Questions to ask a web development agency before you hire

Most agency comparisons stop at price and portfolio. Both tell you what an agency has built. Neither tells you how it will treat you in month three, or who owns the site if you leave.

These are the questions to ask a web development agency before you hire one. There are fifteen, grouped by the risk they test: process and timelines, ownership, support, proof and pricing. For each we give what a good answer sounds like and what a weak one signals. We run an agency, and we expect to be asked all of them.

Send them in writing. Written answers are comparable across agencies, they can be attached to the contract, and they show who answers the question and who changes the subject. The list works as a way to vet a web agency whether the build is WordPress, Webflow, Shopify or a custom Next.js application.

Questions to ask a web development agency about process#

Process questions show how the work really runs. A polished proposal says little about it. The answers tell you who you will talk to, how decisions are recorded and what usually goes wrong.

1. Who is my contact and who writes the code?#

You are buying people, not a logo. Ask who your single point of contact is, whether that person is technical, and who writes and reviews the code: employees, freelancers or a subcontractor.

A good answer names the roles, says what is subcontracted and offers an introduction to the person doing the build. A weak answer is 'our team handles everything'. If nobody technical joins your calls, requirements get lost in translation.

2. How do updates and approvals work?#

Ask how often you get updates, in which channel, and how approvals are recorded. A shared project board, a short written summary each week and a named approver on your side are a reasonable baseline.

A good agency shows you a real status update from a past project. A weak answer is 'we are always on chat', which means no record of decisions. When a date slips, you want a trail showing which approval was pending and from whom.

3. What does your discovery phase produce?#

Discovery is the phase before design and code. Ask what it produces. Good outputs are a written scope, a sitemap or content model, a list of integrations, known technical risks and acceptance criteria you can test later.

A weak answer is 'a kickoff call and a mood board'. Without a written scope, every disagreement becomes a negotiation. An agency that skips discovery on a complex build is pricing a guess.

4. What usually delays projects like mine?#

Every agency has seen projects slip. Ask what delays projects like yours and what they do about it. Honest answers include late content, slow feedback rounds, scope added mid-build, delayed access to third-party APIs and legal or security reviews on your side.

A good answer is specific and includes a protection, such as an agreed feedback window per round. A weak answer is 'we never miss deadlines'. Nobody delivers on time without client input.

5. What do you need from us, and by when?#

Timelines depend on you as much as on the agency. Ask for the list of what they need from your team: copy, brand assets, product data, access to the CRM or ERP, and one decision maker for approvals.

A good answer is a dated dependency list and a rule for late items, for example the launch date moves by the same number of days. A weak answer is silence until the first delay, followed by blame.

Questions to ask a web development agency about ownership#

Ownership decides whether you can leave. Three questions cover it, and all three need an answer in the contract. What follows is a summary, not legal advice.

6. Who owns the code and the design files?#

Ask who owns the custom code, the design files, the content and the licensed components at handover, and when ownership transfers: on signature, on final payment or never.

A good answer is a written assignment of rights for everything created for you, effective on payment, with third-party and open-source components listed along with their licenses. A weak answer is 'you own the website' with no clause behind it. Agencies often keep their own frameworks, which is fine when the license terms are explicit.

7. Whose name are the domain, hosting and accounts in?#

Ask in whose name the domain registrar, DNS, hosting, analytics, tag manager, CMS workspace and code repository accounts are registered. The answer should be yours, with the agency added as a user.

A good answer is 'everything is in your name from day one'. A weak answer is 'we manage it all for you', which can mean the agency holds the domain and has leverage over you at renewal. Also ask who pays hosting and licenses directly. Our post on the hidden cost of hosting, maintenance and technical debt lists the recurring items to price.

8. Can I get a full handover at any time?#

Ask what a handover contains and how long it takes: repository with commit history, deployment steps, environment variables, a database and media export, credentials in a password manager and documentation.

A good answer is a handover checklist, a stated number of days and a defined fee, or none. A weak answer is 'we can discuss that if it happens'. On Webflow and Shopify, ask what can be exported and what stays inside the platform account, since hosting and themes live there.

Questions to ask about support and SLAs#

Launch is the start of the risky period: real traffic, real forms, real edge cases. These questions separate a support commitment from a friendly promise.

9. What happens in the first 30 days after launch?#

A good answer is a defined warranty or stabilization window in which defects against the agreed scope are fixed at no charge, with monitoring and a review at day 30. A weak answer is 'we are here if you need us'.

Ask also how a defect differs from a new request. That line decides who pays, and it should be written in the contract.

10. What does your maintenance plan include and exclude?#

Ask for the plan in writing. Included items usually are core and plugin updates, security patches, backups, uptime monitoring, small content changes and a report. Excluded items usually are new features, redesigns, third-party outages and hosting fees.

A good answer is a list with hours or a ticket allowance. A weak answer is 'unlimited support' with no scope, which is either overpriced or ignored. Ask how backups are tested: a backup that has never been restored is unverified. For one way to package this, see our engagement models: one-off projects, a monthly Retainer and a monthly Care plan.

11. What are your response and resolution times?#

Ask for both numbers, by severity, with the hours they cover. A response time is a promise to acknowledge. A resolution time is a target to fix. They are different, and a site that is down is not a typo on a page.

