What should you ask an agency when commissioning a corporate website? The short answer: ask about ownership first, then management, and design last. In whose name will the domain name and hosting be registered, will you be able to update the site yourself, and who will look after it once it is delivered? The answers to these questions will affect you for longer than the way the site looks. Below we walk through the 10 questions we recommend asking before you request a quote.
Ownership: will the site really be yours?
1. In whose name will the domain name be registered?
The domain name is your company’s title deed on the internet. It should be registered in your company’s name, not the agency’s, and in an account you can access. Otherwise you will struggle to move your address when you want to change agencies.
2. Will I have access to the hosting account and the site files?
The site can be hosted on the agency’s server; there is nothing wrong with that. What matters is that you can take a full backup of the files and the database whenever you want. Have this written into the contract.
3. Who holds the usage rights to the design and content?
Do the design, the copy and the photographs remain with you after delivery? If a ready-made theme or a paid plugin is used, in whose name is the license purchased, and who pays for the renewal? Settle these at the start of the project.
Management: will you be able to update the site yourself?
4. Is there an admin panel, and what system does it run on?
You shouldn’t have to call the agency every time you want to add a news item or change a phone number. Ask what system the panel is built on. A widely used system such as WordPress means you can work with another team down the line. A closed system that only that agency knows ties you to a single provider.
5. Who will prepare the content?
Content is where projects most often stall. Who will write the copy, who will take the photographs, and by what date will they be delivered? Real photographs of your business are more convincing than stock images. If needed, a photo shoot should be planned at the start of the project.
Technical foundations: the part you can’t see but that makes the difference
6. How will the site look on mobile?
A significant share of visitors reach the site from a phone. The phrase “mobile-friendly” isn’t enough; open the sites the agency has built before on your own phone. Does the menu open easily, is the text readable, does tapping the phone number start a call?
7. What is being done for page speed?
Visitors don’t wait for a slow page. Ask about measures such as compressing images, using caching and avoiding unnecessary plugins. Ask to run the speed test together at delivery; see the result with your own eyes.
8. Are the SEO foundations in place at delivery?
For search engines to read the site correctly, some basic work should be finished before delivery:
- The ability to enter a separate title and description for each page.
- A readable URL structure and a sitemap.
- An SSL certificate, meaning the address opens over https.
- If you have an old site, redirects from the old URLs to the new ones.
- Setup of traffic and search analytics tools.
These don’t mean a top ranking; they are only the groundwork. The ongoing work on rankings is a separate job. We explain it in detail on our SEO page.
The process and what comes after
9. In what stages, and how quickly, will the work be delivered?
Ask for the timeline stage by stage: design approval, content entry, testing, launch. Find out up front how many rounds of revisions you get and which work counts as out of scope. A written scope protects both sides.
10. Who will look after the site after delivery?
The work isn’t over the day the site goes live. Updates, backups and security call for regular maintenance. Who will do the maintenance, how often are backups taken, whom will you contact when a problem comes up and how quickly will you hear back? If support is paid, see in writing what it covers.
How should you evaluate the answers?
A clear answer shows that the work has been planned. Every question brushed aside with “we’ll sort that out later” is a problem you may run into down the line. Ask for verbal answers to be put in writing in the quote or the contract. Opening and browsing the sites the agency has built before is also a good gauge: are they fast, are they comfortable to use on a phone, is the content up to date?
In summary
When commissioning a website, discuss ownership, management and what happens after delivery as much as the design. Make sure the domain name is in your company’s name, you can take your own backup, you can update your own content from the panel and you see the support terms in writing. If these four points are clear, the rest goes much more smoothly.
At 360DSGN we have been building corporate websites in Sakarya since 2011. You can put these 10 questions to us too. For details, take a look at our web design page or contact us.