point to a single thing it would do differently, it has either not thought about your project – or it is too afraid of losing the deal to be honest. Neither scenario bodes well.

Red flag: The agency raises not a single objection. Either it has not got to grips with your project, or it does not dare say anything uncomfortable.

Question 15: What would you have done differently in one of your recent projects?

An agency that claims everything always goes perfectly is lying – or not reflecting on its work. Both are bad signs. You want to hear about a concrete mistake and what they learned from it. That is how you know the agency gets better with every project (and wants to), not just older.

Red flag: Everything has always gone perfectly. That means the agency is either not being honest or not reflecting on its work. Neither explanation is reassuring.

Question 16: Do we need an ongoing collaboration – or is a project enough?

A website is not finished at launch. SEO, content and conversion all have a short shelf life. At the same time, not everyone needs an ongoing agreement. An honest agency helps you work out which applies to you, instead of selling a retainer as standard.

Ask: "What would an ongoing collaboration give us in concrete terms – and what happens if we do without it?" and "Are there periods when we can manage without you?" An agency that dares to say "you don't need us every month" is worth more than one that ties you in straight away.

Red flag: An ongoing agreement is presented as mandatory – without the agency being able to explain exactly what you get for the money, month by month. Or the opposite: the agency drops the project at launch and shows no interest at all in how things go afterwards.

What the answers reveal about the agency

A good agency answers these questions without hesitation – and asks questions back that show it genuinely wants to understand your problem. It is open about what it does not do and honest about the risks.

An agency that dodges, generalises or answers in buzzwords should be given the chance to prove itself on a smaller project before you make a big commitment. The most expensive mistake in a website project is not paying too much – it is paying for the wrong agency.

Checklist – bring it to the meeting

1. Can you show similar projects in my industry?
2. Who does the work – employees or subcontractors?
3. What is included in the price – and what comes on top?
4. What happens when something unexpected comes up in the middle of the project?
5. How do you work when I don't know exactly what I want?
6. Who owns the code, the design and the domain – and what do I get if the collaboration ends?
7. What does your process look like, how am I involved – and what do you expect from me?
8. Do you understand SEO – properly?
9. How do you quality-assure the things nobody sees?
10. How do you handle accessibility and GDPR?
11. Which platform do you recommend – and why?
12. What happens after launch – and does the meter start running with every question?
13. Can a non-technical user update the website?
14. What in my project would you advise against?
15. What would you have done differently in one of your recent projects?
16. Do we need an ongoing collaboration – or is a project enough?

We are happy to answer all sixteen

At SEOS Design we work primarily with Webflow, coded websites with a headless CMS, and Shopify – and we are open about why, when they fit and when they do not. If we are not the right agency for a project, we would rather tell you so than take the job. In short: we built SEOS to be the agency we were looking for ourselves but never found.

Would you like an honest conversation about what your project needs? Get in touch – and we will set up a no-obligation meeting.

Want to understand what the project actually costs? Read: What does a website cost in 2026? – Building, running and maintaining it