A good answer sets, for example, a one business hour response for outages and next business day for minor requests, names the channel and says what happens outside business hours. A weak answer is 'we reply quickly'. Ask what remedy applies when a target is missed.

Questions that test portfolio and technical proof#

A portfolio shows a finished surface. It does not show speed, accessibility or how the team behaved when something broke. These two questions turn claims into evidence.

12. Can I speak to a client with a similar project?#

Ask for a client with a similar platform, size and complexity, at least six months past launch. A good agency offers two or three contacts quickly and lets you ask your own questions.

On the call ask four things: was the budget met, how were changes handled, what happened when something broke, and would they hire again. A weak answer is case study PDFs only, NDAs on every project or references from sites that launched last week.

13. How do you measure performance and accessibility?#

For performance, the shared vocabulary is Core Web Vitals, documented on web.dev. An agency should be able to quote these thresholds and measure against them.

A good answer names the three metrics, uses field data where it exists as well as lab tests, and writes targets into the contract. A weak answer is 'we score 100 on Lighthouse', which is one lab score on one page. Our guide to Core Web Vitals for B2B websites shows how to judge these answers.

For accessibility, ask which WCAG version and conformance level they build to, for example WCAG 2.2 AA, as described in the W3C overview. Ask how they test: automated checks plus keyboard and screen reader review, because automated tools catch only part of the issues. 'Our themes are accessible' is not an answer. For the regulatory side, read our post on WCAG and regulation in Spain and Europe, and check legal obligations with counsel.

Questions to ask about pricing and change requests#

A pricing model is a way to split risk between you and the agency. The question is not which is cheapest. It is who pays when the estimate is wrong.

14. How is the price built, and what is excluded?#

Ask whether the price comes from hours and rates, from deliverables or from value, and ask for the exclusions: content writing, photography, premium plugin or theme licenses, third-party app fees, hosting, translation, data migration and training.

A good answer is an itemized proposal where each line ties to a deliverable, with an exclusions list. A weak answer is a single number. For example, take two quotes for a 20-page B2B site (illustrative): the lower one omits QA, content migration and accessibility testing. Once you add that work, it is not the cheaper one. For ranges by agency, freelancer and DIY, see our custom WordPress cost breakdown.

15. How do you handle scope changes?#

Scope will change. Ask how change requests are raised, estimated, approved and billed.

A good answer is a written change request with an estimate in hours and the schedule impact, approved by a named person before work starts. A weak answer is 'we are flexible', which feels friendly until the invoice, or 'any change is a new project'. Both extremes mean there is no process.

The three common models place risk differently. Compare them before you read the proposals.

For a well-defined build we prefer fixed scope with a change request process, then a retainer after launch. For a discovery-heavy product, time and materials with a cap is more honest than a fixed price padded for uncertainty.

Web agency red flags and a printable checklist#

The answers above add up to a pattern. These are the signals that should slow you down, split into the contract and the sales process.

Contract red flags#

These are the web agency contract red flags we would flag in any proposal, ours included:

• No clause on code ownership or assignment, or ownership only after 'all future payments'.
• Domain, hosting or CMS accounts registered to the agency.
• Scope written as 'website as discussed', with no deliverables or acceptance criteria.
• Payment tied to calendar dates instead of delivered milestones.
• No warranty period after launch.
• Auto-renewing maintenance with a long minimum term and no exit.
• No handover obligation, or handover fees left undefined.

If you are in Spain or Latin America, add three checks. Which legal entity invoices you, in which currency and with what tax treatment? Which jurisdiction and language govern the contract? How many working hours overlap with your time zone? These matter whether you hire a local empresa de desarrollo web or a nearshore team.

Sales process red flags#

The sales process shows how the agency will behave once it has your signature:

• Pressure to sign this week to keep a discount.
• A price quoted before anyone asked about your goals.
• Refusal to put answers in writing.
• Only senior people in sales and nobody named for delivery.
• Guaranteed rankings or traffic.
• A portfolio of templates the team cannot explain in technical terms.
• Ownership questions dismissed as 'standard' or 'do not worry'.

The checklist to bring to calls#

Print this web development agency checklist and keep it next to the 15 questions.

• Written answers to all 15 questions from every shortlisted agency
• An ownership or assignment clause in the contract
• Domain, hosting and repository accounts in your name
• A maintenance plan with scope, response times and resolution times
• A reference call with a client on a similar project
• Measured targets for Core Web Vitals and a named WCAG conformance level
• A written change request process with estimates before work
• A handover checklist with a stated delivery time

Where to start#

This is how to choose a web development agency without guessing. Apply the list in order:

1. Shortlist two or three agencies. More than that produces noise, not information.
2. Send the 15 questions in writing and give a deadline.
3. Compare the answers side by side, line by line, not by total price.
4. Hold a reference call with the finalists.
5. Check that the contract repeats what the answers promised.

These are the questions to ask before hiring a web developer, whether that is an agency or an individual. If you want to put them to us, see how we structure one-off projects, Retainer and Care plans, then contact us. We will answer in writing.

Frequently asked questions#