How to Choose a Web Design Company: 12 Questions to Ask
Look past the portfolio and ask what happens after launch. A 12-question checklist covering ownership, speed, accessibility, privacy and maintenance.
Short Answer
To choose a web design company, look beyond the portfolio and ask what happens after launch: whose name the domain and source code are in, what speed target the site is delivered against, who builds the privacy and cookie setup, and what the maintenance agreement covers. The 12 questions below form a checklist you can put to every corporate web design agency in the same way, so the answers can be compared side by side. A good agency answers most of them in writing, in the proposal itself.
The 12-Question Checklist
These questions do not measure design taste; they measure whether the site will keep working well for years. For the design side, see our article on key considerations in corporate web design.
| # | Question | Why it matters | What a good answer looks like |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Whose name will the domain be registered in? | The domain is your brand’s address; if someone else holds it, switching providers gets hard. | “In your company’s name, and you receive the management credentials.” |
| 2 | Who will own the source code and design files? | Without the code you cannot move the site or have another team develop it. | The contract states that the source code and IP belong to you. |
| 3 | Will we have access to hosting, Search Console and Analytics? | If measurement data and server access stay with the agency, your history leaves with them. | Accounts are opened in your name and the agency is given access. |
| 4 | Is the design custom or a template? | The two mean different prices and different flexibility. | It is stated plainly; for custom work, the number of templates and revision rounds is given. |
| 5 | What is your speed target and how will you measure it? | A slow site loses visitors and search visibility. | Core Web Vitals thresholds (LCP, INP, CLS) are written as targets and measured at handover. |
| 6 | How do you handle accessibility? | Visitors with visual or motor impairments need to be able to use the site. | Concrete practice on contrast, keyboard navigation, alt text and form labels. |
| 7 | Is a technical SEO foundation part of the delivery? | SEO bolted on later can mean rebuilding the structure. | Sitemap, structured data, clean URLs, Search Console setup and 301 redirects for old URLs are included. |
| 8 | Who sets up privacy notices and cookie consent? | Forms and cookies process personal data, and the legal duty sits with you. | Consent management, spam-protected forms and the required page structure are built; legal wording is approved by you. |
| 9 | Who prepares and enters the content? | Projects stall most often while waiting for content. | Copy, images and content entry appear as separate lines in the proposal. |
| 10 | Can we update the site ourselves? | Depending on the agency for every small change costs time and money. | An admin panel is delivered and you are shown which sections you can edit. |
| 11 | What does the maintenance agreement cover? | Sites that are not updated develop security holes. | Updates, backups, security checks, response time and fees are defined in writing. |
| 12 | How will the process work and who will we talk to? | Layers of intermediaries slow down problem-solving. | Phases, sign-off points and a direct contact are set out from the start. |
Ownership: Domain, Source Code and Accounts
The first three questions are the least discussed and cause the most trouble. Discovering, when you want to switch providers, that the domain sits in the agency’s account or that the site only runs on their proprietary platform can mean starting from scratch.
Look for three clauses in the contract: the domain registered in your company’s name, delivery of the source code and design files, and measurement and ad accounts opened in your name. For Google Search Console, Google Analytics and your Google Business Profile, giving the agency admin access is enough; they do not need to own the account.
A practical way to test this in a meeting is to ask: “If we move to another provider in a year, what will you hand over?” A good agency answers without hesitation and lists the items: source code, a database backup, admin and server credentials, and licence details. If the answer is vague, have the ownership clause written into the contract explicitly.
Technical Quality: Speed, Accessibility and SEO
“Your site will be fast” is a promise; “LCP under 2.5 seconds” is a measurable target. For Google’s Core Web Vitals, the good thresholds are 2.5 seconds for LCP, 200 milliseconds for INP and 0.1 for CLS. Our website speed and Core Web Vitals guide explains what each metric means. Asking an agency to show measurements from sites it has already built is the quickest check.
