The best way to choose a web development company is to look past the proposal and check the work: open three or four websites they built, try them on your phone and in Google PageSpeed Insights, and ask one of the owners how the project went. Then settle the things that go wrong later in writing now: who owns the code, the domain and the hosting, exactly what is included, and what happens after launch.
Check sites they actually built
A portfolio of screenshots proves very little. Ask for live addresses and open them yourself, on your own phone.
Run a few of them through Google PageSpeed Insights. It is free, it takes a minute, and it tells you whether this company builds sites that load properly on a phone or only look good in a presentation.
Ask how old each site is and whether they still look after it. A site the client has since loaded with plugins is not a fair test of the developer; a recent one they still maintain is.
Talk to one of their clients
Ask for a client you can contact, and ask that client three things: was it delivered when promised, did the price change halfway through, and can they update their own site now.
A company with happy clients gives you a name without hesitating. One that cannot think of anyone has answered your question.
Get ownership settled at the start
The domain should be registered in your business's name. The hosting account should be yours, or at least you should hold your own login. The code and the design files should be handed over when the project ends.
None of this is unusual to ask for, and a good developer offers it before you ask. Resistance here is the clearest warning you will get.
A scope in writing, before any money moves
A written scope lists the pages, the features, the content you are expected to supply, how many rounds of changes are included, and what is not included. It is the document you will both be glad of later.
Be wary of a price given on the first call, before anyone understands what the site needs. It either grows later or it was padded to begin with.
What happens after launch
Ask who looks after updates, security patches and backups once the site is live, and what that costs. Some businesses want to handle it themselves, some want a care plan. Either is fine if it is agreed.
Ask how you reach them when something breaks, and how quickly they respond. The answer should be a person, not a ticket queue working to another continent's clock.
Red flags
A guarantee of page one on Google. Nobody can promise that honestly.
Any arrangement where they keep the domain, the hosting or the code and you rent it back.
A site built on a system only they understand, so that nobody else could ever take it over.
Questions people ask
- Should I choose a local web development company?
- Local helps if meeting in person matters to you. Most website projects now run well by email and video call, and a company whose working hours overlap with yours is easier to reach. The quality of the work and the terms of ownership matter more than the address, so apply the same checks to a local company as to any other.
- What should a web development quote include?
- The pages and features being built, the content you need to provide, the number of revision rounds, the timeline, what happens after launch, and who owns the domain, hosting and code. If any of that is missing, ask before you sign.
- How can I tell if a developer builds fast websites?
- Take a few recent sites from their portfolio, ones they still look after, and test each on mobile in Google PageSpeed Insights. Scores in the 90s on mobile are a good sign, and a developer who publishes their own results is showing confidence in them.
We do this
If you would rather have it done than do it, this is the part of what we offer that covers it.