How to choose a web development agency: 12 questions

Ownership and access

1. Whose name are the domain, hosting and code under?

The right answer: yours. If the agency keeps them in its own accounts, leaving becomes a negotiation.

2. Do I get the full source code?

Ask for repository access from day one, not at the end. You'll also see the pace of work.

3. Which paid licences does the project use?

Themes, plugins, external services. Each has a yearly cost that should be in the proposal.

Timelines and money

4. How are payments tied to deliveries?

Deposit, test version, launch. Each payment matches something you can see and test.

5. What happens if something new turns up mid-project?

Ask for a real example. At Bloom, walk-in sales, a loss report by reason and a bottom navigation bar for sellers working from a phone were added along the way. You want an agency with stories like that, not one that says it never happens.

6. How are new requests handled along the way?

Right: estimated separately, in writing, before they're built. Wrong: "we'll do it and see".

Way of working

7. How often will I see progress?

A test version every one to two weeks is a healthy pace.

8. Who is my contact and how fast do they reply?

A name, not a generic inbox. A reply time, for example 24 hours.

9. Who writes the copy and takes the photos?

If it isn't clear from the start, the project ends up waiting on content.

After launch

10. What warranty do I get for bugs?

A clear period, for example 30 days, when bugs are fixed for free.

11. What does maintenance cost and what does it include?

Updates, backups, monitoring. Ask for the list, not just the price.

12. Can I move to another agency without losing anything?

If questions 1 and 2 got a "yes", so does this one.

Red flags

• —A price given before asking what the site needs to do
• —The full amount paid upfront
• —A portfolio with no live links or client names
• —Refusing to put timelines in the contract

Frequently asked questions