Accessibility rarely appears in proposals. Yet the international reference, the W3C WCAG guidelines, sets concrete criteria such as sufficient colour contrast, keyboard navigation, alternative text for images and readable form labels. An agency that knows these terms and can explain how it applies them is a good sign.
On technical SEO, separate the foundation from ongoing work. The sitemap, structured data, heading structure and redirects belong to the build; content production and ranking work are usually a separate monthly service. Drawing that line also helps you define what you need from SEO services.
Privacy and Cookie Consent
Any site with a contact form, a quote form or analytics cookies processes personal data. Whether your visitors fall under GDPR, Turkey’s data protection law (KVKK) or both, the duty to inform them and collect valid consent sits with you as the site owner.
What you should expect from a web design company is not legal drafting but the right technical setup: consent management that keeps analytics and marketing cookies off until the visitor agrees, SSL, spam-protected forms and a page structure for the privacy notice and cookie policy. The wording itself is best settled with your legal adviser. We look at the software side of this topic in our article on enterprise software data security.
Process, Content and the Maintenance Agreement
The answer to the process question shows what working together will feel like. You should know from the start how many review rounds there are, when the design is locked and how often you will see a working version during development. Being able to talk directly to the team that builds the site stops issues from waiting in intermediate layers.
Content is the line item that most often pushes the schedule back. Will your team write the copy, or the agency? Are images ready, or is a shoot or production needed? If these questions stay open, the design gets finished but the site cannot launch.
In the maintenance agreement, ask for these points in writing:
- How often the core system, theme and plugins are updated
- Backup frequency and where backups are stored
- Security monitoring and what happens if the site is attacked
- Response time for support requests
- How out-of-scope work is billed
Red Flags to Watch For
- A guaranteed first position on Google: Google sets rankings; nobody can honestly guarantee them. An agency that sets measurable goals and shows data every month is more trustworthy.
- Verbal-only scope: “It’s all included” without the items appearing in the proposal.
- A closed platform: the site only runs on the agency’s own system and the code is never handed over.
- Promises of bought links: they break Google’s spam policies and put the site at risk.
- Portfolio you cannot test: screenshots instead of live URLs.
Evaluating Agencies Step by Step
- Build a shortlist: pick three or four agencies that have done work close to your sector and needs.
- Send the same brief: one requirements document covering pages, languages, systems to connect and content responsibility.
- Ask the 12 questions: record the answers in the table above and treat anything not answered in writing as unclear.
- Test their work: open their sites on a phone, run them through Google PageSpeed Insights and try the forms.
- Read the contract: check that ownership, scope, payment schedule and maintenance match the proposal.
Corporate Web Design with Futurecode
In Futurecode’s corporate web design projects, you own the source code and intellectual property. You work directly with the team that builds your site, with a reply within one business day, and we review a working version together every two weeks during development. Sites are delivered with an admin panel and a technical SEO foundation, and hosting, security updates and backups are available under a maintenance agreement. With our SEO services, Search Console, Analytics and Business Profile stay in your own accounts. To talk about your project, get in touch with us.
Related reading: Corporate Website Cost in 2026: What Drives the Price
For new guides and product news, follow Futurecode on LinkedIn.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I hire a web design company or a digital agency?
Look at the team’s skills rather than the label. When the team that writes your site’s code also runs its marketing, speed or form issues get fixed without being passed along. If you use separate providers, define the boundaries of responsibility in writing.
Why is choosing the cheapest quote risky?
A low price often means a smaller scope: content entry, technical SEO, redirects or maintenance may be missing. Comparing line by line shows the real difference.
Why does owning the source code matter so much?
With the code in hand, you can have another team develop the site, move it to another server or commission a security audit. Without it, every one of those decisions depends on a single provider.
Can we run a site without a maintenance agreement?
Yes, but you need to decide who handles updates, backups and security checks. If nobody does, the site can become vulnerable over time.
What should we prepare before meeting agencies?
Your current site address, examples you like, brand files, priority services, language needs and who will prepare the content. With these in hand, the proposals you receive will be clearer and easier to compare.
