Vendor Selection · Published 2026/02/10

How to Choose a Web Agency: 7 Questions to Ask First

The biggest risk in choosing a web vendor usually isn't a bad-looking design — it's "we can't reach anyone after launch" or "a one-word edit takes a week and costs extra." Ask these 7 questions before signing to filter out high-risk vendors early.

1. Can I see live, currently-running projects?

Ask for links to actual live websites, not just design mockups in a pitch deck. Browsing a real site's load speed and mobile experience tells you more than any slide deck.

The owner opens those URLs on their own phone. Do not only listen to the deck. If you get mockups, or the links no longer open, do not move on to price yet. A spinner that never ends, type stacked on a phone, or a contact form that does not send: write those down on the comparison sheet. They matter more than an award. Compare sites that are running now, not a screenshot from three years ago.

2. Who owns the source code and assets after launch?

Get this written into the contract. Some low-cost packages retain code ownership, which can trap you later if you want to switch vendors or add features — this is the most overlooked, highest-impact clause.

The clause has to name source code, images, copy, the domain, and the hosting login, not only “the site is yours.” If a low-cost package gives you a right to use the work while the vendor keeps ownership, switching later means a rebuild or a buyout fee. Ask for one plain sentence: who owns these things after launch, and in what form they are handed over — a zip, a repository, or only an admin account. An admin account alone usually cannot change the page structure once you leave.

3. How is maintenance and change scope defined?

"Free small changes" needs to become concrete in writing: how many changes, how much text, what's billed beyond that — not a verbal promise.

Write the count, the word limit or the hours, how overages are priced, and how many working days until a change starts. “Anything later is free,” with no ceiling, usually does not survive a dispute. Bring the edits you really made last year — a phone number, one image, an event page — and ask which of those are included. That is clearer than hearing that everything is covered.

4. What's the response time for urgent issues (site down, hacked)?

Confirm there's a clear emergency contact and response time commitment, not "message us on Line and wait." This matters especially for e-commerce or payment-enabled sites.

The contact needs a name or a role, a way to reach them, and a number of hours in which a person replies. If the site will not open or a page has been changed, a shop that takes payment cannot drop the note into a group chat and wait for a read receipt. If the answer is “it depends,” put that sentence in the risk column. It is not a promise yet. A brochure site with no payments can wait until the next day, but say which kind of site you are buying before you sign.

5. Is baseline SEO built in, or billed separately?

Semantic markup, heading hierarchy, meta descriptions, and a sitemap should be part of the build, not an "SEO service" add-on after launch. Ask directly how the vendor handles these.

Ask which page of the proposal states the heading hierarchy, the descriptions, and the sitemap. Do not wait for a search package quoted after launch. The baseline we mean is that structure in the pages, not a promise of rank. If a quote turns “people will be able to find you” into a results guarantee, cross that line out before you talk further. Before the contract, ask them to show how headings are arranged on a live site they already shipped.

6. Is there a formal contract with payment milestones?

Split payments (e.g., at signing, at review, at launch) protect both sides better than paying everything upfront, and reflect actual project progress.

The milestones should match three events: signing, your acceptance of the content, and the public launch. Paying everything at the start, with no definition of acceptance, leaves you nothing to withhold if nobody answers after launch. Acceptance can be concrete: the main pages open on a phone, the form arrives in the inbox you named, and the pages you listed use the approved copy rather than placeholder text. Without that, nobody knows whether the last invoice should be paid.

7. What does communication look like — who is your actual point of contact?

Confirm there's a consistent project owner, rather than a different contact each time who needs the requirements explained from scratch.

That person should be able to say which meetings they attend and which document records a change of scope. Every new contact re-explains the job, and that is how the schedule gets eaten. If sales signs the contract and a team you have never met does the work, sit with that team and read the scope once before you sign. Read the page list and the acceptance checks, not another company introduction.